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The process of writing a cookbook

March 2, 2012 by KimiHarris 17 Comments

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Thanks for stopping by! If you're interested in healthy eating check out my free gifts! and subscribe to get regular email updates. *Some links may be affiliate.*


The process of writing a cookbook can start with an idea, a recipe, or a need. One day at the beginning of last summer I turned to my husband and said, “I think I should write a salad cookbook.” A short conversation later I was jointing down ideas and making a grocery list to start my recipe testing. Months later, after a whirlwind of testing and retesting recipes with the help of some faithful recipe testers, it was finished. My husband and I self-published it, and my book, Fresh: Nourishing Salads for All Seasons was born.

Now I am working on a second cookbook. This time I am working with a publisher, but am still free to go about writing it in my own way. While I often wonder what I was thinking in adding in such a large project in my already busy life, I’ve enjoyed entering the fray again. This time it will be a longer book, which means more recipe testing, more writing, and more creative thinking. I am thankful that I have until the August to finish it up.

For anyone out there who is considering writing a cookbook, and for those who have requested information on what the process is like for me, I thought I’d share how I go about writing a cookbook.

What is your philosophy? Who are you writing your cookbook for?

The first thing that I think is important to decide is the philosophy behind your recipes. What is your style and whom are you writing the cookbook for? For me, I want my cookbooks to feature nourishing foods based on real food ingredients. I also want the recipes to be assessable to the average cook and family friendly. In other words, I don’t write my cookbooks with food critics and gourmets in mind. I write them because I want to get the average person in the kitchen cooking real food more often.

For my salad cookbook, I tried to limit the amount of special ingredients one had to buy. I only called for two vinegars in the whole book, which was very intentional. I wanted to show that you could make a wide variety of salads with just a few basic pantry items on hand. Of course, fresh produce is always a must, but I decided I didn’t want to call for a huge variety of vinegars and oils in my recipes to make my recipes more budget-friendly. (You can hear about my first book by watching the above video).

Rough Outline
After I had decided what my food philosophy was, I jotted down a rough outline of the book, and started filling it in with recipe ideas. Then I started to get specific. With such a huge project, you can really hold yourself back if you feel like you have to plan out every detail before you start recipe testing. I find that the pieces of the puzzle start to fall into place once you’ve gotten your hands dirty in creating recipes.

Jump into recipe testing
I start with the recipes I already use on a regular basis. The vast majority of them are either my own recipes, or ones that I adapted from old family recipes. From there I branch off into the recipes that jump out at me. As I continue to think, test, and retest, I keep asking myself, “Is this a recipe that I want to remake myself”. Basically, I want my cookbook to be a book that I am constantly using myself. That’s been true for my salad cookbook; I use it all the time. My goal for my next book is the same.

Set an end goal and figure out a weekly goal
When I self-published, I set a goal time to have the book transcript finished (with my next book, I have deadline agreed on between me and the publisher). I figure out how many recipes I need to finish each week to meet that goal. It’s very important that you pace yourself.

Use recipe testers
I find is very helpful to have a large group of recipe testers. I split them into 4 groups, and then send them one or two recipes each week (for my salad cookbook, I sent them more). Having at least 4 people in each group ensures that someone tests every recipe.

Having to write out my recipes and send them off each week really helps me keep track of my progress and also gives me a good feel on how easy to follow my recipes are and how well others receive them. It can be tricky; I have a few recipes that get rave reviews by one person, and a not so great review by another. I try to figure out whether a mistake was made by the one that didn’t enjoy the recipe, whether or not they normally like that type of dish, or if they just simply didn’t enjoy the recipe.

I have a feedback form that they use that helps guide them in giving me the type of information I need to know. Using recipe testers have been invaluable as they point out errors like forgetting to inform the reader when to add a certain ingredient in, and to give me encouragement that I am on the right track when I get good reviews. It does create a lot of extra work for myself, but I’ve found it more than worth it.

Just do the next thing
Writing a cookbook can be an overwhelming task if you look at all that is still before you. I have had to purpose to just look at my weekly goal, and take it one recipe at a time. By just doing the next thing, I keep myself on task without overwhelming myself.

Like everything, writing a cookbook takes determination, focus, and a lot of hard work. But I’ve found it rewarding work.

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KimiHarris

I love beautiful and simple food that is nourishing to the body and the soul. I wrote Fresh: Nourishing Salads for All Seasons and Ladled: Nourishing Soups for All Seasons as another outlet of sharing this love of mine. I also love sharing practical tips on how to make a real food diet work on a real life budget. Find me online elsewhere by clicking on the icons below!

Latest posts by KimiHarris (see all)

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jessie

    March 2, 2012 at 4:44 pm

    super excited to hear you are doing a new cookbook!!!!

    Reply
  2. Kristy

    March 2, 2012 at 7:23 pm

    I am enjoying Fresh so much! So it is great news that you are writing a second book! I pray that the Lord will encourage you, give you strength and give you creativity!

    Reply
    • KimiHarris

      March 6, 2012 at 2:58 pm

      Thanks Kristy! I appreciate it.

      Reply
  3. Brianne @ Cupcakes & Kale Chips

    March 2, 2012 at 8:48 pm

    Great advice! I hope to someday write a cookbook, so it is good to hear from someone with experience.

    Reply
  4. Liza

    March 3, 2012 at 8:30 am

    I love your philosophy on cooking Kimi. It keeps me coming back to your blog. I’m already excited about your new cookbook, and I don’t even know what it will be about yet. Are you any where near Vancouver? (I’m sure I read you are from somewhere more to the east) I’d love to be a recipe tester!

    Reply
    • KimiHarris

      March 6, 2012 at 2:58 pm

      Hey Liza,

      I will email you!

      Reply
  5. Nicole

    March 3, 2012 at 11:21 am

    I’m so buying it!!! I love your recipes!

    I’m with Liza, I would joyfully test your recipes! LOL 🙂

    Reply
    • KimiHarris

      March 6, 2012 at 2:58 pm

      I will email you too, about being added to my recipe tester list. 🙂 Thanks!

      Reply
  6. Ross Lukeman

    March 3, 2012 at 3:57 pm

    It was very interesting reading about your creation process. It is good to be reminded to just do the next step when we get overwhelmed with a large project. Looking forward to the cookbook!

    Reply
  7. Jennifer @ The Unrefined Kitchen

    March 3, 2012 at 5:52 pm

    Cool! Way to go on getting going on your 2nd cookbook! Thanks for sharing that info on writing a cookbook. One of my goals with my website is to eventually publish a cookbook!

    Reply
  8. Mandie

    March 3, 2012 at 9:59 pm

    Thanks for the info. Not sure I’ll ever write a cookbook, but the process is still interesting. I am just starting to break from a recipe and put my own spin on things. It’s so fun! If you ever need more recipes testers and are willing to email the recipes, I’d love to do that part.

    Reply
  9. Em (Wine and Butter)

    March 5, 2012 at 3:07 am

    Brilliantly helpful article!!

    Im just delving into food blogging and currently use mainly other people’s recipes. BUT Im about to begin a whole foods six month culinary school course, after which Im hoping to make food more of a full time career (Ive already got the nutrition cert). I also love to write so writing a cookbook would really be the dream.

    I especially love the last sentence and totally agree – I remember the wise words that ‘if you want to be a writer you will have to write a book’. Word.

    Reply
  10. City Share

    March 6, 2012 at 8:02 am

    Fascinating! Thanks for lifting the curtain and showing us the behind the scenes. What is the theme for #2?

    Reply
  11. Elise Ramsay

    March 7, 2012 at 9:10 am

    Love this look into the process – I would love to be a recipe tester, if you are still looking!

    Reply
  12. Melissa

    March 7, 2012 at 9:06 pm

    Hi thanks so much for posting this, it is very inspiring! I just had a question for you, I wasn’t sure how or if there are copyrights on recipes, meaning I have found various delicious recipes on the internet on different blogs/websites. I usually adapt most recipes and change things here and there, would that be considered you “own” recipe then just because you adapted/changed one or more ingredients? Should you formulate a recipe from start to finish or can you modify other recipes? Thanks!

    Reply
  13. Judee @ Gluten Free A-Z

    March 8, 2012 at 7:50 am

    Thanks for this very inspiring article. I’m ready to write one, just need to start.. Love the guidelines and ideas.

    Reply
  14. Ana W.

    March 10, 2012 at 8:13 pm

    Thank you so much for sharing this, Kimi! I’m hoping to write a cookbook soon… and this helps me a lot! Would you be willing to share your feedback form?
    If you are you can email me at whitefrosting8 (at) gmail (dot) com

    Thank you!!
    ~Ana =)

    Reply

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The information you find here at The Nourishing Gourmet is meant to help you become a better cook! This site is primarily for sharing family friendly recipes. It's not meant to give medical advice or to make any health claims on the prevention or curing of diseases.This site is only for informational and educational purposes. Please discuss with your own, qualified health care provider before adding in supplements or making any changes in your diet. Also, any links to sponsors or affiliates (including Amazon) may give me a percentage of the sale or a pay per click. Thank you for supporting this site.

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