You probably thought we forgot, but actually I’m just procrastinating. We still want to publish our 2 e-books, but we’re caught up in the details.
Maybe you can help us.
One big detail for both books is the number of photos. We don’t have any for the cookbook, and very few for Big Family, Small House. How important do you think photos are in an e-book? Do they just make the file bigger to download, or do they really add to the reading experience?
For the cookbook in particular, how important is it to have photos of the finished product? I can see how it would be helpful, but it would also really increase the file size and slow down the project. Should we invest the time? Maybe just a few photos here and there?
And what shall we call our cookbook? I have to admit, I’m rather pleased with it and I want the perfect title. It’s over 50 of our favorite recipes. Most (but not all) are frugal and easy, and all are rated for difficulty so you’ll know whether to turn your 9yo loose in the kitchen. I also included all the cheeky chitchat that you find when I post recipes to the blog.
So what would you call it? Something fun, something frugal, something kid-friendly but not just for kids…help!
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A cookbook has to have photos. If I am learning how to do something I need to know not only what it looks like when I am done, but throughout the process. The online tutorials I have loved most have been very detailed and pictures for every step. I know it makes the file bigger, but if it were me, I would be disappointed to find out if had no pictures after I purchased it and wouldn’t purchase it if it stated upfront no pictures.
Kim
I think having photos would allow you to slightly increase the price – but not too much, because you’re frugal and also because the buyer would have to print it out. Is it just me, or does coloured inkjet ink cost a fortune?
As to the title, how about something like “Don’t Give ‘Em Broth Without Any Bread…Recipes from the Family Who Lives in a Shoe”?
In Him
Meredith
Pictures can help appeal and “advertise” such that you decide you just MUST HAVE that cookbook so you can get the recipe. OTOH, on an ebook — the pictures don’t come out looking very good. Certainly not like a printed cookbook so you might be able to get away without them if you wrote introductions to the recipes that were interesting and appealing.
(And I print everything in b&w due to lack of ability to print in color without paying Kinko’s… so that also makes pictures less appealing “just because”)
Pictures for both books please. I need to know what my cooking is “supposed” to look like and for the other book I want to SEE how you make things work with lots of people and a little house.
Can the cookbook title be something that has to do with bread and stones…? I’m drawing a blank of exactly what, though.
Could you have access to the photos online? The photos by themselves don’t do tons of good without a recipe, so I don’t know that you’d even need to guard access. But, I much prefer having photos for recipes I try. I would not buy access to recipes that were mostly without photos. On the other hand, I have a dial-up connection and couldn’t download an e-book with photos and printing the photos would be a pain….
You can always add anchor texted hyperlinks in the ebooks for deeper lessons (photo – how-to’s or even how-to videos which you prepare in advance and upload to a subdomain that cannot be accessed unless you have the specific link which is only publicized in the ebook).
My two favorite cookbooks have NO photos in them. Just to tell you that there are great books out there with NO photos (one is an encyclopedia of country living and nourishing traditions, neither have photos for the recipes and I fondly return to these wonderful
cookbooksresource books).So my vote: create added value by offering a subdomain with “private” access for those who buy the book and go wild with your pictures/videos.
Mother Hubbard Cookbook: The Best Kept Secrets of Cooking In a Shoe
(sorry, I am kind of lame when it comes to titles!)
I was just thinking. And my most frequently used cookbooks don’t have much in the way of pictures. Better Homes and Gardens. The Best Recipe. Dinner’s in the Freezer by Jill Bond
I don’t think you need pictures unless the result is something most people would be unfamiliar with. We should all basically know what a roast looks like but I once made a recipe for a Clafloutis without having seen a pictures and I had no idea if I was even on the right track.
I´m with the “photos, please!” crowd. Especially since most of what you cook are things I´m unfamiliar with (being used to slavonic and german cuisine) and have no idea what should they look like, plus – they´re appetizing.
And you can stick cute kids in them every here and there to boost the sales
Would it be a huge hassle to create two versions, one sans pictures and one with? I am definitely not going to print the ebook if I buy it; I don´t really care about the file size and I´d really, really want the photos. Perhaps if you didn´t embed the photos into the text, just left them as full size “extra pages” – that way you´d only have to take them and edit them, not re-design the page layout as well.
Best of luck! I´m looking forward to the finished product.
Skip the pictures! I hate pictures in my cookbook because it makes me feel bad when my doesn’t look the same. Plus, some of the best recipes I’ve made don’t look all that great. My favorite cookbook, How to Cook Everything” doesn’t have any pictures and I love it! And it is more to download.
That said, it appears that a lot of people like the pictures. Maybe offer it both ways, without pictures and with some.
As for a title, maybe something like “The Big Family, Small Kitchen Cookbook for All Ages.” Maybe a little wordy? Or just have a contest…everyone loves a contest. But that’s only if you don’t want to use my title. Then skip the contest and give me a free copy of the e-book.
I like pictures in a book, but for an e-book it would make it slower to load.
For the cookbook how about Fifty Fun and Frugal Favorites? Even if it’s more than fifty, it’s just catchy.
I know that I personally LOVE to have pictures in my cookbook! Alot of times what I choose to cook is purely a decision off of visual appeal! Plus I think it can really add to a book and make it more appealing to your readers!
How about one or two big pictures of a table with set with several of the best dishes on it (or best looking, also labeled) ? Like a buffet shot.
I am in favor of photos in the cookbook. One of my favorites had a recipe photo index at the front of the cookbook. It was easy to thumb through this index and make a decision.
Photo how-to’s illustrating a step in the recipe which is easy to see but hard to describe.
I REALLY like Meredith’s suggested title: Don’t Give ‘Em Broth Without Any Bread…Recipes from the Family Who Lives in a Shoe. It says everything: frugality yet generosity. That would also suggest deliciousness and not blandness because you were being cheap. That title would definately set the cookbook apart from a lot of others out there. I’d buy it. Titles with “frugal” and “big family” are unnecessary. Again, those titles also suggest casseroles, hot dogs, and mac n cheese. We all know how to do that. Meredith’s title is really a lot more interesting and enticing as I KNOW your cookbook is. I LOVE the suggestion of generosity.
if I’m looking at a cookbook I flip through looking for pictures, if they aren’t there I don’t buy it. I think it’s a built in need to know what the food is going to look like so I can decide if it’s going to taste good
I’d say that cookbook photos are unnecessary, but the big family/small house could probably use a few-but not necessarily a bunch.
I don’t have a name suggestion, but would like to throw my vote in for Meredith’s suggestion:
“Don’t Give ‘Em Broth Without Any Bread…Recipes from the Family Who Lives in a Shoe”?
I like photos, but they’re not necessary for a cookbook if the recipes are not difficult, multi-step processes. Title? “Cooking in a Shoe: The Methods and Madness of Meals for One Family of 12″
Meals in a Shoe: Fun and Frugal Recipes for Cooks Young and Old and Families Large and Small
I just tested recipes for an e-book cookbook and took pictures of the recipes I tested for the finished product. This was the second in the series and one of the big complaints that customers has was that there were not pictures of each recipe in the first cookbook. I really enjoyed testing the recipes, so maybe you could enlist a few friends or fans to test recipes and take pics of the finished product for you. If you do, I’m certainly interested in helping!
I would not buy an e-cookbook without pictures. but, since there are a lot of people who prefer it without, offer it both ways.
Actually, after reading the comments to here: an accompanying ebook of pictures (and best would be NOT the perfect pictures, but the REAL life ones… with the cook who has a smidgen of flour on her nose and a lopsided cake…) might be a great way to have your cake and eat it to?
The cookbooks I usually cook out of have no pictures. When I want a specific recipe I can’t find in one of them, I go online. When I cook from a home cookbook with no pictures, I am always satisfied with the taste. When I cook from an online recipe with pictures, I usually think “eww, this will be gross, it doesn’t look like the picture, I probaby did it wrong.” In my opinion, pictures add doubt that doesn’t need to be there. So, no pictures, in my opinion.
I am totally a visual learner, I love pictures and rarely buy a cook book without them, so my vote is for pictures in both books. Maybe attach them at the end, labeled and in the order of how the recipes appear in the book, and then you could sell the book with and without? This would also give people the option of printing out the whole book (text and pictures) or just the front half (text only) to save on ink.
As for the title, I like Cooking in a Shoe: How we feed our family of 12. You would probably have a bunch of people checking out your book just out of curiosity!
Good luck!