Create and Publish Your OWN Cookbook!
Answers to your questions!
Common questions about self publishing Your OWN Cookbook
Cookbook Quality
Cookbook Covers
Custom Cookbook Content - Pictures, Stories, Chapters
Cookbook Self Publishing Software
Cookbook Ordering
Other Questions
Cookbook Quality
We have pictures of a few of the cookbooks we have published for families and organizations.
Our standard text paper is 60# acid-free Accent Opaque Warm White
(also called smooth opaque off-white).
Most bookstore quality non-color books are printed on this type of paper.
No, our books are printed on state-of-the-art "Print on Demand" digital direct image equipment
or traditional offset presses, depending on the size of the order.
Our books are truly trade quality books, just like the books you find in any bookstore.
The books are 8-1/2 x 5-1/2, and we offer your choice of several types of bindings, cover designs and layouts.
Our binding choices include: "perfect" (paperback), plastic comb, plastic wire, and double wire.
You can see photos of the choices in the "customize your cookbook" area of the Web site after you login.
We do not include tabbed dividers in our books.
Each chapter has a chapter introduction page that can have any text
you care to write in addition to an optional table of contents for the chapter,
with recipes listed in alphabetical or page number order.
Cookbook Covers
Your can choose from over 20 stock cover designs or create a customized design of your own. The covers of all books are printed on 12 point coated cover stock and we even gloss laminate each cover at no extra charge, to give extra protection.
Yes. We have over 20 stock cover designs. There are images of our stock cover designs in the "customize your cookbook" area of the Web site after you login.
Yes. We provide you with a template and complete instructions on how to create your own design. You can include family pictures or other graphics and any titles and subtitles. You simply send us your finished graphic via email or on CD in the mail.
You can email your cover art or photo to us.
If the file is very large, we suggest you try one of these free services for emailing large files:
(http://www.yousendit.com/), (http://www.boltfile.com/).
Yes, we can make hardcover (case bound) books. They are considerably more expensive than our other bindings. Contact us for details.
Custom Cookbook Content - Pictures, Stories, Chapters
Yes. There are several places for history and stories.
You can include text in the book introduction and chapter introductions.
You can also incorporate stories among the recipes.
Each recipe also has space for an introduction, which is a good place for
a short story about the specific recipe.
Yes. You upload your image to our server and give it a caption. You can edit the caption and change the location the same as with recipes in our online system. Photos can be printed in black & white or full color. For color printing there is a higher printing cost than for black & white.
Yes, it is possible to add color pictures. You can also add black and white photos (or convert the color ones to b & w). It does cost more to print in color than black and white, depending on the number of color pages.
Yes. The flexible nature of our system allows you to create as many chapters as you need.
For example, instead of just one chapter for Desserts, you may want to have
separate chapters for Pies, Cakes, Cookies, and Candies.
You can have an unlimited number of chapters and you can name them any way you want.
Yes. Our system allows you to put text other than recipes in your cookbook. We will be happy to assist you with the creation of your informational pages to insure that they are just the way you want them to be.
Cookbook Self Publishing Software
We own and maintain all the required software on our servers.
Your use of our software is included in the price of your printed cookbooks.
Our software is completely Internet based, so all you need is your Web browser and Internet connection.
Our system will format your recipes and automatically create a title page, table of contents, chapter introductions, recipe pages with page numbers, and any of 4 indexes. Then you can preview your cookbook online. Next, you edit and customize until you are satisfied with the appearance and design. Finally you submit your order to us and we print your cookbooks and send them to you.
Cookbook Ordering
We are the only cookbook self publishing company that has no minimum order, so you can order one copy or thousands of books if you wish.
The prices for orders of less than 100 copies are published on our Web site. Pricing for more than 100 copies is determined by the binding and cover choices, the number of pages and the number of copies. The price per copy does go down as the quantity increases. We will calculate an exact quote for you when your cookbook is ready for printing.
We usually have your cookbooks to you in 3-4 weeks. We recommend that you plan to have your cookbook complete by early November to allow plenty of time for printing and shipping before Christmas. The holiday season is our busiest time!
Other Questions
We typically act as publisher and put our name on the copyright notice for family and fundraising cookbooks, where people are not interested in copyrighting the book themselves. If you are interested in your own copyright, we would be happy to accommodate that.
We generally remove accounts that are totally inactive for more than six months. We will not delete your cookbook without contacting you first.
Five years from now your cookbook files will be in our archives, ready to be used for reprints and/or updated editions.
We currently do not have a kit like some of the other cookbook companies; we are focused on the Internet and the interactive nature of our service, and we are keeping our costs down to provide better quality in our software and finished product. You are free to print the pages of our Web site if you wish, and we are always happy to answer your questions!
