The Paperback

Some have asked why did I have my book published as a paperback, like a novel, and not as a hard cover with big, pretty color pictures, like most cookbooks?

Well, I'll tell ya.  I've found most pretty-pictured cookbooks to be for show, rather than for information. Yes, there are fantastic cookbooks with lovely pictures.  But a cookbook that is filled with valuable information and good recipes will stand on its own.

1. It's cheaper to produce and sell. My paperback is available for $8.99, and I can apply a discount if I wish for a bit cheaper (which I have, btw, in Where To Buy).  In order to produce a really nice hard bound, color picture book, I would have to sell it for over $50 with my current publishing options.  Putting color to the black and white version of this paperback would be over $30. Perhaps with a regular publisher, I could get one out cheaper. So why not just post the book info on the web site? Well, not all drivers (and other people) have Internet, especially on the road.

I'm not so concerned about making money off this book. My concern is getting it out to the people who need and/or want this information.  What folks are paying for is the information I've provided, my expertise, if you will, with the printing costs.  Using a Print on Demand service, I can provide this book in a professionally bound paperback that is cost effective. It is actually cheaper than printing it myself with my printer and binding equipment. With this method, I can provide the best information at the cheapest price to the customer.

2. It's more handy in a truck.  A truck driver, especially, doesn't need a big, fancy, pretty book to look at.  He/she needs an easy to store, easy to read information guide on how to eat healthy and how to get that healthy food.

3. One of the best cookbooks I know of, the one I consider my "cooking bible" is a paperback, black and white with very few pictures. It's called "The Joy of Cooking" by Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker. It's huge. It has 915 black and white pages with some hand drawn illustrations sparingly peppered throughout the book. The value of the book isn't the pretty pictures to entice you to buy it, it's the fantastic information and tons of helps and recipes that it contains.  It was first published in 1931 and is still in print today. I do prefer the older versions to the newer ones, as I like real cooking rather than combining prepackaged processed foods ("the all-purpose cookbook" rather than the "All New, all Purpose...".  I highly recommend it to anyone who loves to cook or wants to learn to cook.

Most cookbooks have one picture of the finished dish for each recipe, while some have pictures for each process. I do post some "in process" sequence pictures here on this site, and may be developing a "how to cook" cookbook in the future which would merit step-by-step pictures.

Will there be anymore?  Certainly. I am in the process of publishing the companion book in the future with further information and many more recipes, and possibly in the distant future, combining the two.  The Companion is in publishing process through CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, ISBN: 978-1479161430, (c) Lisa Murray 2012.  I am accepting contributions of info and recipes to the companion book now.