Yorio Kim - The Joy of Writing a Great Cookbook: How to Share Your Passion for Cooking from Idea to Published Book to Marketing It Like a Bestseller

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For Thomas

I threw my first book party in 2013. Im not sure why I had never thrown one before, but I had just published my 14th cookbook in the U.K., Jamies 15-Minute Meals, and wanted to celebrate and thank all of the people who had been such an amazing team creating these books with me over the years. We invited everyone who had helped us make the books such a success. From Tom Weldon, my original publisher, to David Loftus, my great mate and brilliant photographer who has worked on all of my books, to the art guys, my food team of recipe testers, my editorial team, and of course my staff and family. Kim Yorio, of course, was one of them, my secret weapon in the U.S. market. But there was one guest who really stood out. Mrs. Murphy, my special education teacher from primary school.

Her arrival was a surprise to me, and Im not embarrassed to write that we both welled up with tears when we saw each other. For a dyslexic kid who could barely read in primary school to write a book and see the teacher who had helped him all those years ago was really emotional.

No one was more surprised than I was when I published my first cookbook. The Naked Chef was a collection of recipes that I had written on scraps of paper, saved in a bin liner and pulled out when the TV people explained we needed a companion book to go with my first television series.

What I wanted to communicate in my cookbooks, even way back then, was that cooking from scratch is fun and easy, and that anyone can do it with the right encouragement and directions. I dont bother with superaccurate measurements (why should you measure olive oil if two glugs into the pan will work just fine?) and try to make the dishes sound appealing and fun. I like the idea of people picking up my books and not being too snooty about food. Its business, theres no mucking about, its pulling your finger out and saying: Lets create some bloody good cooking for busy people. In that spirit, I write all my recipes as if I am talking to a mate. Ive also made sure that every cookbook Ive ever written has been fully illustrated and Ive had the honor to work with David Loftus on almost every single one of them. I also have been really lucky that our art director from Penguin, John Hamilton, lets us partner with him to design the books in the way that will make the most sense for the material. Thats the keythere are a million ways to write a cookbook, but how you present the material, your photography, your design and your style can make all the difference.

In my book 30-Minute Meals, I used step-by-step pictures to show people how to make each dish as quickly and efficiently as possibleits all a bit family and a bit DIY and I love that. Its bold colors, dark meats, light sauces and contrasting salads. When I was coming up with the meals and started tweaking recipes, I was almost cooking by color. Not only would you have texturessomething crispy with something softbut Id also be putting something dark with something light. I think that is a really beautiful way to cook, and it really worked for that book.

In 15-Minute Meals, I just liked the simplicity of the dishes, and the finished dish said quite a lotnot just about how cool it looks but also how to serve it, so I did the opposite of 30-Minute Meals and only took one picture, and stripped the words right back. I want people to cook it quickly and for it to work. People are looking at these pictures saying, No way, I cant do that in 15 minutes, youre just saying that because youre a chef, but a little read of these stripped down words and they are convinced they can. We have had students cooking them in 15 minuteswe have done all the hard work, all of the screwing up, so you can just get on with it.

I am pretty sure thats exactly what Kimbo is trying to do in this bookall the hard work so you can just get on with writing the book you love and selling it like crazy. Kimbo, Kimberly Yorio as she is known to you, has been my American publicist since I started with The Naked Chef in America in 2000. On top of her crazy good palate, relationships with all of the top chefs and incredible Jersey Girl temper, she knows the American market better than anyone Ive met. She has guided me through all of the national television shows and magazine interviews, sorted out my messagesno easy feat given that I am promoting different books and shows in different countries on different days. What I respect about Kimbo is that she always tells me the truth. Unlike most publicists who tell you what you want to hear, she presents the good and the bad and always offers a way to make it better. Shes been by my side on every book in America and Canada, plus all of my shows, products and for my Foundation. Kimbo knows a thing or two about cookbooks and how to write a good one. Read this book. Take her advice. And just get on with it!

Good luck and Bless,

Jamie O

I had no idea how big the cookbook market was when I started. As a kid, my mother cooked with recipes from womens magazines and The Betty Crocker Recipe Card File. I used to love to flip through those cards trying to narrow down my birthday cake options. One year it was a gingerbread house covered in Necco Wafers and another was a giant white rabbit covered in coconut. (Wilton had just started selling those animal pans and I just had to have one!)

But cookbooks? In addition to the card file, we had maybe two other booksan orange Betty Crocker general cookbook and a Womans Day compendium. We were a Betty-heavy household. So imagine my surprise when, as a young woman early in my career, I found people who were absolutely crazy for cookbooksand this was before the Food Network.

Ive worked with cookbooks for 23 years out of my 25-year career, in-house as a publicist and marketing director and as a for-hire publicist and agent. Ive coauthored a cookbook (Magic in the Kitchen with photographer Jan Bartelsman) for Artisan Books, sold three cookbooks to three different publishers as an agent and written at least 10 cookbook proposals.