So, you want to publish your own book? Part three.

High quality books

In Part 2 , I laid out the process to publish your own fairly simple book. Shall we talk about publishing your own supercalifragilistic, high quality book?

High quality books

Writing – The same process as explained before applies here. You may want to pay for a high quality editor to make sure the text quality matches the interior design quality.

Cover – Unless you want a hardback or dual cover, the process is pretty much the same as previously explained. As the cover gets more complicated, it will cost you a little more, about $200.00 or more.

Formatting – This is where it gets more interesting and complicated. You’ll need to consider photography, food styling and interior design.

1. Photography: Here again, it’s entirely your choice. If you are a good photographer and own a good quality camera, you may be able to do a decent job on your own.

If photography is not one of your hobbies or you just don’t have the time to do it yourself, you will need a good food photographer. Please note that I bolded “food”. As in any other business, it takes a specialized photographer to bring out the beauty of your food on a printed page. Not every photographer has that talent. I suggest you look at books you like and make a note of the photographer’s name. Call your chef friends for references. Go online and ask around. Post on LinkedIn or other social media. Look for that special one that will match your style. Talk to them. See if your food/photo philosophy match.

2. Food styling: If you’re lucky to find a good photographer, see if you can find one that knows how to present your food the right way – a food designer or food stylist. That could save you a lot of money. Or else, like in the case of big name publisher, you may need to hire a food professional designer or stylist.

I would highly recommend you hire a local photographer so you won’t have to pay for travel and living expenses. Besides, it probably will take time for you to produce/prepare these dishes, desserts, cakes or showpieces. So call them only when you need them. As far as the cost is concerned, a good photographer and food stylist will charge by the hour, half or full day. It can be done at your location (easier for you but more costly) or in his/her studio. Each one of these professionals can cost $50.00 up to $100.00 an hour. That’s why I suggest you find a two-in-one food photographer. They will cost less in the long run… unless your company pays for all expenses.

3. Interior design: There again, it can get complicated. That person needs not only to know how to handle regular book formatting and how to position your pictures but also how to find the right fonts and graphics to complement the quality of your work. Do your own research. Ask your chef friends. Check out other books. Check out freelance sites. Sometimes, your cover artist can handle specialized graphic demands. Sometimes not. If not, I highly recommend an interior graphic certified in InDesign software layout program (the standard in interior book layout) or you will ask for trouble. Microsoft Word is not powerful enough to handle such complicated files. Don’t let them fool you into believing it’s possible. Depending on your requirements, he/she can cost around $1,500.00 and up.

Printing – Here again, it all depends on your quality requirements. If you already spent a good amount of money on getting your book ready, it only makes sense to choose the highest quality printing – called Premium – in four color laser printing on heavy paper quality (70 lbs.). Keep in mind that this level of print quality will cost you more. You will have to price your book higher to earn any royalties. There is a lower quality soy ink jet printing on 45 lbs. paper available too. It costs less but the results are not worth the savings.

Distribution – Here again, it’s worth looking at a worldwide distributor. Ingram is the largest book printer – distributor in the world. Their work process is more complicated and take more time and expertise to handle but your book will be available in all online, bookstores and libraries in the world. They also take a higher commission. 45% to 55% is traditional. They also take 40% on eBooks.

Why you should consider my services

Wow! That’s a lot of information to absorb and handle. Although I have been doing it for 7 years, I still learn something new every day… like you do in a kitchen.

I do realize that most chefs, executive chefs and chefs de cuisine are very busy professionals and have little to no knowledge of the publishing industry.

This is where I can help. Not only I am a chef, meaning that I understand your language and point of view, I am also an award-winning, Amazon best-seller food and health author. I know how to handle your book from start to finish. You can think of me as your book’s nanny.

I take your manuscript and beautiful pictures, hire the right people and manage the whole project – with your input of course – and deliver your finished book. And don’t forget, once your book is published, you get to collect all the royalties and even pass them on to your children as long as your books are sold.

Depending on the complexity of your project, my managing fee can range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. My fee includes the cost of hiring the necessary subcontractors – editor, formatter, cover artist, and interior book designer. As for the photographer, since most of you are living far away from me, I’d rather you handle that part.

As it is in the food industry, you pay according to the quality of your project. In your restaurant, the final cost of your meal depends on the quality of your ingredients and the high skill level of you, the chef and your crew and, as you know, food and labor cost are a cost of doing business. The same applies to the publishing industry. The higher the quality of your book, the higher your cost will be.

Let me know how I can help you publish your own best-seller.

Alain Braux

CEPC., CMB., Culinary Nutritionist and Publishing consultant. 

 www.alainbraux.com - or - [email protected]