How to Write a Cookbook Proposal: The Ultimate Guide to Creating the Business Plan for Your Dream Book
Photo by @karaeads at Unsplash
Ah, the cookbook proposal. This elusive beast is one you’ve probably heard of in passing or seen your friend’s absurdly good example, and now, you’re in full scale panic mode because you don’t know how to piece it all together.
You’ve probably spent hours searching the internet and bookstores for the step-by-step way to create the “perfect” cookbook proposal.
Well, friend—there’s no one way to create a book proposal, especially one for cookbooks. There is a typical structure though, which is what you want to focus on, and what we’ll walk through in this post.
Even though this is a business plan for what your book idea is, why it’s needed in the marketplace, and how you’re going to sell and promote it, your cookbook proposal is also an example of your storytelling chops.
Some people believe cookbook proposals should be straightforward without personality. I am not one of those people. There are ways to integrate storytelling and facts, and that’ll make your proposal stand out from ones that’ll end up in the slush pile.
10 Killer Resources for Starting Your Book Proposal
Throughout this post, I’ll share additional resources I love and ones I regularly recommend to my clients. There’s only so much that can be said in one post, and I hope you’ll revisit this one again and again throughout your book proposal journey.
Let’s pull back the curtain and show you how to write a cookbook proposal with the ultimate guide to creating the business plan for your dream book. Here we go.
(Quick note: I only recommend products and services I can’t shut up about. Some of the links in this post are affiliate links at no additional cost to you and may put some dollars in my pocket.)
Title Page
This is pretty straightforward. On this page, you’ll include the working title of your book, subtitle, and your contact information. If you get literary representation, your contact information will be replaced by your agent’s.
Quick note about book titles: Have 10-15 additional titles in your back pocket. There may be similar sounding titles that were just sold, or an agent or publisher may suggest trying something different based on your story and other books on the market.
This is also a good practice for blog writing and your email newsletter subject lines.
Book Proposal Table of Contents
You’ll include the section titles for your book proposal with page numbers. That’s it, dear.
Overview
Every book has an origin story—a moment when the inspiration became more than just an idea scribbled on a piece of paper. There’s something inside of you that won’t let this cookbook idea just be, and this is where you’ll map that out for agents and publishers.
The crucial question is: How did you come to write this book at this moment in your life?
You’ll likely write this section last because as you write the rest of your cookbook proposal, you’ll find richer meanings behind your original idea. Often, what you believe is showing up on the page won’t materialize until the very end.
If you find little nuggets throughout the process, you feel would be perfect for this section, throw them into a dedicated notebook or Google doc, and then come back to it when the time is right.
Also, in this section, you’re going to walk through why this book needs to be written now. We’re not looking for an evergreen pitch aka a story that has no urgency and could come out anytime.
This is one reason I start clients off with crafting magazine pitches for their book ideas. It creates a sense of urgency and clarity about why this story needs to be told now. It also has additional benefits I’ll share later on.
You want agents and publishers to sit up a little straighter and instantly understand why your cookbook is the next one that needs to be sold.
Author Bio
You’re a rockstar, and it’s time to fully own it. This is where you collect all of your humble brags, so agents and publishers can see your authority in the food space. You’ll include appropriate educational and job experience, where your work has been featured (websites, podcasts, morning television) and any notable accomplishments or awards.
It’s also a great place to share pop-up dinners or events you’ve had, classes you’ve taught and relevant numbers, including social media followers and newsletter subscribers. Basically, this is your chance to show them you’ve been doing this for awhile, and you know what you’re talking about.
Target Markets
Spoiler alert: Your book isn’t for everyone, and you have to show you know who your ideal audience is.
This is one of the most time-consuming sections of a cookbook proposal because you’re looking for research, statistics, trends, and any other reliable information to map out who your people are and why they need your book. But you also want to paint a picture of who your audience is, where they’re hanging out, and what your book is going to give them that they can’t get anywhere else. Name magazines they read, how they spend their days, what festivals or conferences they’re buying tickets for. And if you don’t know, that means you need to start surveying your current audience for the answers.
This is one of the sections the publisher’s marketing department needs to be sold on, so they can in turn sell your book to the right people.
But where do you start?
One of the easiest ways to start is to look at the numbers. Please don’t overcomplicate this or get overwhelmed with how to collect all the information you may need. When I was a fact-checker for lifestyle magazines focusing on the West, I was surprised what some common sense, a bit of curiosity and Google could get you. Let’s break it down and walk through this bit by bit.
For example, if you were writing a book about sourdough, specifically for people who had left the San Francisco Bay Area and desperately wanted to recreate their beloved bread in their new home, you’d have a few starting points:
Number of people from the Bay Area and surrounding Northern California areas who have left California
National interest in sourdough
Why San Francisco’s climate produces the sensational sourdough bread it does, and how other climates compare
These are just starting points, and from here, you’d be looking for news articles, research papers, census reports, and larger reporting on these topics. If you don’t mention them in this section explicitly, use footnotes. Always cite your sources.
What sources exactly? Here’s an idea of what you’re looking for:
For the droves of California residents leaving the state, you may include information from this Mercury News article “Bay Area exodus: Residents still want out, new poll finds. Here’s who is most anxious to leave.” You’ll notice the variety of statistics and sources around those numbers, including that all of their sources are also cited. When trying to verify information, you want specifics from reputable sources and to be able to fact-check the information yourself in the article.
To show interest in sourdough baking, you could reference the growth in the sourdough market in recent years, along with its projected growth from this Yahoo News article.
As far as why San Francisco sourdough tastes different than sourdough made in other regions, you could dig into the history of the bread as well as scientific aspects such as the pH balance of specific climates from this BBC article. You could also expand on this idea and map out the ability for people around the world to recreate this Bay Area staple.
Quick note: For any studies or article mentions, it’s best to use examples from the last five years. The same thing goes for any books you reference in the competitive title section.
Once you chip away at your primary markets, adjacent markets will emerge. It’s a tedious process because you’re identifying who your target market is, but also why your book matters to them. The clearer you are about who your cookbook is for, the easier it will be to map out the competitive titles and promotional plan.
Overall, you need to show you have a true understanding of your audience beyond “my cookbook is for women 18-49 who like to cook” for agents and publishers to take you seriously. And if you don’t? Thanks for playing. Try again.
Promotional Plan
This section is hard for some food creators because it means stepping outside of your comfort zone. One reason I have book proposal clients start with magazine pitches is to get them comfortable pitching, receiving feedback and growing their media connections. This works two-fold, as it’s also a tool to grow their brand for their proposal and use any of the connections in this section.
Your author bio was all about where you’ve been. The promotional plan is about where you’re going. And it’s best to assume most of this will fall on you. Even Julia Child had to plan her own publicity tour for Mastering the Art of French Cooking, so it’s best to embrace the power you have and keep moving.
The sweet part about this section is you can brag about your cool friends and the people you know and you should. Don’t be shy about who you can email or call.
In here, you’ll walk through the tangible steps you’ll take. Let’s go back to our sourdough book example. Some key promotional items may include:
Hosting a virtual sourdough making class for any pre-orders with special guests, including the Master Bakers from Boudin and Tartine.
Reaching out to my established media connections at Food & Wine, Cherry Bombe, Bon Appetit, Food 52, Edible San Francisco, Edible Manhattan, Edible Nashville, Good Morning America, and Talk of the Town (Nashville).
Pitching to Radio Cherry Bombe and Everything Cookbooks as a return podcast guest.
If you have a dream of hosting pop-ups and Instagram Lives with other food creators, add those too! This can be a fun place to dream up creative ways to connect with your audience and promote your book.
But keep it manageable. I’ve seen a lot of people say they’re going to commit to weekly newsletters and blog posts, but they’re not consistent with it now. If you’re not keeping up with regular content now, it’s going to be almost impossible to do it when the book comes out. And between you and me, people can feel when you’re trying to sell them. If you haven’t been around, but suddenly you have a book out that you want to promote, people may not be as interested if you’d been consistent the whole time.
Competitive Titles
This section goes hand in hand with the target market, and through your market research, you may have found some competitive titles already. The purpose of this section isn’t to tear down other cookbooks, but is to show the difference between what they’re offering and what the market needs.
Aim for at least five books in this section. You’ll want to choose ones published within the last five years and sold pretty well (under 100,000 on Amazon). If a book was a New York Times bestseller, it’s a good signal that the book flew off the shelves. Yes, there have been instances where authors bought a lot of their books, so they could make the list. But in some ways, a sale is a sale, and once something gains momentum, it means that more people will want to buy it.
You can also scroll through books on Amazon and see the rankings (under product details) of books in your category. Click into each category and find additional titles that may also be good contenders for your competitive titles.
Also, don’t miss reader reviews. In there, you’ll find information on what hit and what was a giant miss. Your book proposal is a business plan with the goal of being published, so you can serve your ideal reader better. Part of that work comes from knowing what people are looking for.
Often, you’ll see repeated themes or comments that can help you determine how your book truly is different from what’s already on the shelves.
Something else to keep in mind is some books may be included that aren’t in the same genre of cooking. You may draw inspiration from a cookbook with a similar structure or interactive element. Agents and publishers want to know you have a grasp of the space, so flex your knowledge past simply what recipes you’re showing up with.
Cookbook Table of Contents
The table of contents for your book. Yep, that’s it. If you’re curious about including specifics for essays or additional chapters, grab a few of your favorite cookbooks and see how their table of contents is structured.
Vision (Optional)
This section may be optional, but for cookbook authors, I see this more as a necessity. Some folks want to design their book proposal, so agents and publishers can feel the overall aesthetic. There are differing opinions on this, but I’ve heard directly from the Editorial Director of a Big 5 publisher that it can hurt your chances of getting a book deal. Mostly, because you’re eliminating the need for any collaboration with the art department. Also, it could be a reason for them to just say no because they don’t like the design.
So, sharing your vision here is a way to skip that. You’ll share the nitty gritty of what you’re imagining with QR codes, photography, illustrations and if you have anyone in particular in mind for the above. This could be clips of photos and art, and you can even link to a Pinterest board if there’s not enough room in the proposal.
Depending on the contract you get with a publisher, you may or may not have the final say on the cover or layout. By being upfront with how you see the book, you’re able to give the publisher a chance to also figure out if they’re aligned with your vision or not.
Chapter Summaries
Chances are you’ve had your chapter mapped out long before you started any of this. You probably have running recipe lists and specific insights on the why behind each chapter.
For each chapter, you’ll include at least a paragraph summary of what readers can expect and what the key takeaways for them should be. Also, you should include the full recipe list for each chapter if you have it.
Don’t blow past the introduction or sections of how you want readers to use the book. If you have a 3-step process for something, say it! Show agents and publishers you have a vision for every section of your book, and there is no filler. Use this as an opportunity to take something that’s not in all the other books and make it your own.
Sample Chapter
This will be the chapter you feel embodies your idea the most. It’ll also be one with developed and tested recipes, so make sure you have them already. You’ll want at least 6-10 stellar recipes, but if you’re still developing some recipes, have 3-5 bomb ones ready to go.
Don’t be afraid to show your personality and storytelling abilities. Your goal with this section is to showcase your capability of writing an entire cookbook. If you’ve been food blogging or producing culinary work, you’re ahead of the game. Take your time with this.
This will seem like the fun and easy part of the proposal, but it may bring up some fear about taking on an entire project. Take it one step at a time, and you’ll get there.
Putting Your Cookbook Proposal Together
Once you have all of the above revised, don’t forget to edit for grammar and clarity. You can use tools like ProWriting Aid and Hemingway Editor to help you.
This is one of the biggest concerns clients and potential clients have before they start the process, but also, the thing they almost skip over when all is said and done.
Generally, you’ll want to stick with standard manuscript formatting—12 point Times New Roman font (or something similar) with double spacing and 1 inch margins. Each new chapter or section should begin on a new page.
You want to present your cookbook proposal just like you would a paper in school or for your business. Have a trusted friend or cookbook coach review it before you send it out. You’ll be grateful for the extra set of eyes on your proposal.
If you’re ready to jump into the cookbook proposal process and want someone to be with you every step of the way, grab your spot on my waitlist, and let’s get started on that bold dream of yours now.
