Food is something that crosses cultures and generations. Food is something that everyone needs, and nearly everyone enjoys. Many people have deep-rooted memories of their childhood that involve food. Cookbooks are a way for the author to share their love of food and help others feed their souls as they feed their bellies. Here are five tips for helping you create a fantastic collection of recipes to work with cookbook publishing companies to get your collection into cook’s hands and kitchens.

1. Have a Theme

While you might be tempted to fill a cookbook with all the delightful recipes you love, having a theme for your cookbook is helpful. This theme can bring the recipes together and make the book cohesive. There are many cookbooks worldwide, and a theme will help your cookbook stand out from the rest.

Additionally, if your intent is self-publishing the cookbook for mass consumption, it will be easier to convince buyers to pick up a copy when they understand what they are getting.

2. Make the Cookbook Accessible

Unless your cookbook is specifically intended for advanced cooks, you should assume that some people using your book are beginners.

An introduction that includes easy substitutions, explanations of less common cooking-related phrases, and other tidbits that seem evident to a seasoned cook can be the difference between the success or failure of your readers.

Cookbooks with directions that use words unfamiliar to a new cook can make it difficult or impossible for the cook to follow the recipes within.

It is always better to err on the side of caution and assume the cookbook user has only a beginner’s knowledge of the kitchen unless your cookbook is marketed as intended for advanced cooks.

3. Choose Simple Recipes

To create a useful cookbook, it is best to include recipes with easy-to-find ingredients and a limited number of ingredients listed for most of the recipes. While you might be excited by elaborate dishes with dozens of ingredients, most cooks will find such recipes overwhelming unless the cookbook is marketed explicitly as having complex recipes.

4. Include Photos of Finished Dishes

Colored photos can increase the cost of publishing a book, but in the case of cookbooks, they add a lot of value. An unfamiliar recipe can be hard for an inexperienced cook to imagine.

Photos as part of your interior book design help the cook by giving visual images of what the finished recipe should look like while also making individual recipes more enticing. People eat with their eyes first, and a good cookbook will use visuals to help readers make the most of the cookbook.

5. Understand Your Goals

What do you want from your cookbook? Why are you making it? Who is it for?

Keep those things in mind while creating your cookbook. It can be easy to lose sight of goals in the excitement of creation, but knowing what you want from your cookbook will help you make the best decisions when it comes to book printing, interior book design, your custom book covers, and whether your book would benefit from digital printing services.

Are you looking for cookbook publishing companies? InstantPublisher offers various book publishing services, including book printing and binding options. For more information, email us at questions@instantpublisher.com or visit our website.