Everything Cookbooks

Kate and Kristin speak with Nicola Lamb her debut cookbook, Sift, and writing the book you want to read. Nicola talks about her passion for baking, learning and teaching before diving into the book creation process. She shares the lengthy proposal writing process, working from her Substack and a post-it wall, the importance of trusting your team and the resources she used while writing. She also s...

Molly and Andrea speak with Joe Yonan, the Food and Dining Editor at the Washington Post, about his new book, Mastering the Art of Plant Based Cooking. As they discuss the idea behind creating an authoritative resource, Joe explains why he wanted to write this particular book and concentrate on this topic as a cuisine instead of a lifestyle choice. He shares why he wanted to shift the narrative ar...

Kate and Andrea speak with the editor in chief of New York Times Cooking, Emily Weinstein, about all things recipe writing and recipe curation for the new book Easy Weeknight Dinners. They chat about what makes a great recipe, what are missteps, if there is a formula and all the formatting considerations involved in writing recipes. Emily talks about curating this collection, the idea behind the b...

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 special...

Kate and Molly speak with blogger, writer and MasterChef alum Hetal Vasavada about her atypical career journey. She shares stories and lessons learned from her time on the tv show, how she got around the limits of her contract after it aired and why it was important to foster a community. Hetal talks about the differences between book one and book two, the advice she got during recipe development...

Today things get a little bit spicy and steamy as Kate and Molly speak with debut romance writer Sarah Chamberlain. Sarah shares her experience working to "American-ize" foreign cookbooks and how she brought that food world expertise to her fiction writing. She discusses stepping into the romance world (reading and writing), the inspirations for her novel and how she landed on the cookbook details...

Kristin, Andrea and special co-host Elsa chat with Priya Krishna about her fresh and unique kid's cookbook 'Priya's Kitchen Adventures'. Priya talks about approaching this project without kids of her own and why she wanted to create a physical book instead of going the video/social media route. She shares how writing for kids made her a better recipe developer, how she decided on the format, recip...

Kristin, Molly and Kate chat all about that often dreaded activity, networking. They talk about the stressors involved, their individual approaches and what they focus on to build relationships and why re-framing these as learning opportunities can help with imposter syndrome. They discuss some specific resources and advice along with some personal experiences that they've learned from to build a...

Kate and Kristin speak all things platform building and content creation with Sarah Fennel as we learn what should come first, the audience or the book? Sarah shares her definition of 'content', her path from hobbyist blogger to business owner and what areas she focused on on to build her platform. She speaks about tipping points in her career, how she balances creating persona forward vs food for...

Kristin and Molly speak about the newest release from America's Test Kitchen "When Southern Women Cook" with its editor, Morgan Bolling, and its forward writer, Toni Tipton-Martin. This is a newer format for ATK so Morgan and Toni share its journey from idea to publication, where the concept and title came from and how late night conversations inspired its creation. They talk about working with a...

We're pleased to share our very first live show with all of our listeners! Kate, Andrea and Kristin spoke with Toriano Gordon and Anna Voloshnya at the Napa Valley Cookbook Fest earlier this year where they spoke about their individual cookbook journeys and career paths, the challenges that came with their projects and the ways the process felt fulfilling. They share their goals of representing an...

Kristin and Kate speak with chef, artist, teacher and writer Caroline Choe about her debut cookbook, Banchan. Caroline shares her career journey and how her teaching experience and art background informs her work today. After a confluence of events caused her to declare that she was quitting the industry, ultimately she was hired to write this cookbook and brought her personal story, family recipe...

Molly and Andrea speak with Substack's number one food and drink writer, Caroline Chambers, about her experience building a successful following that led to the release of her new cookbook, What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking. Caroline shares how the pandemic spurred her shift from freelance recipe developer to newsletter writer in spite of past rejections of her cookbook proposal. She t...

Kate and Molly speak about cookbook clubs and career shifts with debut author Bebe Carminito. Bebe shares what inspired her love of food and her various career changes, from makeup artist to pastry assistant to food stylist to cookbook author. She followed her curiosity, gathering contacts, classes and experience over the years which eventually led to a beautiful full circle moment with this book,...

Molly and Kate dive back into the topic of cookbook reviews as they chat with Leslie Brenner, an experienced critic, journalist, editor and consultant in the food media space. Leslie shares how she got into food writing, the inspiration and motivation behind her website and why she focuses on the home cook. She speaks on the mental and physical toll of restaurant reviewing and why she sees cookboo...

Molly and Kate speak with Betty Liu about the process of creating her second cookbook which she photographed while juggling a demanding day job. She shares how she ventured into the cookbook sphere from her career in wedding photography, blogging and surgical residency as well as where the idea for her first book came from. She talks about why she wanted to showcase Shanghainese food, why she focu...

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 curatin...

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...

To close out Season Five and celebrate 100(!) episodes, we're sharing some advice, tips and ideas from our listeners for our listeners. Molly, Andrea, Kate and Kristin discuss some of the terrific insights that our listeners have submitted to help aspiring cookbook authors and share their own thoughts on topics like: writing classes, caring the most for your project, the inevitable "dip" in the pr...

Molly and Kate speak with two members of the cookbook indexing website Eat Your Books team; Jane Kelly, co-founder and CEO and Jenny Hartin, Director of Publicity. Jane shares where she got the idea to create the website, the way it works and how its grown since its inception with now over 2.5 million recipes indexed. We learn how vital the community experience of the site is and ways authors can...

Kate and Andrea chat with Singapore based cookbook author Chris Tan about his new book, Nerd Baker 2 and his publishing process. He shares why he wanted to revisit the world of Nerd Baker, how he keeps international readers in mind while writing and how his experience as a cooking instructor informs his work. He talks about the climate obstacles he had while writing and photographing, where his re...

Kate and Kristin tackle the topic of cookbook collaboration as they chat with Olga Massov and Sanaë Lemoine about their new book, Hot Sheet. Olga and Sanaë share a bit about their career paths, where the inspiration for this book came from and why partnering on it was the best way to go. They speak about the strengths and expertise each brought to the project, why they focused on sheet pans and go...

Molly and Kate speak with the owners of Los Angeles based cookbook store Now Serving, Ken Concepcion and Michelle Mungcal, about the crucial role that niche independent bookstores play in the marketplace. Ken shares how his chef background informed his love of cookbooks and led to opening the store and Michelle talks about curating their space to create a specific atmosphere for their community. T...

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, equipment, serving size, prep tim...

Kate, Kristin and Molly speak with agent Lori Galvin about her long career in the food media space. She shares what spurred her decision to move on from editorial work and how agenting required on the job learning and an entrepreneurial approach. She talks about learning to trust in her own taste, why she enjoys working with both fiction and non-fiction titles and the changes she is seeing in the...