HOW I GOT MY BOOK DEAL: Rav's Journey

It’s peak summer (although it doesn’t quite feel like it from our corner of the world) which means that, hopefully, many of you are enjoying some well-deserved time off. If you’re reading this on the beach, whiling away the hours watching the waves crash and retreat, this might just be the perfect time for you to start putting together your book proposal.

But where to begin? What to include? We’ve turned to Countertalk founder and all-around legend Rav Gill to share her own experience of securing her first book deal just a few years ago. She had a following of only 3k on Instagram, no special connections in the industry, and still managed to get a contract signed. From bringing together a proposal with no reference point?as to what it should look like, to agreeing to an advance which in hindsight could have been higher, Rav’s gone through it all and she's putting her story out there so that you have the intel you need. And the very best part about her story? Every single no and bit of feedback increased her resilience and determination, and brought her to the next step on her journey.

So crack out the old pen and paper, your laptop, or your phone notes, and get to work. Make those cookbook dreams concrete - if Rav could get it done, so can you.

One of the reasons I set up Countertalk was to pass on transparent career advice and knowledge to as many people as possible. I want to emphasise that I was able to secure a cookbook deal without any special connections in the industry and with, at the time, a small online presence. I wrote ‘The Pastry Chef’s Guide’ in just a few months, after spending years collecting and writing recipes of my own with the goal of one day publishing them. My hope is that you’ll feel inspired to go off and not let anything hold you back from accomplishing your dreams - anything is possible.?

I should start off by clarifying that I had no comparisons or references to base my proposal on. I just wrote down my own ideas of what I thought a cookbook proposal should be. A friend of mine, Ben, thought I could write?quite a good book and asked me whether I had a proposal. I didn’t, so I hurriedly put one together and sent it off. I had a very clear vision of what I wanted it to be from the outset, which was as follows:

What:

A pastry handbook, theory focused, limited pictures

Size:

An A5 book, I wanted people to be able to take it with them on the tube and keep it in their bag

The target audience:

Anyone who wants to learn about pastry (without going to cookery school)

Pastry chefs who need a guide book to refer back to for reliable recipes

Chefs who want to upskill in the pastry department

I needed to bring this information together and flesh out those points in order to make a compelling argument that would convince publishers and agents to take on my book. That means I had to clearly lay out what was driving me to write it in the first place. I included an introduction of who I am and why I felt the need to put this book out into the world.?I wanted to pass on these foundational recipes that I had spent years developing and collecting - I used to carry this massive orange folder with me everywhere I went and chefs, colleagues, and friends found it incredibly helpful and would always ask me to put it in book format.

My own pathway into pastry was via Le Cordon Bleu and whilst I learnt a lot, it cost me a lot too. I wanted to give those who couldn’t afford to go to pastry school an option; something they could read from start to finish to grasp the foundations and whys of pastry, and provide the building blocks to give them the confidence to make creations of their own. An accessible, educational guidebook.

My proposal ended up including:

• An introduction to me and who I am.?When you are writing your own proposal, you should include information about yourself. Do you have a social media presence? If so, include the stats. Where do you work? What’s your experience? Remember – you are selling yourself here. So don’t be shy in showcasing your successes, celebrating your journey, and highlighting what makes you special. To convince them to believe in your book, you need to convince them to believe in YOU, first and foremost.
• A sample introduction, showing how I would introduce the book.?This not only gives the publisher a good insight into the way you write, and what they can expect from your manuscript, but will also provide them with the general concept and theme of the book.
• A sample chapter list.?You’ll want to include some sort of breakdown of the sections in your book so the publisher has an idea of the overall structure and direction it will take. This is a good way of showing them the type of content you want to include and conversely what you won’t be addressing; and it will help you to figure out the general outline it will take and what you want to write.
• Sample recipes.?Four to six recipes is a good starting point, with accompanying imagery to show the aesthetic you’re going for.

(You might also consider including a review of some of the competition already out there, highlighting the pros and cons of each and how your book is different - what's missing in the market, and how your book will address that gap).?

I sent this proposal to Ben. He sent it to a publisher who said no, on the grounds that I didn’t have enough of a social media presence (3k on Instagram at the time) and that no one knew who I was, and no one would buy this book. I took the L, shrugged my shoulders and moved on. Even getting that ‘no’ was positive, because the lead up to it was the sole reason that I wrote a cookbook proposal in the first place. Ben’s suggestion gave me the push I didn’t know I needed, and that initial refusal gave me more time to work on refining the project.?

Months later a previous customer from the restaurant I worked in (Llewelyns in Herne Hill) contacted me on instagram and asked if I had ever considered writing a cookbook. I’d worked to make the pastry offering quite a thing in this restaurant – it was such a dreamy, beautiful place - and this particular customer missed my desserts. Because of that first NO I already had my proposal ready, so I tweaked it slightly and sent it over to her, not thinking anything would come of it…this customer then forwarded it on to a certain Helen, the head of a publishing company.

Fast forward to September 2018 when I ran my first official Countertalk event and it was all about BREAD! I got together some of the biggest bread heads in the industry for a night of eating, networking and learning. Little did I know that Stephanie Milner, who worked at Pavillion Publishers (the same ones that had my proposal in their inbox) was at the event…

’04/09/2018

Dear Ravneet,

I wanted to write to say how much I enjoyed the Countertalk event last night. So much delicious bread and chat!

Helen Lewis passed me your pastry book proposal for review when I mentioned I was going last week. Is this an idea you’d still like to pursue? Would love to have a chat about what book ideas you might have and how I might help bring them to life.

Hope to speak soon,

Steph’

?

I remember receiving this email and dancing down the street. Steph then worked with me to refine my proposal, and there was a lot of back and forth. We spoke about who I was inspired by, the tone of the book, how many recipes I wanted to include, and the overall arch and style.

I was then approached by a book agent, through my Instagram page, who said they liked my style of explaining recipes on the social platform. I still had a relatively small following and would post on the grid only once a week, posting stories more frequently for fun and for friends. The intention was to keep a portfolio of my work for future projects as opposed to growing my following for a bigger purpose. I met with the book agents (Godwin Associates) and really appreciated their approach, and ended up going with them. David helped me to refine the idea even more, alongside Stephanie, and I got the deal signed in May 2019 - the book was due in August 2019 and would be published in Spring 2020.

Now onto the ADVANCE. The bit that no one talks about. I struggled to find any information that would help me to understand how much I should expect for an advance and how it all worked, so here’s a breakdown of my experience.

That advance money is almost like an upfront chunk of money that the publishers are using to hedge a bet on you, knowing that they will make it back once the book starts selling. Agents will charge a fee, but they can usually help to bump up your advance to cover that. The agent will also take a % of your royalties FOREVER. However, do bear in mind that they’re the ones who will help ensure that you get paid on time, and who will be guiding you throughout the entire process. The advance for my first book, after agent fees, was LESS than ￡7k. And no, you don’t receive all of this money straight away.

Typically your advance will get broken down into thirds. You will receive:

1/3?when you sign

1/3?once handed in

1/3?when the book is published

?

That first chunk of money, and probably the second part once it comes in, will most likely need to be used to pay for your time and work on the book, covering for testing, ingredients and expenses. I worked 2 jobs whilst writing my book, would come home afterwards at 10pm and stay up writing until 2am everyday to get it done, so having at least some money to make that process worthwhile was essential. And the final chunk is just that little bit of financial relief you get once it’s all over!

The royalties work differently. It is only once your book has started selling, and once the publishers have made their advance back, that you start to receive royalties. Technically, the larger the advance the longer it will take for you to get royalties, unless your book is met with massive success and you sell out super quickly. With royalties you receive a percentage of each book sold, an amount which will be established in your contract. It works out to only a small amount per book, but of course the more you sell the more money you’ll see! And again, that’s only AFTER the advance has been paid back.

I’ve been told that my first book advance offer was low compared to what other first time authors were offered, and that I could have pushed for more. But it wasn’t about the money; my priority was to make it work. I had a clear intention about what I wanted to produce and would make it happen however I could. The publishers were taking a punt on me since I didn’t have a committed audience that would guarantee sales, so I was just grateful for the opportunity. I’ve since heard about other first time deals between ￡1k-55k, so obviously there’s a huge range to work within! You’ll need to consider what’s realistic for you, how much time you can dedicate to the project, what resources you have to work with and what you’ll need to pay for.

Writing a book proposal is a lengthy process, but if you’re clear about what you want to write and why, the work comes down to putting it all together in a concise and convincing way. Find an agent who can help you take the proposal to publishers, or send it directly to the publishers that you want to work with. Be persistent with it, because if it's something you believe in there’s no reason why it shouldn’t happen! “No” doesn’t mean you should give up, and can sometimes provide helpful feedback or just give you the push that makes you work even harder for it. Getting the contract signed can notoriously take a while so I always advise people to start writing once you've agreed to it on paper. But once it’s signed, you’re ready to go! Get writing and get that vision OUT THERE.

If you are looking for an agent,?Lemara Lindsay-Prince?of?Merky Books?suggests that you look in the back of your favourite cookbooks. Does the author mention an agent? If so then get in touch! And don’t be shy to ask your friends or look on the social media pages of the writers - cookbook and otherwise - who you admire. Often they will list a contact detail for their agent!