Everything Cookbooks

171: Crowdfunding Your Cookbook with Nandita Godbole 03.06.2026 42min

Kate and Kristin speak all about crowdfunding with Nandita Godbole, who has fully funded seven books (and counting) through Kickstarter. Nandita shares how it all began, from her wildly successful supper club to funding her first book in just a few days and takes us through the details, ups and downs and pros and cons of going this route. She speaks about finding her audience, why she decided to self-publish, how she learned the technical specs and what the driving mission behind her projects is. This approach takes an immense amount of work for quality control, design choices and even hands on mailing so Nandita's persistence and perseverance has gotten her through stolen laptops, co-opted ideas and immense challenges. She leaves us with lovely and sage advice for others curious about crowdfunding and gives us a little peek into what's next.

170: Becoming a Food Photographer While Writing a Debut Cookbook with Saeng Douangdara 27.05.2026 45min

Molly and Kristin speak with Saeng Douangdara, a personal chef and academic counselor turned online content creator and now, cookbook author and food photographer. Saeng shares what motivated him ten years ago to get into the online food space, why he wanted to show off Lao cuisine and how he's built up an audience and community during that time. His refreshing approach means he doesn't dilute or censor his interests and instead continues to challenge himself to learn and grow. This mindset came into play when he 'manifested' his cookbook, took on the daunting prospect of learning professional food photography on the job and collaborated with the writing and typography elements of the book. Saeng discusses why he wanted to create a book that acts as a Lao food primer and a way to share personal stories along with the recipes and leaves us with some sage advice and a look at how this book accomplishes some of his earliest goals.

169: Kathy Gunst on What It Takes to Host a Food Writing Retreat 20.05.2026 48min

Kristin and Molly speak with Kathy Gunst, a prolific cookbook author, teacher and now leader of food writing retreats, about her varied career and new project. Kathy shares how she got started in the food world by attending London's Le Cordon Bleu, what it is like being the resident chef for NPR's Here & Now and how she deals with creative burnout. She explains the ins and outs of running a writers retreat; the logistics, planning, travel and teaching that goes on behind the scenes and how much she's taken to this new venture. She gives us insights about how the retreat is set up, the way students respond, learn and grow their confidence and the types of writing she likes to foster. She leaves us with advice and a call for writers to invest in themselves, their talent and their future.

168: Domenica Marchetti on Italian Cookies 13.05.2026 50min

Kate and Molly speak with Domenica Marchetti about her newest book and finding a niche in the crowded Italian cookbook category. Domenica shares how she got her start as a food writer, bringing her journalistic background and other interests and experiences together in a unique way, and then talks about the personal importance of some of her early work. She gets into how a cookie captured her imagination, inspiring this new cookbook all about the history, stories and bakeries that create singular Italian cookies. We discuss her research, recipe development and writing process as well as the adventure of baking all of the cookies for the photoshoot (!). And we conclude with a discussion about how her newsletter figures into her professional life.

167: Ifrah F. Ahmed on the Making of Soomaaliya 06.05.2026 47min

Kate and Kristin speak with Ifrah F. Ahmed about how the culmination of her expertise in a culture and a cuisine led to her debut cookbook, Soomaaliya. Ifrah shares how a trip to Somalia inspired her to leave law school, create a magazine dedicated to Somali women and start a wildly successful pop-up before turning her attention towards a book. She takes us through her deeply intentional cookbook process from coming up with the idea, getting an agent, writing the proposal, the drama of a publisher auction to the writing, recipe development, photography and design process. She talks about her goal, her primary audience and their reactions as well as how she decided to weave together history, interviews, personal essays with the recipes. Finally she touches on her decision of how much of herself to include in the book and the very special interactions she's had while writing it.

166: Natasha Pickowicz on Writing the Second Book 29.04.2026 49min

Kate and Andrea speak with cookbook author Natasha Pickowicz about her second book, how it differed from her first and what she learned during the process. Natasha takes us on her journey from the kitchen to the keyboard as she talks about how her first book came to be, the false starts it went through and the role the pandemic played in its evolution. She then shares some behind the scenes on her second book; how publishers reacted to her topic shift, its structure, the historical inclusions and its single subject concentration. We learn about working with her parents on the book, how it deepened their connection and what they each brought to the project. Natasha gets into the challenges of the photoshoot, how she created recipes for a 'recipe-less' meal and what she's learned this time around before leaving us with some advice for other writers embarking on their sophomore books.

165: Inside the Alison Roman and Britt Cobb Design Universe 22.04.2026 58min

Andrea and Molly speak with Alison Roman and Britt Cobb, the designer of her new book, Something from Nothing about their collaboration. Alison speaks about her unique approach to her work, how she leans into personhood instead of branding and why this new book is different than her previous works. Alison and Britt describe how they connected and then get into the nitty gritty of working together; from the idea phase to the process of choosing everything from font styles, cover color, pairing illustrations with photography to trim size, prop selection and paper texture. They each share their views on the longevity and tactile nature of book creation and some insights on their design choices, tastes and ideas.

164: Being a Cookbook Editor with Rachel Brown of Appetite 15.04.2026 40min

Molly and Kate speak with Rachel Brown, acquisitions editor at Appetite, an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada, about her career journey and insights into the Canadian cookbook landscape. Rachel talks about her education and early editing experience before taking us behind the scenes about Appetite titles specifically. She shares what types of books they publish, how the team works, what they are looking for in a proposal and how Canadian readers love to support local authors. She talks about working with other countries' markets, the upcoming books she is excited about and the themes she'd like to see more of before leaving us with a few words of advice for those who aspire to work in the editing sphere.

163: Before the Recipes: Cookbook Introductions and Front Matter 08.04.2026 46min

To kick off Season 9 Molly, Andrea, Kate and Kristin discuss e-cookbooks vs physical editions before diving into front matter; all of the sections of a cookbook that come before the recipes. They talk about the purpose, process and planning that goes into the preface, prologue, forward, introduction and pantry section and ask whether these are even necessary. Each of them talk about their own experiences and approach to front matter as well as the unique ways other books have utilized these sections. They speak about the differences between the sections, their frustrations and rejections, how front matter has evolved and the importance of being creative and (sometimes) going rogue to keep readers interested and not intimidated to dive into the rest of the book.

95: Recipe Writing with Real Cooks in Mind [re-release] 01.04.2026 52min

Originally aired on June 19, 2024 Kate, Kristin and Molly venture back into the user experience arena as they discuss recipe presentation in cookbooks. They highlight the need for this section to delight not distract and prioritize form over function as well as the need to write with a specific audience in mind. They discuss their thoughts as a consumer and developer on elements like: ingredients, equipment, serving size, prep time, method, sub-recipes, headnotes and bursts. Finally, they share their advice for recipe developers on things to think through and ways to research to bring clarity and individuality to their own work.

28: All About Recipe Headnotes [re-release] 25.03.2026 42min

Originally aired on November 9, 2022 Today, Andrea tackles the topic of the ever elusive headnote with Molly, Kate and Kristin. They discuss what a headnote is, how they go about writing them and the pitfalls to avoid while composing. They bring examples of some favorites and also their pet peeves as they chat about the format, design and variety that goes into these important cookbook ingredients.d

42: How to Write Recipe Titles [re-release] 18.03.2026 45min

Originally aired on February 22, 2023 Kate talks with Molly, Andrea and Kristin all about recipe titles. They share what makes one stand out, what is an immediate veto and how these have evolved over the years. They discuss the importance of indexing, the challenge of translation and how grammar, structure and formatting are used in titling along with some of their own that they'd like to revisit.

06: Getting Your Recipes in Shape with Tina Ujlaki [re-release] 11.03.2026 26min

Originally aired on April 20, 2022 Kristin gets into the fundamentals of recipe writing as she chats with Tina Ujlaki, her mentor and the former executive editor at Food & Wine magazine. Tina explains her recipe writing philosophy, how testing can be the antithesis to cooking and the what bothers her about the format's evolution. She shares her thoughts on voice, headnotes, titles and the top 3 things to do before sharing recipes with the world.

05: Getting Started Writing Your Recipes [re-release] 04.03.2026 42min

Originally aired on April 13, 2022 Kate leads today's discussion about the recipe development, curation and testing that go into creating a cookbook. Andrea, Molly and Kristin each share their individual recipe writing processes and the tools used behind the scenes to keep everything organized. They discuss sticking to theme, finding your audience and what can take away from the magic of cooking as well as the juggling act of attribution and importance of recipe testers. Finally, Molly tells us about a recent cookbook that has her inspired.

162: The one in which we issue an apology and answer listener questions 25.02.2026 34min

Kate, Molly, Andrea and Kristin begin the episode with an apology about a technical snafu that plagued our website's Contact page and some corrections. They go through some listener questions and discuss copyeditors and the other roles editors can play, share advice, ideas, theories and encouragements about a range of topics, share insights on how to survive the submission process and thoughts on genre mash-ups. This episode closes out Season 8 but we'll be back very soon with Season 9! Thank you for listening and participating!

161: A Journalist's Approach to Cookbook Collaboration with Korsha Wilson 18.02.2026 43min

Kristin and Molly speak with journalist and cookbook co-author Korsha Wilson about her experiences in the world of food media. Korsha shares the magazine that sparked her initial interest, her educational approach and a behind the scenes look at some of her projects. She talks about her evolving views on recipes, what her hopes are for her work and how she approaches the research portion of a project. She discusses weaving together the design and content portions of a book, the process of mimicking voices in a collaboration along with establishing her own before sharing some freelancing insights and a peek into her upcoming project, ending the episode with advice she has for aspiring food writers.

160: A Mindful Cookbook Born from Burnout with Nicki Sizemore 11.02.2026 48min

Molly and Kristin speak about merging the physical act of cooking with emotional and spiritual intentionality with Nicki Sizemore, the author of Mind, Body, Spirit, Food. Nicki shares her personal journey and the life changing process she went through that eventually led to this new focus. Battling creative burnout and the uninspired work of writing for the algorithm, Nicki learned to tune into her body, prioritize pleasure and get creative which eventually transformed her blog into a newsletter, podcast and this book. She talks about the thought behind its specific release date, the innovative recipe variations, mindful intentions, design and photography process and her aversion to the word 'wellness'. She then discusses her thoughts on audience outreach, promotion, the power of intentionality and the ripple effect of nourishment before leaving us with some advice.

159: Silk Roads with Anna Ansari 04.02.2026 54min

Molly and Kate speak with Anna Ansari, a London based Iranian American writer, about her new book Silk Roads and the major career shift that brought it about. A former customs attorney, Anna takes us from her childhood in Michigan to a stint in Beijing where she discovered Uyghur cuisine and how a move to the UK precipitated an interest in cooking and food writing. She shares how she got interested in this particular topic and geographic location, what the research process was like and what went into crafting her writing voice. She explains the thought behind the pitch and proposal, the process of recipe curation and research and why she decided to package the book the way it is before touching on the marketing and promotion strategy and what she is working on next.

158: Cookbook Marketing and Publicity with Brianne Sperber and Felix Cruz 28.01.2026 49min

Kristin and Kate get the inside scoop on all things marketing and publicity as they speak to the 'dream team' who worked on Kristin's recent book Turtle Island. Brianne Sperber and Felix Cruz — associate director of marketing for Clarkson Potter and Ten Speed Press and publicist for the same— discuss their specific roles and approaches to cookbook promotion. They touch on the differences between marketing and publicity, the role events have in promoting a book and share a peek behind the curtain at the decisions, meetings, timeline and teams that go into a project. They share invaluable insights into their thought process, what authors can contribute to a campaign and how they hope to work with them throughout the long game and moment to moment demands of a media blitz. They speak about tailoring messaging to an audience, the cheerleading role they often play and how they approach a collaborative relationship with all the moving parts involved in a book's life span.

157: Helen Goh on Baking and the Meaning of Life 21.01.2026 46min

Andrea and Kate speak with Helen Goh about her thirty years of working in the food and hospitality industry and why she chose now to write her first solo book. She speaks about her time working with the Ottolenghi brand, her hesitation at embarking on a solo venture and the pros and cons of working alone or partnered. She's had many evolutions in the personal and professional spheres and talks about finding freedom in her work and her thoughts behind this book; its title, organization and how her psychology background informed its creation. She ends by sharing what baking means to her— its role in rituals and traditions— and ends with her experience juggling both of her careers, the cerebral and the tangible.