Part 1: Learn. The first session will be a recorded instructional workshop with an in-depth homework assignment to help you put the material into practice.
When: Friday, August 7, 1:00pm-2:30pm EDT
Part 2: Implement. Bring your homework, your questions, your roadblocks, and your challenges. Together, we’ll review what you’ve implemented, troubleshoot challenges, exchange ideas, and get thoughtful feedback from both the instructor and other food writers working toward similar goals.
When: Friday, August 28, 1:00pm-2:30pm EDT
Substack LIVE Cookbook Proposal Q&A
Join Rebecca Blackwell and Kelsey Erin Shipman on Thursday, July 23 for a Substack LIVE where we’ll be talking about cookbook proposals and answering your questions. We’ll discuss: what they are, what they need to include, and how to start turning a cookbook idea into something agents and publishers can understand. We’ll talk through the major pieces of a strong cookbook proposal, including concept, audience, comp titles, sample recipes, author platform, visual direction, and why your book belongs in the market now.
Topic: Cookbook Proposals Q&A
Date: Thursday, July 23rd
Time: 12pm CDT
DIY Cookbook Proposals
Writing a cookbook proposal is different from writing a cookbook. It requires a different set of skills. But, they’re skills anyone can learn. Whether you’re a chef, recipe developer, food writer, content creator, or culinary professional, you can write a compelling cookbook proposal yourself. You just need to know what agents and editors are looking for and have a roadmap for getting there.
In this two-part Food Writers Business Lab workshop, cookbook collaborator and book proposal consultant Kelsey Erin Shipman will walk you through every section of a cookbook proposal, using a her proprietary Book Proposal Checklist, developed after years of writing and consulting on dozens of book proposals. Together, we’ll cover everything from your hook and audience to recipe organization, competitive titles, marketing strategy, and visual direction, with a focus on what makes cookbook proposals different from other nonfiction proposals.
This workshop is designed for writers who want to build their own proposal from the ground up. You’ll leave understanding not only what belongs in each section, but why publishers ask for it and how to write it in a way that strengthens your overall project.
You will come away from this lab with:
A clear understanding of every section of a cookbook proposal targeted towards traditional publishing
A cookbook-specific version of Kelsey’s Book Proposal Checklist to guide your writing long after class ends
A stronger cookbook concept and positioning in today’s publishing market
Strategies for organizing recipes, chapters, and the overall structure of your book
Practical guidance for writing your overview, author bio, audience, competitive titles, marketing plan, and sample material
A realistic roadmap for completing your proposal on your own
Whether you’re starting with a notebook full of recipe ideas or a rough draft of a proposal, this workshop will give you the tools, structure, and confidence to create a cookbook proposal ready for agents and publishers.
Participants will receive an in-depth homework assignment to help you put the material into practice.
About Kelsey Shipman
Writer, Educator, Creative Partner
Kelsey Shipman is a cookbook collaborator and ghostwriter who has spent years helping chefs, recipe developers, and food writers shape cookbook ideas into proposals for traditional publishers. She is represented by Transatlantic Agency and specializes in cookbook and memoir collaborations. Kelsey is the co-founder of Write Up where she co-teaches an annual 12-week Book Proposal Intensive alongside food writer and author Hannah Howard.
Her food and travel writing has appeared in The Rumpus, The Chocolate Professor, ParentCo, Off Assignment, HuffPost, USA Today, and The Austin Chronicle. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing, has worked as an educator for more than seventeen years, and writes the Substack newsletter Cheese Toast with White People, which explores food, family, and the strange inheritance of Southern white culture.
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