So why am I not writing a cookbook?

I have a descent sized audience already built in. (This is where the 15K subscribers to our newsletter comes in and all those addresses we have for the inn guests. Kim does not want to dilute the message of the newsletters by putting my novels front and center, though she will allow me to advertise on the sidebar. Later, I’ll try to convince her that the stories are about the inn.) Our diners, guests, students, etc. love my cooking. People continuously ask for a cookbook. So what gives?

First of all, I just don’t have the time for a massive project like a cookbook. At least not during the workshops. Second of all, I’m having trouble getting started. I already have the cookbook idea. I am going to group my recipes by year and dot our teacher’s and student’s art throughout the book. Oh, yeah, it’s a big project.

Each of the years I’ve been chef here at the Hudson River Valley Art Workshops and Fiber Art Workshops, I have changed cuisine. That will make for a very interesting book. I plan on organizing the cookbook by meal so at home you can make them yourself. It’s a nice organization. By year (cuisine), by meal (3 course dinner).

I may include other recipes, such as the granola and the artichoke cheese sauce in an appendix. I’m not sure. Maybe I’ll include breakfast as well. The intro to each chapter will be a menu. I have kept the menus and recipes from each year.

Now all I have to do is master the art of writing a proposal. I can do it for aerospace and DOD projects but not yet for cookbooks.

I don’t know what publishers and agents want to see but, then, it ultimately isn’t them I have to please. They are conduits to my real customers, the public. Writing is definitely a B to C (Business to Consumer), not a B to B (Business to Business).

The Kitchen of Eternal Youth: 59K words so far, for those of you keeping track.