On Writing Cookbooks

Q&A about blog posts vs cookbook recipes

Every now and then I get an email or a DM asking for advice on writing a cookbook and I thought I’d share my responses here too as I wish I had known where to find some of this information before I started writing my first cookbook. So I hope this might be useful, but also, consider this an open invitation to ask away — I’m happy to share any advice I can based on my experience over the past 7 years writing and promoting my cookbooks.

Suzanne, a food blogger in Canada, wrote:

I have a question for you about food blogs and writing cookbooks. I’m curious about how food bloggers choose recipes for their blog (which anyone has access to for free) vs creating recipes for a cookbook. Are you conscious of writing a cookbook when you’re blogging? Do you purposely keep certain recipes off your blog and save for a cookbook? Are the recipes on your blog completely separate/different from your cookbooks? And is that on purpose? I have always wanted to write a cookbook, since I was a teenager, actually. I like writing a blog, because I like telling the stories, creating the recipes, and the photography and the instant connection with others. But I like the physical permanence and the accomplishment of a printed cookbook. I guess I’m curious how to make both of these work together.