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Marmiton.org
For 11 years, the Gourmand World Media Awards have been the international Oscars for food and wine books.
You will meet there well known chefs coming from all countries, authors, journalists, publishers…..gathered all together for their passion: cooking.
Cooking and Publishing: What makes a cookbook successful today?
Conference of May 18, 2006 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, by Stephen Bateman of Hachette Pratique, and Bo Masser, of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.
The increased role of the media
Cooking is transmitted within the family less than before. A vacuum has been created. Several media try to fill that void: television, the press, internet, and of course the books.
Today, there are more and more cookbooks published every month. The consequence of this increase in production is that the shelf life of a book is shorter and shorter. If a cookbook does not work during the first three or four weeks in the bookstore, it is taken out to be replaced by other new books.
The Keys to Success
Twenty years ago, a book worked if content was good. Today it is still necessary, but it is no longer enough. The publisher needs more and more skills in marketing, promotion and distribution. All this, without having access to much means. Hachette for instance does not advertise, but works a lot on communicating through the press….. and the personal involvement of the author! The author has to be present to promote his book.
You have to know that usually someone who buys a cookbook will really use only two or three recipes from that cookbook. So the editor has to work with the author to make sure the content is easy to access, which often means work on the organization of the content, including rewriting.
Complementary Media
One could think that spreading a few recipes from cookbooks on internet could be negative for these books. On the contrary it creates a buzz about the book, and helps its promotion.
It is also possible to include a CD or a DVD with the book. But it has to be free, for the value added tax is different for books and CD/DVD. Distributing a product with different taxes cannot be managed by distributors and retailers, and it would not work. But producing a CD has significant cost, and you have to be sure that it helps sales. So it is much too risky.
On the other hand being present on television is highly positive. Complementary meldia can multiply very significantly the chances of success of a book, and beyond that have an impact on daily culinary life, and increase the sales of food products.
Who buys cookbooks
Women buy 80% of the cookbooks. Women buy more books in general than men. Men buy more books that are non practical. But this is changing, as more and more men get interested in cooking.
Are countries like China or India interested in French cuisine?
The cookbook market in India is in full growth. Even though cooking is still systematicly transmitted from mother to daughter. Books do not need to have the substitute role.
China is already a huge cookbook market, already controlled by the local Chinese publishers. But there are signs of an interest for French and foreign cooking. This could be similar to Japan, where French culinary culture has been much appreciated for years.
What is a good cookbook today?
What are the subjects that are in demand?
Today there are two themes that work, first health, as people want to eat healthier while still enjoying it, and second to have an easy cuisine, adapted to our way of life. Jamie Oliver is the perfect Ambassador of that type of cooking, which is an assembling type of cuisine, where you do not spend hours in the kitchen but put together something good with what you already have.
There is no miracle recipe to make a good cookbook. Hoeever it must meet the needs and demands of the people. For instance Jamie Oliver carries an image corresponding to a better life, a better quality of life, authenticity, human contact. He gives a cool and convivial image of cooking, which he summarizes in his message: when you cook you are never alone.
Simplicity and quality remains the keys to success of a cookbook, but they are no longer today enough. All books need a strong investment of their author and publisher so that it does not make a lightning short stay on the shelves of the bookstores.
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