The recipes are done and I’ve sat down to write the introduction to Prepped. It’s hard. It’s not that I haven’t got heaps to say about it, but I tend to skip introductions in recipe books and go straight to the recipes. Do you read the introductions and the how to use this book bit?
Prepped is for time short foodies. When I did the research and the interviews in Waterstones recipe book section with recipe book buyers I discovered that 73% of people consider they are time short. 72 % of the recipe book buyers thought of themselves as foodies. ( this result was from 100 recipe book buyers) Now as I sit down to write I realise that I’m usually too busy to read an intro! I can’t help wondering – will anyone actually read this bit? Or like me will they go straight to flicking through the book and stop dead at a photograph of something delicious that I decide there and then I absolutely have to make! Let's hope those photos are good!!
The trick I believe to getting to even to the point of a person in a book shop to look through a recipe book is making the book cover look so lovely that you have to pick it up and peek inside, so the cover has been designed with that wonderful wallop of pink and apple green to look fabulous!
But then there is the second point that I was told about to have a successful recipe book at which most books are bought by recommendation. Which means you need to get your book talked about. They only way to get your book talked about is to introduce it to people who are the sort of person to use the recipes in the first instance.
So here I am writing the introduction thinking about introducing Prepped to the sort of remarkable person who is a time short foodie who people sit up and take notice of what they say. Someone who juggles it all, children, work, family, home, friends and a social life - so I shall spend the next few days seeing if they will have enough time to take a closer look at Prepped and if they might be willing to say something to recommend it.
I do hope so! *deep breath*
It’s nerve wracking !
Fingers crossed.
I don't always read the introductions when I first get the books, but I do usually go back and read them later, so they rarely go totally unread in my house!
ReplyDeleteGood luck - you're clearly doing a fantastic job :)
Oh - and I took the pumpkin/caraway pie to my granddad's 90th birthday party at the weekend - everyone totally loved it.
I always read the first few pages of a book, they say so much about the author and their ethos and why they wrote the book and who they are writing it for and are a really important part of letting the reader get to know YOU. I think if they like you, they will like your recipes, they will like your book and tell people about it. Although I am definitely "time short" I actually take cook books to bed and read them as I would read a novel!! So, even though a person may be "time short" in the kitchen when it comes to preparing meals they may well find the time at other times of the day to have a good read of your first few pages and salivate over your gorgeous photos and recipes! Home stretch now!!! Well done X
ReplyDeleteThanks. When I think about i do read the intro.. but yo are right .. it's normally in bed when i get the chance. I feel better now I know you read the intro !
ReplyDeleteI always read the intro. I want to know about the writer and their inspiration for writing the book. Keep it very personal. Mention your parents, hubby and kids. Do not list and thank the staff at the publishers.
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