Three self-published cookbook authors discuss self-publishing your book to maintain full control of the content, design, pricing, and marketing. They recommend starting with ebooks, print-on-demand, or independent publishers. Marketing involves creating buzz through press releases, interviews, websites and social media. Selling can occur through traditional and non-traditional venues. Resources provided include publishing platforms, print companies, and informative blogs and groups.

1. SELF-PUBLISHING
Alisa Fleming of Go Dairy Free
Laura Bashar of Family Spice
Mary Platis of California Greek Girl
Your Book IsYour Baby, Keep All the Control!

2. THE CREATIVE MIND

3. CONFIDENCE
• Self-Efficacy: Individuals who come to believe
that they can effect change are more likely to
accomplish what they set out to do.These
people set higher goals, try harder, persevere
longer and show more resilience in the face of
failure.
• Creative Mindset: Having a creative mindset
can be a powerful force for looking beyond
the status quo.
• Being Human Centered: Approaching
challenges from a human perspective can yield
some of the richest opportunities for change.
• Empathy: Connecting with needs, desires, and
motivations of real people help to inspire and
provoke new ideas.

4. INSPIRATION
• Planned course of action: “Don’t wait for the proverbial
apple to fall on your head, instead go out in the world and
proactively seek experiences, which will spark your creative
thinking. Interact with experts, immerse yourself in unfamiliar
environments, and role-play customer scenarios.” – Chris Flink
• Synthesis: “Sense-making” of all your observations, recognize
patterns, identify themes and find meaning in all that you have
gathered (participate at food events, attend food conferences,
join local organizations – Slow foods, IACP, Les Dames)

5. INSPIRATION
• Ideas and Experimentation:
Explore all of the possibilities.
Generate countless ideas,
consider many divergent options
(make models, teach, start with
an ebook, start social platform).
• Implementation:This step has
many rounds to consider. Prepare
a roadmap to the marketplace
(food trucks, pop-ups, become
involved with brands, begin locally,
begin writing)

6. OVERCOMING FEAR
• Make more shots at the goal!
Creative people simply do
more experiments.
• Building with experience
encourages more creative
action. Start with small
projects.
• Permission to Fail. Give
yourself a “Get Out of Jail
Card” when you make
mistakes.

7. OVERCOMING FEAR
• Embrace Your Failures: “Success
has many fathers, but failure is an
orphan.” To learn from failure, you
must own it.
• Let Go of Comparison: Resilient
people are resourceful problem-
solvers, are more likely to seek
help, have strong social support,
and can be better connected with
colleagues.
• “Failure sucks, but it instructs!” –
Bob Sutton

8. COLLABORATION
• Get help: Hire somebody for a short period to help you. (hire a food or writing
coach)
• Create Peer Pressure: Invite others in to listen, even if they don’t participate. It is
the first step to getting something done. (food blogger’s group, writing group)
• Gather an Audience:Talk your ideas through to get your creative juices going.
Find a listener to move your ideas to the real world. Get feedback.

9. COLLABORATION
• Just get started: Just get something out there. Suspend
the idea of how well you are doing. (your first blog post,
first video, first talk)
• Leave perfection at the door: Create, create, create.
Make the big task less important, so it doesn’t paralyze
your creativity. (forcing writing, difficult content in your
paper or blog)

10. LONGEVITY
• Make It Informational: What the
book contains is more important than
the book itself.
• Be Aware of Your Audience: People
buy books for their own reasons and
use them for their own purposes. Find
out what those are and market to them.
• Be Original: Do not describe your
book as a current gimmick or trend.
Make it stand out.
• Just Do It! You can control the content
of your book. (It can be a booklet, a
series of podcasts or a set of cards)

11. SELF-PUBLISHING OPTIONS

12. EBOOKS
• Electronic version of the book
• Formats: Kindle (mobi), Nook (ePub), iBooks
(ePub & PDF), PDF
• Pros vs Cons

13. PRINT-ON-DEMAND (POD)
• You create the book, upload a PDF and books are
printed as they are sold
• Companies like CreateSpace, Ingram Spark, Blurb,
Zazzle, Lulu,Tastebook
• Pros vs Cons

14. INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS
• The publisher typically handles the book design, photography,
production and printing of the book.Author provides content.
• Author has a minimum order (1000’s) and is in charge of the
funding.
• Some publishers offer media exposure and brand promotion.
Some distribute the books locally, regionally, and nationally.They
handle the ISBN and are the publisher on record for your book.
• Pros vs Cons

15. PRINTER
• You create the book and send the printer a PDF.
• The printer prints the book and sends them all to
you or stores them for you.
• Pros vs Cons

16. SHOW METHE MONEY!

17. PRODUCTION COSTS
• ISBN (required)
• Editing
• Photography &
Graphics
• Book Design

18. POST-PRODUCTION COSTS
• Margin to Wholesalers, Distributors, and Retailers
• Fees for Online and Ebook Sales
• Shipping
• Distribution (if warehousing)
• PR Agency or Personal Promotions

19. HOWTO MAKE MONEY
• ValueYourTime
• Price Accordingly
• Avoid Overestimating
• ConsiderTrade Options
• Be Conservative with
Expenses

20. CALCULATING PROFIT
Self-Publishing with Sales via Amazon:
Book Sales Price X .45 = Gross Profit
Gross Profit – Cost of Book Production - Shipping
Cost Per Book – Warehousing / Distribution Costs –
Additional Expenses per Book = Profit Margin per
Book

21. Go Dairy Free Example:
$20.00 X .45 = $9.00
$9.00 - $1.75 (book production) - $1.00 (shipping
twice) - $.50 (total estimated cost per book / buffer)
= $5.75 per book
Print on Demand with CreateSpace (an Amazon
Company): $4.25 to $8.24 per book

22. HOWTO GET BOOK
FUNDING

23. FUNDING OPTIONS
• Your Personal Bank
Account
• Your Blog Income
• Book Pre-orders
• eBook Sales
• Crowdfunding (such as
GoFundMe,
Kickstarter and
Indiegogo)
• Friend and Family
Investors
• Industry Sponsors

24. OTHER INCOME SOURCES
• Speaking fees
• Cooking classes/demos
• Brand ambassadorships
• Merchandising (apron,
t-shirts, tea towels,
aprons, picture cards,
recipe cards)

25. MARKETING

26. MARKETING BASICS
• Who is yourTarget
Audience?
• Where do they shop?
• Where do they live?
• How do you get their
attention?

27. ENDLESS OPPORTUNITIES
• Your Book is always on the
Frontlist
• Sell and market your book
to new buyers in any stage
of your book’s life cycle

28. CREATING BUZZ
• Media:Traditional vs Non-Traditional
• Press Release: Newspapers (national, local, trade), magazines, radio, television, PR
agencies, bloggers, online magazines, social media, food shows, brands, blog subscribers
• Interviews: radio, local tv, G+ hangouts, blogs, podcasts
• Create a website, Facebook page, G+ Community for your book or company AS WELL
AS promote your book on your blog.
• BookTrailers onYouTube
• Book Awards
• Reviews and Blurbs

29. TRADITIONAL RETAILVENUES
FOR COOKBOOKS
• Use a distributor
• Sell in bookstores
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell off your blog

30. THINK OUT OFTHE BOX

31. • Gift Stores
• Specialty
Boutiques
• Kitchen Stores
• Gourmet
Markets
• Farmer’s Markets
• Museums
• Online Retailers
• Gift Basket
Producers
• Cooking Classes
• Company Health
Fairs
• Corporations
• Cooking Schools
• Hospitals
• Libraries
• Book Fairs &
Festivals
• Conventions
OTHER SALESVENUES

32. WITH GREAT POWER
COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY
You have total control over content.
You have total control over design.
You have total control over pricing.
You have total control over marketing.
!
You have total control over everything.

33. Are you ready to make the next move?

34. BUY OUR BOOKS!
TwoExtraVirgins.com
GoDairyFree.org

35. Ebook Publishing:
kdp.amazon.com -Top e-Retailer
www.kobo.com/publishers -Top e-Retailer
www.nookpress.com -Top e-Retailer
www.apple.com/itunes/working-itunes/sell-content/books/ -Top e-
Retailer
www.smashwords.com - Aggregator and eBook Conversion (% of
sales)
www.bookbaby.com - Aggregator, eBook Conversion, and Design
Services
(upfront fee)
!
Most Popular Print-On-Demand Companies:
www.createspace.com
www1.ingramspark.com
!
ISBN Registration:
www.isbn.org - Bowker has a monopoly, so this is where you have
to buy your ISBN.
!
How to Sell Wholesale (the basic big guys):
Amazon Advantage Account - advantage.amazon.com
Baker &Taylor for Distribution - www.btol.com
!
G+ Support Groups:
APE:Authors, Publishers, Entrepreneurs
Book Marketing & Book Promotion
Self-Published Cookbooks
!
Facebook Support Groups:
Cookbook Friends
!
Must Read:
APE:Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur-How to Publish a Book
Paperback by Guy Kawasaki
How to Make Real Money Selling Books by Brian Jud
Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us
All byTom Kelley
!
Informative Blogs and Websites:
The Book Designer
Independent Publisher
The Creative Penn
Jane Friedman
Dianne Jacob
!
Articles:
The making of theToronto Star Cookbook
I Self-Published a Cookbook, Despite it All
My Self-Publishing Journey: PuttingTogether My A-Team
Is Self-Publishing a Cookbook the Best Avenue forYou?
!
Other Doodads:
Royalty-Free Music:AudioMicro.com
Software: InDesign, iBooks Author,Word, Pages, Photoshop,
Acrobat
Professional Groups: IACP, Les Dammes, Publishers & Writers San
Diego
VistaPrint: cheap banners, post cards, color flyers
RESOURCES