Yes You Can Write a Cookbook

You don't need to be a top chef to write and publish a cookbook on the internet. You just need the will, some great recipes and the occasional helping hand.

Writing a cookbook is no different to producing any other kind of do-it-yourself manual, because in the end that's really all it is.

No matter how many recipes it contains, or cooking lessons, or simply cooking hints and tips, in the end it's pretty much a formula that you can easily follow.

What you do need to do is write something that is original in content and will grab the imagination.

The last thing the world needs is just another recipe book. If that's all it is people won't buy it. It has to have something extra, such as an interesting and original niche.

As an example, a couple of years or so ago Southern cooking was all the rage and people were buying up ebooks about cathead biscuits and collard greens. But that's over now and the internet's cooks have moved on. The trick is not to follow them, but to lead them to something fresh.

As a cook yourself you probably have an area of cooking that you particularly enjoy, or which may be an extension of something else. For example, if you are a trout fisherman you might be able to combine a book on how to cook trout with hints on trout fishing.

Someone who does a lot of outdoor cooking must have a wealth of information to pass on and although this has been done already, there is still room for improvement.

One idea that springs to mind is a cookbook on using the leftover coals of a charcoal barbecue. It has always struck me they could be used to slow bake some pies, or bread or whatever and a recipe book based on that would, I am sure, get read.

Cookbooks don't have to be based on the latest trend in food preparation, far from it. Collections of recipes from previous generations, World War 2 cookbooks and even books on old kitchen methods, especially if they can be made to seem relevant to today's modern cook, all find a ready audience.

You don't even need to have all this information at your fingertips. There is a vast amount of it freely available on the internet and in your local library's reference section. What you do not already know you can learn, compile into a comprehensive whole and publish.

Just be sure to do a little research to see what your competition may be. You could be in for a surprise. Your family recipes might be not only unique, but an excellent way of filling a gap in the market. Some of the most sought after cooking articles are on diabetes, picky eaters, budget cooking, nutrition, cooking for the sick and elderly and so on.

If you have any expertise at all in any one of these niches you will find a ready market for your book.