Everything Cookbooks

Kate and Molly speak with author Alana Kysar and her editor Kelly Snowden about their professional relationship after working on two cookbooks together. Alana shares why she initially didn't think she had a second book in her and what she hopes this new vegetable focused book adds to the Hawaiian food conversation. Kelly talks about first connecting with Alana's proposal, the elements she brought...

Kristin and Molly speak with writer Ella Quittner about her new book, Obsessed with the Best, and the work and intent behind it. They get right into the nitty gritty details of the book; its origins, proposal, the research and testing involved and its unorthodox release date and promotional experience. Ella talks about blending personal stories and journalistic research, the vast testing process a...

Molly and Kristin invite our very first copy editor to the show, Melissa Haskin. Melissa talks about getting started in the editing profession, her love of food writing and how her experience working with magazines like Cooking Light informs her work now. The hosts share some of their personal experiences and thoughts about copy editing and Melissa shares her own process and approach— the tiny det...

Molly and Kate speak with Tanya Bush, the author of Will This Make You Happy, about her cookbook/memoir mashup and how the pandemic contributed to her decision to marry a personal story and a technical text. Tanya shares some the life experiences behind the book, her impetus to create and the themes she wanted to explore as well as the process of getting an agent, earning an MFA and how the projec...

Kristin speaks with hosts Molly, Andrea and Kate about blurbs; the good, the bad and the questionable. The hosts define the term and share their first blurbing experiences before chatting about the purpose and goal behind these endorsements. They talk about a blurb's swaying power, what makes a good one, how to know if it is trustworthy and the etiquette and process of soliciting, editing and incl...

Kate and Kristin speak all about crowdfunding with Nandita Godbole, who has fully funded seven books (and counting) through Kickstarter. Nandita shares how it all began, from her wildly successful supper club to funding her first book in just a few days and takes us through the details, ups and downs and pros and cons of going this route. She speaks about finding her audience, why she decided to s...

Molly and Kristin speak with Saeng Douangdara, a personal chef and academic counselor turned online content creator and now, cookbook author and food photographer. Saeng shares what motivated him ten years ago to get into the online food space, why he wanted to show off Lao cuisine and how he's built up an audience and community during that time. His refreshing approach means he doesn't dilute or...

Kristin and Molly speak with Kathy Gunst, a prolific cookbook author, teacher and now leader of food writing retreats, about her varied career and new project. Kathy shares how she got started in the food world by attending London's Le Cordon Bleu, what it is like being the resident chef for NPR's Here & Now and how she deals with creative burnout. She explains the ins and outs of running a writer...

Kate and Molly speak with Domenica Marchetti about her newest book and finding a niche in the crowded Italian cookbook category. Domenica shares how she got her start as a food writer, bringing her journalistic background and other interests and experiences together in a unique way, and then talks about the personal importance of some of her early work. She gets into how a cookie captured her imag...

Kate and Kristin speak with Ifrah F. Ahmed about how the culmination of her expertise in a culture and a cuisine led to her debut cookbook, Soomaaliya. Ifrah shares how a trip to Somalia inspired her to leave law school, create a magazine dedicated to Somali women and start a wildly successful pop-up before turning her attention towards a book. She takes us through her deeply intentional cookbook...

Kate and Andrea speak with cookbook author Natasha Pickowicz about her second book, how it differed from her first and what she learned during the process. Natasha takes us on her journey from the kitchen to the keyboard as she talks about how her first book came to be, the false starts it went through and the role the pandemic played in its evolution. She then shares some behind the scenes on her...

Andrea and Molly speak with Alison Roman and Britt Cobb, the designer of her new book, Something from Nothing about their collaboration. Alison speaks about her unique approach to her work, how she leans into personhood instead of branding and why this new book is different than her previous works. Alison and Britt describe how they connected and then get into the nitty gritty of working together;...

Molly and Kate speak with Rachel Brown, acquisitions editor at Appetite, an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada, about her career journey and insights into the Canadian cookbook landscape. Rachel talks about her education and early editing experience before taking us behind the scenes about Appetite titles specifically. She shares what types of books they publish, how the team works, what they...

To kick off Season 9 Molly, Andrea, Kate and Kristin discuss e-cookbooks vs physical editions before diving into front matter; all of the sections of a cookbook that come before the recipes. They talk about the purpose, process and planning that goes into the preface, prologue, forward, introduction and pantry section and ask whether these are even necessary. Each of them talk about their own expe...

Originally aired on June 19, 2024 Kate, Kristin and Molly venture back into the user experience arena as they discuss recipe presentation in cookbooks. They highlight the need for this section to delight not distract and prioritize form over function as well as the need to write with a specific audience in mind. They discuss their thoughts as a consumer and developer on elements like: ingredients,...

Originally aired on November 9, 2022 Today, Andrea tackles the topic of the ever elusive headnote with Molly, Kate and Kristin. They discuss what a headnote is, how they go about writing them and the pitfalls to avoid while composing. They bring examples of some favorites and also their pet peeves as they chat about the format, design and variety that goes into these important cookbook ingredients...

Originally aired on February 22, 2023 Kate talks with Molly, Andrea and Kristin all about recipe titles. They share what makes one stand out, what is an immediate veto and how these have evolved over the years. They discuss the importance of indexing, the challenge of translation and how grammar, structure and formatting are used in titling along with some of their own that they'd like to revisit....

Originally aired on April 20, 2022 Kristin gets into the fundamentals of recipe writing as she chats with Tina Ujlaki, her mentor and the former executive editor at Food & Wine magazine. Tina explains her recipe writing philosophy, how testing can be the antithesis to cooking and the what bothers her about the format's evolution. She shares her thoughts on voice, headnotes, titles and the top 3 th...

Originally aired on April 13, 2022 Kate leads today's discussion about the recipe development, curation and testing that go into creating a cookbook. Andrea, Molly and Kristin each share their individual recipe writing processes and the tools used behind the scenes to keep everything organized. They discuss sticking to theme, finding your audience and what can take away from the magic of cooking a...

Kate, Molly, Andrea and Kristin begin the episode with an apology about a technical snafu that plagued our website's Contact page and some corrections. They go through some listener questions and discuss copyeditors and the other roles editors can play, share advice, ideas, theories and encouragements about a range of topics, share insights on how to survive the submission process and thoughts on...

Kristin and Molly speak with journalist and cookbook co-author Korsha Wilson about her experiences in the world of food media. Korsha shares the magazine that sparked her initial interest, her educational approach and a behind the scenes look at some of her projects. She talks about her evolving views on recipes, what her hopes are for her work and how she approaches the research portion of a proj...

Molly and Kristin speak about merging the physical act of cooking with emotional and spiritual intentionality with Nicki Sizemore, the author of Mind, Body, Spirit, Food . Nicki shares her personal journey and the life changing process she went through that eventually led to this new focus. Battling creative burnout and the uninspired work of writing for the algorithm, Nicki learned to tune into h...

Molly and Kate speak with Anna Ansari, a London based Iranian American writer, about her new book Silk Roads and the major career shift that brought it about. A former customs attorney, Anna takes us from her childhood in Michigan to a stint in Beijing where she discovered Uyghur cuisine and how a move to the UK precipitated an interest in cooking and food writing. She shares how she got intereste...

Kristin and Kate get the inside scoop on all things marketing and publicity as they speak to the 'dream team' who worked on Kristin's recent book Turtle Island . Brianne Sperber and Felix Cruz — associate director of marketing for Clarkson Potter and Ten Speed Press and publicist for the same— discuss their specific roles and approaches to cookbook promotion. They touch on the differences between...

Andrea and Kate speak with Helen Goh about her thirty years of working in the food and hospitality industry and why she chose now to write her first solo book. She speaks about her time working with the Ottolenghi brand, her hesitation at embarking on a solo venture and the pros and cons of working alone or partnered. She's had many evolutions in the personal and professional spheres and talks abo...