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Episode 393: Why Followers Alone Don't Get Cookbook Deals · Cookbook Love Podcast

• 0:02
  Speaker: You're listening to the Cookbook
• 0:03
  Speaker: Love Podcast with Maggie Greene,
• 0:05
  Speaker: episode number three ninety
• 0:08
  Speaker: three.
• 0:10
  Speaker: Welcome to the cookbook Love
• 0:12
  Speaker: Podcast, a podcast that
• 0:14
  Speaker: celebrates cookbook readers,
• 0:16
  Speaker: buyers, collectors, writers, and
• 0:18
  Speaker: clubs.
• 0:19
  Speaker: And now your host, cookbook
• 0:21
  Speaker: author, culinary dietitian, and
• 0:23
  Speaker: cookbook writing coach, Maggie
• 0:24
  Speaker: Green.
• 0:31
  Speaker: Hi, everybody.
• 0:32
  Speaker: Welcome back to another episode of the cookbook Love podcast.
• 0:35
  Speaker: How's everybody doing today?
• 0:38
  Speaker: I am squeezing in the recording of this solo show for you on a
• 0:45
  Speaker: Friday morning in March.
• 0:47
  Speaker: And my beloved Kentucky Wildcats basketball team is playing
• 0:51
  Speaker: basketball at one o'clock.
• 0:53
  Speaker: There's going to be a pregame
• 0:55
  Speaker: radio show, and I coincidentally
• 0:58
  Speaker: have some cooking to do for
• 1:00
  Speaker: Saint Patrick's Day dinner that
• 1:02
  Speaker: I'm hosting.
• 1:03
  Speaker: So I decided to get this podcast
• 1:06
  Speaker: recorded so I can head to my
• 1:07
  Speaker: kitchen and cook some corned
• 1:10
  Speaker: beef.
• 1:11
  Speaker: Prepare a salad.
• 1:12
  Speaker: We're going to have soda bread.
• 1:13
  Speaker: We have Guinness.
• 1:14
  Speaker: Harps.
• 1:16
  Speaker: I think we also have smithwick's
• 1:19
  Speaker: some Naas Guinness if you like
• 1:22
  Speaker: na beer.
• 1:22
  Speaker: The Na Guinness is really good and I'm excited to cook and
• 1:26
  Speaker: listen to the radio and then watch UK play basketball.
• 1:29
  Speaker: March is a great month.
• 1:32
  Speaker: Uh. Spring starts.
• 1:33
  Speaker: We have March Madness for basketball.
• 1:36
  Speaker: We have Saint Patrick's Day.
• 1:38
  Speaker: Two of my children were born in
• 1:39
  Speaker: March and actually one of my
• 1:42
  Speaker: children's fiance's also born in
• 1:44
  Speaker: March, so it always feels like a
• 1:46
  Speaker: wonderful month of celebration
• 1:48
  Speaker: here.
• 1:49
  Speaker: And as many of you know, I just
• 1:51
  Speaker: came off the launch of opening a
• 1:53
  Speaker: new cohort for Get Paid to get
• 1:54
  Speaker: published.
• 1:55
  Speaker: The doors are currently closed, but if you're interested in
• 1:58
  Speaker: getting on the waitlist, I'll put a link below in the show
• 2:01
  Speaker: notes, but I want to share with you something that came as a
• 2:07
  Speaker: result of the launch that I did.
• 2:09
  Speaker: Part of what I do when I launch and open the doors for get paid
• 2:13
  Speaker: to get published, is I start a conversation with the people who
• 2:16
  Speaker: are on my email list, or responding to me on social media
• 2:20
  Speaker: about what is holding them back from becoming a cookbook author.
• 2:25
  Speaker: And I want to talk specifically
• 2:27
  Speaker: today about becoming a paid
• 2:28
  Speaker: cookbook author.
• 2:29
  Speaker: And this could pertain to people who want to, uh, get paid an
• 2:34
  Speaker: advance from a publisher.
• 2:35
  Speaker: They want to self-publish and earn money off their book and
• 2:39
  Speaker: writing through self-publishing.
• 2:41
  Speaker: And even if you hybrid publish your book and you invest in
• 2:44
  Speaker: publishing, you still obviously we want to become a paid
• 2:48
  Speaker: cookbook author because you want people to buy your books.
• 2:51
  Speaker: So I'm going to share with you the number one thing I heard in
• 2:55
  Speaker: my conversations with people while I was launching regarding
• 3:00
  Speaker: cookbook writing and becoming a paid cookbook author.
• 3:04
  Speaker: And this is not a marketing tactic.
• 3:06
  Speaker: It's not a social media strategy.
• 3:08
  Speaker: It's a foundational thing that
• 3:10
  Speaker: is going to make everything else
• 3:12
  Speaker: work to help you get paid as a
• 3:14
  Speaker: cookbook author, because what
• 3:19
  Speaker: publishers want to know, and
• 3:21
  Speaker: even what hybrid publishers
• 3:22
  Speaker: would help you try to see and
• 3:24
  Speaker: what you need to know as a
• 3:25
  Speaker: self-published cookbook author,
• 3:27
  Speaker: is, how are you going to know if
• 3:31
  Speaker: people are going to buy your
• 3:33
  Speaker: book, not how many followers you
• 3:36
  Speaker: have, but can you prove that
• 3:39
  Speaker: people are going to open up
• 3:40
  Speaker: their wallets and purchase the
• 3:42
  Speaker: book?
• 3:43
  Speaker: So today I'm going to answer that question with what I call
• 3:46
  Speaker: the three R method.
• 3:48
  Speaker: And at the end of the episode, you're going to understand why
• 3:51
  Speaker: this is truly a game changer that separates aspiring authors
• 3:55
  Speaker: and people who get paid as cookbook authors from someone
• 4:00
  Speaker: who stays stuck and never gets to the point where they're
• 4:04
  Speaker: writing books and they're getting paid for them.
• 4:07
  Speaker: So let's dive in.
• 4:09
  Speaker: And I want to talk specifically about cookbook deals, but just
• 4:12
  Speaker: remember that this, again, can cross over to self-published
• 4:16
  Speaker: authors and to people who hybrid publish, because you're all
• 4:19
  Speaker: going to need to sell books.
• 4:21
  Speaker: But when it comes to cookbook
• 4:22
  Speaker: deals, the dominant narrative
• 4:25
  Speaker: out there is that we have to
• 4:26
  Speaker: build a massive following on
• 4:28
  Speaker: social media.
• 4:29
  Speaker: We have to get on every social media platform.
• 4:31
  Speaker: We have to post content every day.
• 4:34
  Speaker: We need to hit a magical number
• 4:36
  Speaker: and then you'll be ready to
• 4:37
  Speaker: approach publishers.
• 4:39
  Speaker: So what happens is a lot of people get into the hustle, or
• 4:42
  Speaker: they post or they chase the algorithm and they try to go
• 4:45
  Speaker: viral, and they spend a ton of time comparing themselves to
• 4:49
  Speaker: people who have huge platforms.
• 4:52
  Speaker: And the truth of the matter is, is that when it comes to your
• 4:54
  Speaker: cookbook, then it really just stays stuck in your head because
• 4:58
  Speaker: you're focused on the wrong thing, you're focused on the
• 5:01
  Speaker: number of followers instead of focusing on relationships.
• 5:06
  Speaker: And by followers, I mean people
• 5:08
  Speaker: that are just following you
• 5:10
  Speaker: versus people who could become
• 5:12
  Speaker: ready readers.
• 5:14
  Speaker: And that's what I want to help you fix today.
• 5:18
  Speaker: So my three R method calls for
• 5:21
  Speaker: its three parts relationships
• 5:23
  Speaker: that are ready to become
• 5:25
  Speaker: readers.
• 5:26
  Speaker: So relationships ready and readers.
• 5:29
  Speaker: So relationships means that these are not just people that
• 5:34
  Speaker: are following you.
• 5:35
  Speaker: What I have learned in my years
• 5:39
  Speaker: of running programs and selling
• 5:42
  Speaker: books and marketing programs and
• 5:47
  Speaker: cookbooks, is that the
• 5:48
  Speaker: foundation of any successful
• 5:51
  Speaker: business include getting paid to
• 5:54
  Speaker: write your cookbooks and getting
• 5:55
  Speaker: paid for writing your cookbooks
• 5:57
  Speaker: is relationships.
• 5:59
  Speaker: Marketing is all about relationships.
• 6:03
  Speaker: In one of my programs that I
• 6:04
  Speaker: have been in, the foundational
• 6:07
  Speaker: number one module is to grow my
• 6:10
  Speaker: audience.
• 6:12
  Speaker: It's not about more people.
• 6:14
  Speaker: It's about growing deeper
• 6:16
  Speaker: connections with the people we
• 6:17
  Speaker: already have.
• 6:19
  Speaker: And when you think about it,
• 6:20
  Speaker: would you rather know that you
• 6:22
  Speaker: have fifty thousand random
• 6:23
  Speaker: people who just scroll past your
• 6:25
  Speaker: posts?
• 6:26
  Speaker: Or would you rather have five
• 6:27
  Speaker: hundred or one thousand people
• 6:29
  Speaker: that know you and trust you and
• 6:31
  Speaker: would buy your cookbook from
• 6:33
  Speaker: you?
• 6:35
  Speaker: So the answer is obvious we don't.
• 6:37
  Speaker: Publishers love people who are going to buy cookbooks.
• 6:42
  Speaker: They care about engagement.
• 6:43
  Speaker: They want to know, do people actually care about what you
• 6:46
  Speaker: have to say?
• 6:47
  Speaker: And the only way that we can really prove this to a publisher
• 6:51
  Speaker: is through relationships.
• 6:53
  Speaker: So remember, you're building relationships with people.
• 6:56
  Speaker: You're not just building the
• 6:58
  Speaker: number of followers that you
• 6:59
  Speaker: have.
• 7:00
  Speaker: your success in your cookbook.
• 7:02
  Speaker: Writing is often built on relationships.
• 7:06
  Speaker: And when we self-publish, we may be really good at creating a
• 7:09
  Speaker: product, which is a book, we can do it on KDP.
• 7:13
  Speaker: I teach people to do it all the time.
• 7:15
  Speaker: I'm finishing up a course in that as well, where my readers
• 7:19
  Speaker: are finishing that.
• 7:20
  Speaker: But the success success of their
• 7:22
  Speaker: sales is going to be built on
• 7:23
  Speaker: relationships.
• 7:25
  Speaker: So number two is ready.
• 7:27
  Speaker: Do these people who are your relationships that you've built,
• 7:32
  Speaker: do they know who you are?
• 7:33
  Speaker: Do they trust your expertise?
• 7:35
  Speaker: Do they love what you have to offer?
• 7:38
  Speaker: Would they buy a cookbook from you the minute it's available?
• 7:41
  Speaker: Remember, they're not just casually following you.
• 7:43
  Speaker: They actually know you and they trust you and they like you.
• 7:47
  Speaker: And here's the difference.
• 7:49
  Speaker: The followers just scroll by our posts.
• 7:52
  Speaker: But people who are ready to purchase something from us save
• 7:58
  Speaker: the work that we do.
• 8:00
  Speaker: They cook the things that we offer to them.
• 8:03
  Speaker: They might tag you in a post.
• 8:05
  Speaker: They ask questions, they tell their friends about you.
• 8:08
  Speaker: And I can tell the same is true for people who are engaging with
• 8:11
  Speaker: me related to writing a cookbook, because they respond
• 8:15
  Speaker: to my recipes.
• 8:16
  Speaker: They ask me questions.
• 8:19
  Speaker: They, uh, share posts when they've published cookbooks from
• 8:22
  Speaker: just listening to this podcast, they tag me in those posts.
• 8:27
  Speaker: They thank me for the work.
• 8:29
  Speaker: These people are ready to become
• 8:31
  Speaker: paid authors, just like your
• 8:32
  Speaker: readers are ready to become
• 8:34
  Speaker: cooks and bakers in their own
• 8:36
  Speaker: kitchen.
• 8:37
  Speaker: So we want people that are actually engaging with what we
• 8:42
  Speaker: do and who know who we are, trust what we do, like what we
• 8:46
  Speaker: have to offer.
• 8:46
  Speaker: So that's really the question.
• 8:48
  Speaker: If you were to pitch a cookbook to a publisher, they're going to
• 8:52
  Speaker: ask about your audience.
• 8:53
  Speaker: So this is something you're going to have to address.
• 8:57
  Speaker: And you could say, I have ten thousand Instagram followers,
• 9:00
  Speaker: but behind that, what they really want to know is how many
• 9:03
  Speaker: of these people might actually buy the book.
• 9:06
  Speaker: That's the ready question.
• 9:07
  Speaker: And here's the beautiful part.
• 9:09
  Speaker: You really don't need thousands and thousands of ready readers
• 9:12
  Speaker: to get a cookbook deal.
• 9:13
  Speaker: You need you need several.
• 9:15
  Speaker: You need a lot, but you don't need thousands and thousands.
• 9:19
  Speaker: I've seen other authors, passionate home cooks, get
• 9:26
  Speaker: cookbook deals and get cookbooks published with a deeply engaged
• 9:31
  Speaker: readership that is not as big as you might think it needs to be.
• 9:37
  Speaker: But the ready readers are proof
• 9:39
  Speaker: that your cookbook is going to
• 9:40
  Speaker: sell because they know who you
• 9:42
  Speaker: are and they like you and they
• 9:43
  Speaker: trust you.
• 9:44
  Speaker: So that's the second R is ready.
• 9:47
  Speaker: Not random people, but ready people.
• 9:49
  Speaker: And the third is readers.
• 9:51
  Speaker: These aren't just fans.
• 9:53
  Speaker: These are people that read and engage again with what we do.
• 9:58
  Speaker: And since we're selling books, I call these people readers.
• 10:02
  Speaker: They read your emails.
• 10:03
  Speaker: They read your blog posts.
• 10:04
  Speaker: They read your substacks.
• 10:06
  Speaker: They read your recipe headnotes.
• 10:08
  Speaker: They like your stories.
• 10:09
  Speaker: They engage with your words and not just your photos.
• 10:14
  Speaker: So you have and you want to engage people with words.
• 10:18
  Speaker: That's why I believe for building your platform, anything
• 10:24
  Speaker: that you can do to write more is so important to prepare you for
• 10:30
  Speaker: writing a book.
• 10:32
  Speaker: The photography and the layout
• 10:34
  Speaker: and the design is not what
• 10:36
  Speaker: skills you need to hone for book
• 10:39
  Speaker: deals.
• 10:39
  Speaker: You need to hone the skill of writing and communicating with
• 10:42
  Speaker: people through words.
• 10:44
  Speaker: And again, I mentioned several
• 10:46
  Speaker: of those just a minute ago
• 10:47
  Speaker: writing emails, writing blog
• 10:49
  Speaker: posts, writing a Substack
• 10:51
  Speaker: newsletter, writing recipe
• 10:53
  Speaker: Headnotes.
• 10:54
  Speaker: Writing stories.
• 10:55
  Speaker: Words.
• 10:56
  Speaker: Words.
• 10:56
  Speaker: Words.
• 10:57
  Speaker: Words in the readers of your.
• 10:59
  Speaker: In your audience will read your
• 11:01
  Speaker: words and readers are what
• 11:03
  Speaker: publishers want because readers
• 11:04
  Speaker: buy books.
• 11:05
  Speaker: So I think we have to start thinking.
• 11:07
  Speaker: Stop thinking like influencers with just pretty photos, viral
• 11:11
  Speaker: reels, and follower counts.
• 11:13
  Speaker: Although those things will
• 11:15
  Speaker: attract people into your
• 11:16
  Speaker: audience that will get you to
• 11:19
  Speaker: them.
• 11:19
  Speaker: Maybe to pay attention to you.
• 11:21
  Speaker: But start thinking like an author who tells stories and
• 11:24
  Speaker: connects with readers through words that resonate with them.
• 11:29
  Speaker: Because at the end of the day,
• 11:30
  Speaker: we're not trying to become
• 11:32
  Speaker: influencers.
• 11:33
  Speaker: We're trying to become paid
• 11:35
  Speaker: cookbook authors, and that
• 11:37
  Speaker: requires readers.
• 11:39
  Speaker: So the third R is the reader part.
• 11:41
  Speaker: We want readers to engage with
• 11:42
  Speaker: our words and not just with our
• 11:44
  Speaker: photos.
• 11:46
  Speaker: So you may be thinking, okay, great relationships, not just
• 11:51
  Speaker: followers, ready people, not just random people and readers,
• 11:55
  Speaker: not just fans.
• 11:57
  Speaker: Um, how do I identify who my ready readers are right now.
• 12:00
  Speaker: If you have an audience of people.
• 12:02
  Speaker: I want you to grab a piece of
• 12:04
  Speaker: paper or open a note on your
• 12:06
  Speaker: phone and ask yourself these
• 12:08
  Speaker: questions.
• 12:10
  Speaker: Number one, who is asking me for my recipes or for my stories?
• 12:22
  Speaker: Write down everyone who's asking you for those two things.
• 12:27
  Speaker: Number two, who cooks my recipes or bakes my recipes and tells me
• 12:33
  Speaker: about it and has to report the results to you.
• 12:39
  Speaker: I don't know if this has happened to you.
• 12:41
  Speaker: It happens to me all the time.
• 12:42
  Speaker: People cook something out of my cookbook and they feel compelled
• 12:45
  Speaker: to tell me about it.
• 12:47
  Speaker: Usually if that gets great results and it causes some sort
• 12:51
  Speaker: of change in the way their family sees them as a cook.
• 12:54
  Speaker: But I also hear from people who make my recipes that maybe did
• 12:57
  Speaker: not get good results, but at least they want to have a
• 12:59
  Speaker: conversation about it and I can help them to get better results.
• 13:04
  Speaker: Who shares my content or my books?
• 13:06
  Speaker: Or who shares your content, or your books, or your blog posts,
• 13:10
  Speaker: or your newsletters or your classes with their friends.
• 13:15
  Speaker: You know, when people start to tell their friends about you.
• 13:19
  Speaker: This is huge because that's how cookbooks and people's content
• 13:26
  Speaker: and classes get shared is when you change someone's life with
• 13:30
  Speaker: your work and they want to tell people about it.
• 13:34
  Speaker: I've talked about this before on the podcast, but this is true
• 13:37
  Speaker: with even, um, products that we might buy that really are life
• 13:41
  Speaker: changing for us and allow us to have a result in our life that
• 13:45
  Speaker: we find wonderful.
• 13:47
  Speaker: And we want to tell people about that product.
• 13:49
  Speaker: Um, I had a situation with this just recently.
• 13:54
  Speaker: Um, I often thaw out for dinner, something to cook for dinner.
• 13:59
  Speaker: It might be a, piece of fish or some ground beef.
• 14:04
  Speaker: Or maybe it's a pork chop, something that we're going to
• 14:07
  Speaker: quickly cook for dinner with some vegetables on the side.
• 14:10
  Speaker: And I have a thawing tray, which
• 14:11
  Speaker: is this aluminum tray that I set
• 14:13
  Speaker: on my kitchen counter, and it
• 14:14
  Speaker: thaws whatever it is that we
• 14:16
  Speaker: need to thaw quickly, because I
• 14:17
  Speaker: usually keep a stock of, um, a
• 14:20
  Speaker: variety of things in my freezer
• 14:22
  Speaker: that I can pull out to cook for
• 14:24
  Speaker: dinner.
• 14:24
  Speaker: Makes it really quick and easy.
• 14:25
  Speaker: But the thawing tray is the secret.
• 14:27
  Speaker: So I've started telling people
• 14:29
  Speaker: about this thawing tray, and
• 14:32
  Speaker: I've bought it for gifts for
• 14:34
  Speaker: people.
• 14:35
  Speaker: And it's really a life changing little piece of aluminum that
• 14:39
  Speaker: sits on your kitchen counter to thaw things quickly.
• 14:42
  Speaker: So that's an example of a
• 14:44
  Speaker: product that I've shared with
• 14:45
  Speaker: people.
• 14:46
  Speaker: Um, and so people start sharing your content with friends,
• 14:51
  Speaker: telling their friends about you, you kind of get a little bit of
• 14:54
  Speaker: a buzz going.
• 14:56
  Speaker: I also want you to think about
• 14:57
  Speaker: who engages with the blog posts
• 14:59
  Speaker: that you write, emails that you
• 15:01
  Speaker: write, and stories that you
• 15:02
  Speaker: tell.
• 15:03
  Speaker: Maybe you write for a print publication.
• 15:07
  Speaker: Maybe you get responses from readers who's engaging with
• 15:10
  Speaker: those kinds of words.
• 15:12
  Speaker: And who do you think if you were to scroll through your contacts
• 15:15
  Speaker: in your phone, for example, who would who do you think would buy
• 15:17
  Speaker: a cookbook from you the day that it actually launched?
• 15:21
  Speaker: Who could you invite to a launch party?
• 15:22
  Speaker: And they would be so excited and
• 15:23
  Speaker: probably buy a copy or two of
• 15:26
  Speaker: your book.
• 15:27
  Speaker: I want you to write those names down of those people, because
• 15:29
  Speaker: these are actual people, and I bet you have ready readers
• 15:34
  Speaker: already in your life.
• 15:38
  Speaker: They're asking you for recipes.
• 15:40
  Speaker: They're making your recipes, they're sharing your content,
• 15:43
  Speaker: they're engaging with you, or they would buy your book the day
• 15:45
  Speaker: it was launched.
• 15:46
  Speaker: These could be family and friends.
• 15:48
  Speaker: They could be people from your cooking classes.
• 15:51
  Speaker: They could be followers who consistently engage with you.
• 15:54
  Speaker: They could be email subscribers
• 15:56
  Speaker: who always reply, and they could
• 15:57
  Speaker: be people in your life who are
• 15:59
  Speaker: asking you?
• 16:00
  Speaker: Hey, Maggie.
• 16:01
  Speaker: When are you writing a cookbook?
• 16:02
  Speaker: Or when are you writing your next cookbook?
• 16:05
  Speaker: These people are your
• 16:06
  Speaker: foundation, and you need to
• 16:07
  Speaker: start with the people you
• 16:09
  Speaker: already have.
• 16:11
  Speaker: So if you haven't done this yet, please make this list this week.
• 16:16
  Speaker: Because often we forget that these people are in our life.
• 16:21
  Speaker: Now, regarding people and family
• 16:24
  Speaker: and friends who love your
• 16:25
  Speaker: cooking, I suspect there's a lot
• 16:26
  Speaker: of those.
• 16:27
  Speaker: And I suspect there's also people who have asked you, when
• 16:30
  Speaker: are you writing a cookbook?
• 16:31
  Speaker: But if if you don't have have
• 16:33
  Speaker: people who take your classes or
• 16:36
  Speaker: who consistently engage with
• 16:37
  Speaker: your words or who subscribe to
• 16:40
  Speaker: your email, it's probably
• 16:41
  Speaker: because you're not teaching
• 16:43
  Speaker: classes.
• 16:44
  Speaker: You don't put yourself out there on social media or you don't
• 16:48
  Speaker: have an email list.
• 16:49
  Speaker: And just remember that those types of connections and
• 16:52
  Speaker: communication with people, publishers love that because it
• 16:56
  Speaker: helps us to build relationships.
• 16:57
  Speaker: So I encourage you to create a
• 17:00
  Speaker: life where you're teaching,
• 17:03
  Speaker: helping people cook, helping
• 17:04
  Speaker: people bake.
• 17:06
  Speaker: Um, getting followers consistently on social media and
• 17:10
  Speaker: also building an email list.
• 17:12
  Speaker: Um, all of those things are
• 17:13
  Speaker: foundational for attracting
• 17:15
  Speaker: people to you and starting to
• 17:16
  Speaker: build this foundation, but these
• 17:18
  Speaker: ready readers that you already
• 17:19
  Speaker: have, I think you need to
• 17:20
  Speaker: really, um, acknowledge them,
• 17:23
  Speaker: write a list of them, keep track
• 17:24
  Speaker: of them and know that they are
• 17:26
  Speaker: already there.
• 17:27
  Speaker: The second thing to do then is to deepen relationships.
• 17:30
  Speaker: And this ties into what I just said before.
• 17:32
  Speaker: If you don't have an email list, start one.
• 17:36
  Speaker: This is the number one way to build relationships with people.
• 17:41
  Speaker: Email is direct.
• 17:43
  Speaker: It's personal.
• 17:44
  Speaker: You own it.
• 17:45
  Speaker: It's not based on an algorithm.
• 17:47
  Speaker: You can send weekly recipes,
• 17:49
  Speaker: stories behind the scenes,
• 17:51
  Speaker: weekly emails to your email
• 17:53
  Speaker: list.
• 17:54
  Speaker: Email is how I predominantly launch My cohorts of get paid to
• 18:02
  Speaker: get published and how I welcome new people into my program,
• 18:06
  Speaker: generally through my email list.
• 18:09
  Speaker: So start and build an email list.
• 18:11
  Speaker: Number two, engage in conversations.
• 18:14
  Speaker: If people comment on something you have written, reply.
• 18:19
  Speaker: If they send you a DM, reply, ask questions so that they
• 18:23
  Speaker: actually listen and they reply.
• 18:26
  Speaker: When you reply to them, it makes them feel seen and heard and
• 18:31
  Speaker: people like that.
• 18:32
  Speaker: Um, I spend three or four weeks
• 18:36
  Speaker: before I launch my program,
• 18:39
  Speaker: sending emails, asking people to
• 18:41
  Speaker: reply, engaging in questions and
• 18:45
  Speaker: answers with people, and really
• 18:46
  Speaker: helping people to understand
• 18:48
  Speaker: what it might take to get a
• 18:50
  Speaker: cookbook deal.
• 18:52
  Speaker: And these conversations matter.
• 18:54
  Speaker: And I have a list of people that
• 18:56
  Speaker: I engage with in email back and
• 18:58
  Speaker: forth.
• 18:58
  Speaker: And I know people that listen to
• 19:00
  Speaker: this podcast I engage with in
• 19:01
  Speaker: conversations because you write
• 19:03
  Speaker: me emails.
• 19:04
  Speaker: This is where the reality of people behind our emails really
• 19:08
  Speaker: makes a difference.
• 19:09
  Speaker: So if someone starts a conversation with you, please
• 19:13
  Speaker: reply and finish it.
• 19:15
  Speaker: Number three, invite them into your process.
• 19:18
  Speaker: Share your cookbook journey with them.
• 19:20
  Speaker: Ask them for their input recipes.
• 19:23
  Speaker: Might you want to see if I wrote a book?
• 19:25
  Speaker: Make them feel like they're part
• 19:27
  Speaker: of creating this product with
• 19:29
  Speaker: you.
• 19:29
  Speaker: And number four, be generous.
• 19:32
  Speaker: Serve them the best.
• 19:34
  Speaker: Give away your best recipes.
• 19:36
  Speaker: Share your knowledge freely.
• 19:38
  Speaker: Build trust through value.
• 19:39
  Speaker: Because if they think, well, she
• 19:42
  Speaker: gives this much stuff away for
• 19:44
  Speaker: free.
• 19:44
  Speaker: I can't imagine what it's like
• 19:45
  Speaker: to be someone who buys a book
• 19:48
  Speaker: from her.
• 19:49
  Speaker: Then that is exactly what you want people to think.
• 19:52
  Speaker: You want to serve them generously, and the more you
• 19:55
  Speaker: give, the more you build relationships with people.
• 19:59
  Speaker: And this is how you turn those
• 20:00
  Speaker: random followers into ready
• 20:02
  Speaker: readers.
• 20:03
  Speaker: And then the third thing we have to do is we need to actually be
• 20:08
  Speaker: able to prove to a publisher that we have readers.
• 20:12
  Speaker: So start writing regularly if you're not writing regularly.
• 20:17
  Speaker: Substack is a great place to
• 20:18
  Speaker: start if you haven't built a
• 20:20
  Speaker: newsletter yet.
• 20:21
  Speaker: You could write a blog post, or
• 20:23
  Speaker: you could send email newsletters
• 20:24
  Speaker: if you already have an email
• 20:26
  Speaker: list, but just pick one and
• 20:28
  Speaker: start.
• 20:29
  Speaker: You can write about food.
• 20:30
  Speaker: You can write about recipes.
• 20:31
  Speaker: You can write about stories.
• 20:32
  Speaker: You can write about your cooking journey.
• 20:35
  Speaker: And then I want you to track the
• 20:36
  Speaker: engagement and see if people are
• 20:38
  Speaker: reading.
• 20:38
  Speaker: Are they replying and are they sharing?
• 20:41
  Speaker: There are ways with email lists to know those kinds of things
• 20:44
  Speaker: and to keep track of those.
• 20:46
  Speaker: I know from my email list the people that open.
• 20:50
  Speaker: That's kind of tricky these days with Apple privacy, but people I
• 20:55
  Speaker: know, people who open, I know people who click clicks, links
• 20:59
  Speaker: in my emails.
• 21:00
  Speaker: I know people who reply.
• 21:02
  Speaker: I know people who unsubscribe, which is perfectly fine.
• 21:05
  Speaker: That just means it's not for them at this time.
• 21:08
  Speaker: But really track the engagement of the people that you're
• 21:10
  Speaker: working with and try to do more than just sharing recipes.
• 21:14
  Speaker: Publishers want to see that you can actually write a story, a
• 21:18
  Speaker: narrative with a beginning, middle, and an end.
• 21:21
  Speaker: And this gets you to practice your voice.
• 21:23
  Speaker: Put your work out there.
• 21:25
  Speaker: Share the why.
• 21:26
  Speaker: Behind your recipes is really
• 21:27
  Speaker: one of the best ways to tell a
• 21:29
  Speaker: story.
• 21:29
  Speaker: Why this recipe?
• 21:32
  Speaker: What might be in it for them based on the experience that
• 21:36
  Speaker: you've had with it?
• 21:37
  Speaker: And then you also want to build
• 21:39
  Speaker: proof of engagement for
• 21:40
  Speaker: publishers.
• 21:41
  Speaker: They like this too.
• 21:42
  Speaker: You can screenshot comments,
• 21:44
  Speaker: replies, shares, collect
• 21:46
  Speaker: testimonials.
• 21:48
  Speaker: Because this proof of engagement is something you can talk about
• 21:51
  Speaker: in your cookbook proposal.
• 21:53
  Speaker: When it comes time to actually
• 21:54
  Speaker: talk about the audience that you
• 21:56
  Speaker: have, because this is what
• 21:57
  Speaker: you're going to use when you
• 21:59
  Speaker: pitch publishers.
• 21:59
  Speaker: If you say something like, I have five hundred email
• 22:02
  Speaker: subscribers, there's an open rate of forty five percent.
• 22:06
  Speaker: They love to engage with emails
• 22:08
  Speaker: that I send about chocolate chip
• 22:10
  Speaker: cookies.
• 22:11
  Speaker: Or you can say whatever you want.
• 22:13
  Speaker: Of course, you all knew I was going to say cookies.
• 22:15
  Speaker: Um, that's more powerful than saying I just have ten thousand
• 22:19
  Speaker: Instagram followers because what you're doing is you're putting
• 22:22
  Speaker: an engagement number on it.
• 22:25
  Speaker: So if you're not writing
• 22:26
  Speaker: regularly somewhere, I suggest
• 22:28
  Speaker: you pick a place and commit for
• 22:29
  Speaker: ninety days to one platform
• 22:32
  Speaker: where you can consistently,
• 22:33
  Speaker: regularly write and share with
• 22:35
  Speaker: people who need to hear from
• 22:37
  Speaker: you.
• 22:38
  Speaker: So why does this all work?
• 22:40
  Speaker: The three are method relationships with ready
• 22:43
  Speaker: readers, because when you pitch a cookbook to a publisher,
• 22:47
  Speaker: they'll ask you, who are you writing this book for?
• 22:51
  Speaker: And you'll be able to answer them and they'll say, how do you
• 22:55
  Speaker: know they want to buy your book?
• 22:57
  Speaker: And you'll be able to answer
• 22:58
  Speaker: them because you have proof of
• 22:59
  Speaker: engagement.
• 23:00
  Speaker: And the third thing is, is can you actually write?
• 23:03
  Speaker: And you can answer yes.
• 23:05
  Speaker: Here's examples of my blog posts, my newsletters, my
• 23:07
  Speaker: recipes, my stories.
• 23:10
  Speaker: You see how all that works together?
• 23:11
  Speaker: You're not just saying I have followers.
• 23:13
  Speaker: You're saying I have
• 23:14
  Speaker: relationships with people who
• 23:16
  Speaker: trust me.
• 23:17
  Speaker: I have ready readers who I know
• 23:18
  Speaker: are going to buy the book, and I
• 23:20
  Speaker: have readers who engage with my
• 23:23
  Speaker: words.
• 23:24
  Speaker: That's what gets you a book
• 23:25
  Speaker: deal, and that's what gets you
• 23:28
  Speaker: into the world of being a paid
• 23:31
  Speaker: cookbook author.
• 23:33
  Speaker: So I want you to start thinking
• 23:36
  Speaker: that your goal is to deepen
• 23:38
  Speaker: relationships with people you
• 23:39
  Speaker: already have.
• 23:41
  Speaker: Identify and serve the ready
• 23:42
  Speaker: readers that you have and keep
• 23:45
  Speaker: people engaged.
• 23:47
  Speaker: Ask them for their engagement and respond to them because this
• 23:50
  Speaker: really does change everything.
• 23:53
  Speaker: It goes from thinking you just need to be on every platform, or
• 23:56
  Speaker: you need to go viral, or you need more followers to really
• 23:59
  Speaker: creating something of depth.
• 24:02
  Speaker: And here's what happens when you do this.
• 24:05
  Speaker: When you create something of
• 24:07
  Speaker: depth in relationship with
• 24:08
  Speaker: people that are already there,
• 24:10
  Speaker: you're going to stop feeling
• 24:12
  Speaker: overwhelmed.
• 24:13
  Speaker: You're going to stop comparing yourself to other people.
• 24:16
  Speaker: You're going to stop waiting to
• 24:17
  Speaker: feel ready because you are
• 24:19
  Speaker: taking action in your life with
• 24:22
  Speaker: the people who are already in
• 24:24
  Speaker: your life.
• 24:25
  Speaker: And that's the beautiful part of this, is when we focus on
• 24:29
  Speaker: relationships with ready readers, everything gets easier.
• 24:33
  Speaker: Pitching becomes easier because we have proof.
• 24:36
  Speaker: Writing becomes easier because we know who we're writing for
• 24:39
  Speaker: and we're already writing.
• 24:41
  Speaker: And marketing becomes easier because you're serving people
• 24:45
  Speaker: who already love you and you're not starting from zero.
• 24:50
  Speaker: You're starting from where you are with the people who are
• 24:53
  Speaker: already in your world.
• 24:56
  Speaker: That is the power of my three R method.
• 25:01
  Speaker: So let's do this this week.
• 25:04
  Speaker: Um, action step number one would
• 25:06
  Speaker: be to make your ready reader
• 25:07
  Speaker: list.
• 25:08
  Speaker: Write down twenty to fifty
• 25:09
  Speaker: people who would buy your
• 25:10
  Speaker: cookbook tomorrow.
• 25:12
  Speaker: These are real people that you know.
• 25:14
  Speaker: They're your ready readers.
• 25:16
  Speaker: They are out there and you have them.
• 25:18
  Speaker: Number two, pick one
• 25:20
  Speaker: relationship building platform
• 25:21
  Speaker: to work on for the next ninety
• 25:23
  Speaker: days.
• 25:24
  Speaker: If you already have an email list or a Substack or a blog, be
• 25:28
  Speaker: sure you're committed to it.
• 25:30
  Speaker: And if you are and it's a regular thing you do, then maybe
• 25:33
  Speaker: it's time to add another relationship building platform.
• 25:36
  Speaker: If you don't, then you need to pick one and commit to it and
• 25:39
  Speaker: stick to it.
• 25:41
  Speaker: And then number three, for your
• 25:45
  Speaker: ready readers, maybe send them a
• 25:47
  Speaker: personal message.
• 25:48
  Speaker: Thank them for their support.
• 25:50
  Speaker: Ask them about what they'd like to see in the cookbook that
• 25:52
  Speaker: you're writing, and start to deepen relationships with them.
• 25:57
  Speaker: This doesn't have to take over your whole life, but it will
• 26:01
  Speaker: change your life because you're building more relationships.
• 26:05
  Speaker: And that's the number one thing
• 26:07
  Speaker: that you can do to become a paid
• 26:10
  Speaker: cookbook author.
• 26:12
  Speaker: It's everything.
• 26:13
  Speaker: It's what publishers love to see.
• 26:15
  Speaker: It's what helps you get paid to get published.
• 26:18
  Speaker: So here's my challenge quit chasing followers.
• 26:22
  Speaker: Build relationships with people.
• 26:26
  Speaker: That is it for today's episode of the Cookbook Love Podcast.
• 26:31
  Speaker: This is your host, Maggie Green,
• 26:32
  Speaker: and until next time, have a
• 26:34
  Speaker: great day and keep loving your
• 26:36
  Speaker: cookbooks.
• 26:41
  Speaker: Thanks for listening to the Cookbook Love Podcast.
• 26:44
  Speaker: You can find out more information at WW.