cookbook proposal/query

[kelkel]

Hi everyone! I have a question....
I have an idea for a cookbook and I would like to know the best way to submit the idea to publishers. Should I just write the letter, outline, sample chapters, or complete manuscript, etc.? Any help you could give me would be sincerely appreciated! Thanks in advance, K

[byarvin]

K:

While I don't know the "best" way (or even if there is one), I've found that an outline, a sample chapter and ten recipes has worked for me in the past. My experience is that editors really look closely at recipe format and quality.

Good luck!

[L M Ashton]

Oddly enough, the second post by byarvin doesn't show up in the index page, so this thread appears not answered. So, I'm bumping this in case anyone who's interested in the answer didn't notice it because of that problem. *sigh* :)

[kelkel]

Thanks for the well wishes-and the bump too :)

The book I'm thinking of is really more of a compilation of other peoples recipes that they give me. The book would be more focused on the stories that accompany the recipes themselves. The reason I asked the question is because the cookbook "topic" is in relation to a current event, so time is kind of the essence. By the time I gather the stories and recipes,etc., put something together and THEN started mailing proposals and waiting for responses, it could be a year or more (if at all of course). I'm (obviously) a total amateur at all this and I am wondering what the shortest acceptable route would be for me to get the ball rolling so-to-speak. I know shortcuts aren't usually a good way to go about anything but......
Thanks again! K

[MOON GODDESS]

Most people I know who have published a book say that it takes at least a year to get in to market, although some smaller books hit the shelves in months. I think it depends on the type of book and the publisher.
Anyway, I was always curious about recipe books. Aren't most recipes, "passed down" within families or relatively new? The new ones are probably copyrighted, but are the older ones "public domain" if they aren't found in a copyrighted book? Just curious.

[kelkel]

Here is the US Gov link to recipe copyright info :) Kel

http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl122.html

[expatbrat]

Sounds like a great idea for a cook book. Good luck with that.

And - just so you know how fast books CAN get out, I was getting sent home from Beijing at the start of SARS, and transfering in Singapore I noticed there were three books already in the bookshops, on SARS!!!

Thats dammm quick! It was at least one month before the city of Beijing was shut down. It was only a few weeks after it became a big deal.

[MOON GODDESS]

Thanks, KelKel, for the info. I was going to visit LOC but hadn't gotten around to it, so thanks for the help.