Molly and Andrea speak with food journalist, poet and new cookbook author, Betsy Andrews, about her recent career pivot. She shares the story behind the book Coastal as it went from idea to article to cookbook and why a bidding war ensued after the proposal. She talks about how her hustle mentality and editorial background helped to craft the aspirational travelogue, the process to 'ventriloquize' another voice and why it was important to include metric measurements, time estimates and ingredient substitutions in the project. Finally she shares a few words of advice for others embarking on collaborative work.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Betsy Andrews

• Instagram
• Writing

Cheyenne Ellis photography

Dad's Luncheonette

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

• Coastal, by Scott Clarke and Betsy Andrews
• New Jersey, by Betsy Andrews
• Crowded, by Betsy Andrews

Molly and Kate speak with Rachel Belle, a journalist and Seattle media personality who was hired to write Open Sesame, a cookbook all about tahini. She talks about her background in food media, the unique way she joined the project (leave the house!), and how she learned the aspects of cookbook creation on the job. She takes us through the recipe creation and testing process, shares why it was important to inject her signature humor throughout the book and discusses what the most challenging aspect was. Finally she shares the questions she'd advise others in her position to ask and the new project she's got on her mind.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Rachel Belle

• Website
• Instagram
• Your Last Meal Podcast

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

• Open Sesame by Rachel Belle
• Tahini Baby by Eden Grinshpan
• Sesame by Rachel Simons

Kate and Kristin speak with Barkha Cardoz about the motivations and intentions behind expanding on her late husband Floyd Cardoz's legacy. She speaks about working with masala spice blends and why a collection of recipes was the next best step to demystify and empower home cooks, even though she has seen first hand the demanding nature of the cookbook creation process. She shares what the collaborative relationship was like with Burlap and Barrel, the experience of crowd sourcing recipe testing and why self producing the book allowed for the freedom and malleability of making exactly what they wanted. Finally she talks about Flavorwalla's second life, how Floyd's legacy still shows up in their community and what her plans are for the future.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Barkha Cardoz

• Website
• Instagram

With Love and Masalas

Burlap and Barrel

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

• Flavorwalla, by Floyd Cardoz

Kate, Kristin, and Molly speak with Maggie Hoffman, host of The Dinner Plan Podcast, about her varied career in food media and what led to her starting her show. Maggie reminiscences about blogging, editing and working at Serious Eats and Epicurious as well as the ever changing landscape of food media. She shares why she began her podcast, the concept behind it and the intimacy allowed by the audio medium. She discusses her hopes and goals for the show, how it relates to her newsletter and the upcoming books and guests she is excited to see featured.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Maggie Hoffman

• Podcast: The Dinner Plan Podcast
• Newsletter : The Dinner Plan
• Newsletter: What to Drink
• Instagram: Maggiejhoffman

Maggie's newsletter about starting a podcast

How to Battle Kitchen Burnout (And Still Get Dinner on the Table)

5 Spices, 50 Dishes, by Ruta Kahate

Staples + 5, by Tanorria Askew

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

• The One-Bottle Cocktail, by Maggie Hoffman
• Batch Cocktails, by Maggie Hoffman
• Dinner, by Meera Sodha
• The Secret of Cooking, by Bee Wilson
• Perfectly Good Food, by Margaret Li and Irene Li
• Staples + 5, by Tanorria Askew
• Salt Sugar MSG, by Calvin Eng
• What Goes with What, by Julia Turshen
• Ambitious Kitchen, by Monique Volz

Molly and Kristin speak with Corrie Locke-Hardy about their debut cookbook, which pairs their passion for social justice activism and food. Corrie talks about their atypical path towards publication, the unique approaches of their publisher and how the 'figure it out as you go' method worked during the book's creation. Corrie shares how they balanced the various tones of the book, why they focused on the recipes they did, how they worked with the team on its production, distribution, and promotion, and the project they hope to work on in the future.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Corrie Locke

• Website: The Tiny Activist
• Instagram: The Tiny Activist
  

The Washington Women's Cookbook

Sally Ekus

Raspberry Bow Press

High-Five Books

The Revolution Will Be Well Fed, by Corrie Locke-Hardy

Episode 85: A Juneteenth Cookbook for Kids with Alliah Agostini and Taffy Elrod

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

In this first episode of Season 7 Kristin, Molly, Kate and Andrea sit down to ask the question: What happens when we start with Who instead of Why? They share the readers they had in mind when they wrote their first books and why its important to identify an audience instead of writing to the market. They share a few tips to research such as demographic data, awareness level and niching down as well as the tools and actions that could be helpful when either identifying or building an audience for a project. Finally they introduce a new Everything Cookbooks offering and tease our upcoming slate of new episodes.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Subscribe to our brand new Substack here!

EVCB Community Discount on Substack

Simon Sinek TedX Talk "Start with Why"

Episode 61: Writing a Second Edition with Lukas Volger

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

• Why I Cook, by Tom Collichio
• Cooking for Jeffrey by Ina Garten
• Coastal, by Scott Clarke with Betsy Andrews
• Start with Why, by Simon Sinek
  

Kate and Kristin discuss all things hybrid publishing with Vasudha Viswanath, the author of The Vegetarian Reset. Vasudha shares a quick rundown of the typical routes of publishing and why she chose to go down the hybrid path. She talks about the pitching process, what partnership publishers cover (and don't), the recipe development steps and how she assembled her creative and publicity team. She describes the part her book plays in her business strategy and her experience learning as she goes in the cookbook community.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Vasudha Viswanath

• The Vegetarian Reset
• Substack: We Ate Well
• Instagram

The Collective Book Studio

Episode 40: Snackable Bakes with Jessie Sheehan

Episode 47: Self-Publishing Cookbooks with Nick Fauchald

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing

IngramSpark

52 Shabbats by Faith Kramer

Reedsy

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

• Will Write for Food by Dianne Jacob

Andrea leads today's chat about selling a cookbook and all the nitty gritty elements that go into it. Kristin, Molly and Kate share some of their own insights and lessons learned about advances, royalties, contract negotiation, and how to keep the right amount of tension there. They discuss how to gauge the value of your idea, morality clauses and what to look out for when looking over a contract. Finally, they answer a listener SOS and Kate gets the lowdown on the angst of butter measurement.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Andrea Nguyen + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions:

An Agent Answers: “What Should I Expect for a Cookbook Advance?”

Would You Write a Cookbook for Next to Nothing? by Priya Krishna

The Trouble with Big Deals, by Brooke Warner

“9 Questions For When A Book Publisher Calls”

How to Make Sure Your Cookbook Deal Is Worth It, by Sonya Chopra

The Hidden Risks of Writing a Cookbook by Sierra Tishgart

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show