Dianne Jacob, Kristine Kidd, Amy Sherman

The first panel at the International Food Blogger Conference (IFBC) this past weekend in Seattle dealt with writing a great recipe, paying for content, and taking your work as a food blogger to the next level. Dianne Jacob, author of Will Write for Food, sat alongside writer and recipe developer, Amy Sherman (BAB blogger) and cookbook author and former food editor of Bon Appetit Kristine Kidd. Each speaker brought their own unique experiences in writing and recipe development, kicking off the session by discussing the importance of being generous and giving proper credit when adapting a recipe. Amy Sherman also urged bloggers and writers not to give recipes away for free. It can be flattering for beginning bloggers to be approached by online sites of print publications requesting to use a recipe. But Sherman noted that this only complicates things for folks trying to make a living by writing and developing recipes. While there were great tips on how to approach editors with recipes and how to take recipe development to the next level, the heart of the panel discussion was based around writing a great recipe. Below you'll find some of the highlights:

Elements of a Recipe
Jacob, Sherman and Kidd discussed the four main elements that make up a recipe--each should be carefully considered to engage your reader, and achieve continuity and clarity:

1) Title: Keep your title straightforward, tempting, descriptive and fun. After all, it's the first thing your reader will see.

2) Headnotes: The headnote of a recipe is the information right after the title and before the ingredient list. It's important here to tempt your readers, give them either sensual or helpful information (or both!), perhaps some cultural or historical tidbits regarding the recipe or a personal story. Kidd discussed the importance of the headnote as an invitation for your readers--make them curious about your food. The headnote is the "why" of the recipe: out of all of the gazpacho recipes in the world, why are readers going to want to make yours?

3) Ingredients: The speakers agreed that it's most common to list ingredients in the order in which they're used. They also encouraged writers to remember that readers also use the ingredient list as a shopping list, so make it easy to shop from. An example Kidd provided was calling for "1 medium onion" instead of "2 cups onion"--people don't shop for 2 cups of onion.

4) Directions: Think about how you'd like to present your directions. Often, if there's an editor involved, you won't have a choice. But if it's on your personal food blog or website, make a decision: do you want numbered steps, bullets, or short paragraphs? Readability and clarity are key.

Conference attendees busily taking notes

Recipe Writing Tips
Jacob, Sherman, and Kidd moved on to discuss their own personal tips and advice for crafting an inviting recipe that works:

1) They began by encouraging people to think about their style of recipe writing: are you brief and direct or warm and friendly? Like any kind of good writing, you need to find your voice and make a concerted effort to remain consistent in the way you write your recipes. Chatty is o.k. (although it tends to be longer which Kidd pointed out often discourages readers)--just be chatty consistently.

2) Give more than one indicator: In recipe writing, indicators are descriptions or hints describing when a task is completed. Because all ovens are different, weather conditions vary, and folks have differing levels of cooking experiences, having more than one indicator is critical. An example: "Saute onions for ten minutes or until golden brown" ("ten minutes" and "until golden brown" are your indicators here).

3) Use the word "about" before giving a prescriptive number of minutes. Again, since everyone has different ovens and is working with numerous variables, adding "about" gives the recipe writer a bit of an out--putting some responsibility in the hands of the reader.

4) Give more than one measurement: Giving readers both weight and volume measurements is important, especially with baking Sherman noted. Kidd suggested that with savory cooking like soup, very precise weight measurements are probably not as critical.

5) Think About Your Audience: It's imperative to think about your reader: who are they? How much information do they already know? Of course, these are always mere guesses but you need to decide if it's important to give instructions on sauteing onions. Will this be obvious to them? Where do you draw the line on how much information and instruction to provide?

Recipe Writing Resources
Jacob, Sherman, and Kidd suggested looking at food websites and magazines you like for good models. Sherman encouraged reading international magazines as well to look for new and interesting food trends that haven't quite surfaced here in the States. They also provided a list of the following fabulous recipe writing resources:

Recipe Writers Handbook

The Food Substitution Bible

Food Lovers Companion

Recipes Into Type

Conference Attendees Debriefing: Denise Woodward (Chez Us), Tracy Benjamin (Shutterbean), and Kristina McLean (TNLocavore)

Last week, So You Want to Write a Cookbook: Part 1 offered some insider advice to would-be authors with Julia Child ambitions. Today, with Part 2, a few answers to those questions you didn't know to ask, from what makes a recipe yours to how to get an agent.

How do I create an original recipe?

1. Read cookbooks, and travelogues, and biographies and memoirs of interesting people from cultures that intrigue you. New cookbooks are the most seductive, of course, but the 641 section of the library is every food writer's friend. Other people's recipes can be a starting point; after all, you can't create your own pesto recipe without knowing the typical way a pesto is put together. Anything you taste, or even just read about, can be an inspiration for a recipe. The important part? Once you've got your idea, get in the kitchen and mess around. Measure, take notes, taste, take more notes, make it again. This is the part that is messy and time consuming, but the strength of your recipes depends on it.

Once you've got your recipes nailed down, pass them around. Get your mom, your friends (especially the ones who say they can't cook), and your neighbors to make these dishes. No hints, no tips, just what's written down. See if you can taste and take a look at what they produce.

As for the source of your inspiration, when in doubt, attribute. Cookbook author and former Bay Area pastry chef David Lebovitz recently posted a very useful article about copyrighting and fair play around recipes. Remember, even if you found something floating around on the internet with no attribution, it didn't get there by itself. Someone, somewhere created that recipe, and it's not yours until you've shaken it up, changed some ingredients, and re-written the instructions in your own voice.

OK, I've got my recipes. How do I get published?

2. The short answer? You get an agent to do it for you. Why? Because professionals use agents, and that means that submissions that come through agents are considered more seriously by publishers. Agents know what publishers are looking for, and so an agent will work with you to polish your submission into something worth publishing. Having opened a lot of unsolicited submissions during my time working at Chronicle Books, I can say that most un-agented submissions didn't tell us what we needed to know.

Swell. How do I get an agent?

3. You pick up a bunch of cookbooks similar to yours and read the acknowledgments. There aren't that many agencies that represent cookbook authors, so you'll have a short list in no time. You can also ask any friends who've been published who represents them, and if they've had a good experience with their representation.

The way you get an agent interested is the same way you get a publisher interested: with a great proposal. Remember, charming as you may be, you're only useful to an agent if your book sells.

A proposal should include:
• A brief cover letter, explaining your idea, who you are, and why you're the right person to write this book. If you have a connection to any fellow authors represented by that agency, and they've given you the OK to use their name, mention it here.
• A C.V. covering your writing and/or culinary experience, including any awards as well as anything that makes you look promotable and media-savvy, like cooking demos or TV appearances.
• Marketing and trend research, pointing out why this is a hot topic now, acknowledging similar books, and explaining how your book differs from the competition.
• A table of contents
• A recipe list
• The introduction, followed by a sample chapter including 3 or 4 recipes.
• Press clips lauding any of your previous books, or clips of published articles you've written

What if I've never published anything else? Doesn't my blog count?

4. Get published first, before you try to pump out a book. A publisher wants to be sure that you can write on deadline and handle the editorial process. The only way to prove this is to write professionally for a while. A personal blog is a good calling card, but just because you can write to your own satisfaction doesn't mean you can do it as a job. Those bloggers you've heard of getting book deals? Most of them were professionals in the publishing world already, either as writers, designers, or photographers. Get some experience pitching articles and writing for editors, and you'll be much better equipped to produce a book.

Your brownies reign supreme. Your roast chicken makes Zuni Cafe look like Safeway's rotisserie. Proposals--not all tongue-in-cheek--pile up when your strawberry-rhubarb pie arrives. Your friends, your family, your blogging buddies all agree: you should write a book. They'd buy it, their friends would buy it, Ina and Martha would arm-wrestle over who would get you on her show first.

Don't you wish it was that easy?! The first thing to know about writing a cookbook is that publishing is a business, and businesses have to make money to stay in business. They do this by paying attention to a whole lot of things, from profit and loss projections to trend research. It helps to realize, right from the beginning, that your book will get published only if a bunch of people (and not just editors, but sales and marketing folks too) can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it will sell and make money.

Of course, if you just want to give out your favorite recipes to family and friends, it's easier than ever to self-publish, especially as an on-demand or e-book. But if you want the glamour of a Library of Congress number and a place on your local bookstore's cookbooks shelf, you'd better toughen up.
Here, words to the wise, part 1:

1. It's a cookbook, not the Great American Novel. Yes, some people buy (and read) cookbooks for the writing, just like some people buy Playboy for the articles. But, just like Playboy, many more people buy it for the pictures, or in this case, the recipes. Content editors, copy editors, proofreaders, and yes, even your editor's phone-answering assistant will be slicing and dicing your precious prose. Believe it or not, they're actually making you sound better. If you can't hand over this kind of control, stick with self-publishing.

2. Learn to write recipes like the pros. This means being consistent from start to finish. For example, ingredients should always be listed in the order in which they're going to be used. Measurements should be written the same way each time, not teaspoon on one page and tsp the next. Each time you saute an onion or roll out a batch of pastry dough, it helps to trot out the same description in the same language. Consider your audience, too. If you're a professional pastry chef, you probably work your recipes out by weight-- easier and much more consistent, of course, except that most American home bakers measure by teaspoons and cups, not grams and ounces.

3. Stay ahead of the trends. Would-be authors are often shocked to find out just how long it takes to put out a book. Let's put it this way: if you sold your book idea tomorrow, you probably wouldn't see a finished copy until fall of 2010 at the earliest; more likely spring of '11. Which means the trend of the moment better have some long legs. I don't doubt that someone's pitching a goat cookbook right now, goat being the latest meat white people like. A goat cookbook on the shelves right now would be perfect; in two years, who knows? The meat-garde among us may have moved on to rabbit and guinea pig.

4. Have a hook. It's not enough to throw together your greatest hits if no one knows your name. it's sad but true that being famous in one realm is usually enough to get a hotshot deal in another (see Schwarzenegger, Governor Arnold). The rest of us have to rely on snappy ideas.

5. Got your hook? Now you need your title. Skinny Bitch, Hot Sour Salty Sweet, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, Snakes on a Plane: all of these tell you exactly what you need to know, including the authors' attitude. I'm a little embarrassed by the very literal title of my latest book. Then again, calling an astrology cookbook The Astrology Cookbook does make the Googling pretty darn easy.

6. Prove yourself. It helps if your connection to your cuisine of choice is breathtakingly obvious. You're Jewish and you're writing about the new kosher cooking! You own a fish restaurant and you're writing about seafood! Of course, crossovers do happen-- just ask Arthur Schwartz, now a go-to guy for Southern Italian. But no matter where you come from, you better have a good answer as to why and how you're an expert-- in fact, the ONLY expert-- on your particular topic.

7. Figure out what goes where. If you were a punk band, you wouldn't send your demo to Deutsche Grammophon, would you? When I worked at Chronicle Books, I opened up a lot of proposals for diet schemes, foodie memoirs, and celebrity cookbooks-- none of which matched anything on our list. Ask for a catalog, browse through the library or a well-stocked bookstore cookbook section and see what titles come close to yours before you start pitching your proposals.

Up next: what's in a proposal, creating (and copyrighting) recipes, and do you need an agent?