Everything Cookbooks

Happy New Year! Molly, Kristin, Kate and Andrea take a look at the past year in cookbooks and share their thoughts on the trends they predict for 2025. They discuss how the pandemic affected the cookbook market, how they see production costs and finances changing and share some insights from editors and agents about what publishers are looking for in 2025 (hint: platform!). They talk about speciality markets, single subject expertise, branded and restaurant books before sharing a few teasers of our upcoming season. [Originally aired 1/1/2025]

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

 

 

Mentions

110: Sarah Fennel on bringing an online platform to the page

Attention Economy Substack

The Dinner Plan Podcast

 

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Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

Champagne by Peter Liem

The Bean Book

King Arthur Baking Company

The Red Boat Fish Sauce Cookbook

The Cake Bible

Africali

Islas

Kalaya's Southern Thai Kitchen: A Cookbook

The French Laundry Cookbook

Coastal

Molly and Kate speak with Lara Hamilton, the owner of Book Larder Seattle's community cookbook store. Lara shares the motivations behind opening the store, why Seattle was the perfect base and how she sees the connection between food and books. We learn the origins behind the name, location and design of the store as well as some behind the scenes insights into ordering, event planning and curating its unique selection. Lara talks about her thoughts on trends, author platforms and building a space that is a must stop on author tour before revealing her most anticipated Fall titles. [Originally aired 9/25/2024]

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

 

Mentions

Book Larder

Website

Instagram

Podcast

YouTube Channel

 

Book Larder Podcast: Molly Stevens

Book Larder Podcast: Kate Leahy

 

Subscribe to our weekly Substack newsletter for more information about each episode and a peek at what's coming up.

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

Bodega Bakes by Paola Velez

Easy Wins by Anna Jones

What Goes with What by Julia Turshen

A Splash of Soy by Lara Lee

Chinese Enough by Kristina Cho

Sift by Nicola Lamb

Bake with Benoit Blin by Benoit Blin

My Life in France by Julia Child

Butter by Asako Yuzuki and translated by Polly Barton

We're back and starting off Season 6 with grab bag of topics with all our hosts. Kristin, Molly, Kate and Andrea discuss the pros and cons of the (potentially overfull) Fall cookbook season and how to emotionally prepare but keep expectations realistic on pub day while prioritizing celebration. We share our insights and experiences on contracts, printed errors, correction pages and wade into some existential territory as we discuss optional ingredients in recipe writing before diving back into one of our favorite topics, platform. Finally, we talk about the the current cookbook trends we're loving, upcoming releases we're looking forward to and court some potential controversy with our thoughts on pumpkin spice. [Originally aired 9/18/2024]

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

 

Mentions

Monique of Hardcover Cooks

The Bojon Gourmet Pumpkin Spice Mix

Cookbook Chronicles: The Science and Art and of Recipe Development, by Martin Sorge

If Desired, by Joy Manning

The Truth About Platform, by Kathleen Schmidt

Kristin Donnelly's Newsletter

 

52: Matt Sartwell of Kitchen Arts and Letters

100: Advice from Our Listeners and Season 5 Wrap-Up

42: How to Write Recipe Titles

93: The Secret of Cooking with Bee Wilson

69: Writing a Menu Cookbook with Amy Thielen

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Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

Hungry Authors: The Indispensable Guide to Planning, Writing, and Publishing a Nonfiction Book by Liz Morrow and Ariel Curry

Banjan: 60 Korean American Recipes for Delicious, Shareable Sides by Caroline Choe

The Chinese Way by Betty Liu

Molly and Kristin speak with Sarah Kwak, a senior editor at Harvest an imprint of Harper Collins, to find out what the editing process is like. Sarah shares how she ended up at her current role, the focus Harvest has for cookbooks and what authors should keep mind regarding their proposal assembly before submission. She discusses her thoughts on comp titles, overcoming past book sales, multifaceted ways to grow a platform and what compels her to spend over two years working on a specific project. Finally, she talks about trends in the food world, the changes in the economy of publishing and her advice along with the books she is excited to release this year. [Originally aired 5/8/2024]

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

 

Mentions

Sarah Kwak

Harvest an imprint of Harper Collins

Episode 09: Cookbook Editing Tips from Jennifer Sit

Episode 48: Abi Balingit on Learning as You Go

Subscribe to our weekly Substack newsletter for more information about each episode and a peek at what's coming up

 

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

Mayumu by Abi Balingit

The Book on Pie by Erin McDowell

Jacques Pépin Art of the Chicken by Jacques Pépin

Hot Sheet by Olga Massov and Sanaë Lemoine

In our last episode of 2023, Kate, Kristin and Molly discuss food trends and how they apply to the cookbook world. Whether it's butter boards, nacho tables, "girl dinner" or baked potato bars these stunt foods can loom large yet die quickly in the public consciousness. They discuss ideas on identifying trends, how to capitalize on them and the importance of keeping a variety of demographics in mind when working on "trendy" topics. Finally, we list some things we're looking forward to in 2024. [Originally aired 12/27/2023]

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

 

Mentions

Kristin Donnelly's Cookbook Proposal Class

Subscribe to our weekly Substack newsletter for more information about each episode and a peek at what's coming up

 

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

Beautiful Boards by Maegan Brown

Everyday Snack Board by Largeman-Roth Rdn Frances

Koreatown by Deuki Hong and Matt Rodbard