1) Choose your audience

As we examined previously, one of the first steps to writing a cookbook is choosing your theme. Cookbook writers make the mistake of trying to make their cookbook as ‘general’ or easily accessible to anyone as possible. The problem with this method is a cookbook that is for ‘everyone’ is just going to get lost in the mix. A famous chef could pull off a more general theme because they already have name recognition, but generally readers in this genre are looking for cookbooks that match with specific needs they have. Maybe they’re a vegan but they’re looking for less complex quick recipes or they’re a Mom looking for some date night dishes that feel fancy but don’t take too much time. Cornering the market on more specific needs may feel like it’s limiting your audience, but it’s actually assuring that you gain a loyal following.

2) Skill Level

The next aspect to consider when writing your cookbook is your reader’s skill level. Do you want to make a cookbook for master chefs who want to challenge themselves? Or perhaps a book for people wanting to teach themselves how to cook from the… oven up? Putting yourself in the minds of your readers is a very important step in creating a cookbook that is a perfect match for your target audience. If you’d like to include recipes for an array of cooking skill levels you can, but keep in mind it may be helpful to break these up into sections in the table of contents. This way when a reader opens your book, they can flip right to the recipes they can handle.

3) Shopping

Another important thing to keep in mind when considering your audience is where they’ll be shopping. Some cookbook recipes are more regional, looking to attempt to bring recipes from the south all across the country or something of the like. If you’re attempting a cookbook like this, you’ll need to keep in mind that people in other states or other parts of the world may be shopping at entirely different stores than you do. This means there may be some specific ingredients that will be more difficult to find for them than it would be for you locally. So, as you’re writing, it’s important to research the ingredients you’re including and, if need be, including possible substitutes for that ingredient if it will be difficult to find in other areas of the world.

4) Budget

Money, money, money, must be…. yummy? Not quite, but budget is important to consider as well. If you’re writing a book of recipes that happen to be super simple with inexpensive ingredients, taking ‘on a budget’ onto your title will definitely draw more readers to your work. If your recipes are more complex and could be expensive, it may be helpful to consider adding little footnotes giving people who are on a budget tips on how to find less expensive versions of certain ingredients. This will end up making your recipes accessible for both readers who want something more high-end and something more budget-conscious.

5) Time

Finally, when putting yourself in the minds of your food fanatics, consider their time. How much time will they need to set aside to cook these recipes? An hour? Two hours? If your recipes tend to take longer, who will have time to cook longer recipes each day? Stay-at-home parents? Retirees? Considering the time needed for recipes could simply allow you to narrow down a possible target audience to tack onto your book title. Quick Recipes for Moms on the Go, A Stay-at-Home Parent’s Guide to Nutrition-Packed Meals– narrowing down the target audience using time will allow your book to pop up in those specific searches.

If you’d like to allow your book to be more accessible to people with varying degrees of cooking time, consider adding longer or shorter recipes to give your readers an array of options. Similarly to the skill level, this could be another manner to arrange your recipes in your table of contents. This way, your readers can easily flip to a recipe they have time for instead of having to spend an hour flipping through your book that they could’ve spent cooking their new favorite meal.

The post Writing For Your Audience: Cookbooks appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

Find your theme

If you’re thinking of writing a cookbook, you likely have at least a general idea of what you want to focus on. You probably have it narrowed down to a fairly broad category like dinner recipes, party recipes, etc. But the more specific you are with your theme, the more likely your book is to be successful.

There are so many cookbooks out there already, that you really have to narrow down your theme to set yourself apart. For example, you could write a cookbook about bridal shower recipes, vegan party recipes, or low-carb desserts. If you struggle to narrow down your scope, do some research. See what type of foods or restaurants are high in demand and go from there!

Get organized

Although a cookbook doesn’t have a formal narrative, it still needs to tell a story. Whether you decide to organize yours by course, season, protein, type, or cook time, there needs to be some kind of order. Your table of contents should be easy to navigate and the recipes need to be somewhat organized. For example, if you’re writing a dessert cookbook, your readers shouldn’t have to flip through the whole book to find the cake recipe they want. The cake recipes should be grouped together so they can easily comb through and see which one best suits their present needs.

Get Creative

Of course cooking in and of itself is a creative art, but when it comes to the writing part, the creativity is in the titles. Make sure you’re coming up with fun and catchy titles for recipes that suit the theme of your book- rather than just writing “Apple Pie Recipe” at the top of the page. Readers can easily find recipes online nowadays, being creative and cohesive with your theme is what will set your recipes apart. Readers won’t know whether or not your recipes are any good until after they purchase the book- this why you need to hook them in with your creativity initially. They’re much more likely to buy the “Apple of My Eye Pie” than the boring “Apple Pie”.

Employ a good graphic designer and photographer

One of the major appeals of a cookbook is the visual aesthetic. It needs to stand out in terms of layout design and cover because there are so many other cookbooks out there. This, like the titles, is another chance for you to convince readers that your book is different. Not only that, but photography is absolutely key. When readers see pictures of your recipes, their mouths need to salivate and their tummies need to grumble. So make sure you have a great graphic designer and photographer on your team. It may seem like the easier option to just take the pictures yourself, but trust us when we tell you that having them professionally done will make a huge difference.

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