Writing the Best Cookbook for Your Food Blog or Business (On-Air Coaching Call with Emily Dingmann)

I know many of you listening are bloggers and content creators who are looking for a way to stand out in a crowded niche. I know firsthand how frustrating it is to spend hours every week producing amazing content for your audience but not seeing any real growth. That’s exactly where I was with my fitness blog before I self-published my first book.

Today I’m excited to share an interview and on-air coaching call with Emily Dingmann. Emily is a nutritionist and food blogger who does amazing work, but lately she’s been thinking about self-publishing a cookbook to help take her blog and business to the next level. Writing a book has been on her to-do list, but she’s struggled to figure out what she should write her book about and how to produce it.

In this coaching call, I walk Emily through the framework I use to help my clients choose the best topic for a book that will build their business. We talk about how she can use that book to grow different elements of her business, including a membership program that she runs. We also talk about the pros and cons of traditionally publishing vs. self-publishing cookbooks, how long her cookbook needs to be, and how to make sure readers will actually want to buy her cookbook.

Even though Emily specifically plans to write a cookbook, there’s still a lot of great information in here for those of you who want to write a nonfiction book for your business that’s not a cookbook. And, if you’ve been struggling to figure out what you should write your book about, I think my discussion with Emily will help you start to plan out the best book topic to build your business.

INSIDE THE EPISODE…

4:02 Why Emily wants to write a book
5:18 How Emily sees her book fitting into her overall business plan and strategy and why she has hesitated to write a book
6:51 Maximizing ROI on a book/cookbook
8:23 The smart way to tie your book into your business to help your business grow
10:19 Emily’s goals for her book
10:47 Why food bloggers should strongly consider getting their eCookbooks into print (and why it’s easier to do than you think)
12:11 Self-publishing vs. traditionally publishing cookbooks
14:15 What audience size do you need to work with a traditional publisher?
15:37 How to choose the right topic for your cookbook
18:49 What excites Emily’s audience and tying that into her book
20:24 Picking the right time to launch Emily’s cookbook
22:19 How do you know if readers will want to buy a cookbook on your topic?
28:30 How long does your cookbook need to be?
30:30 How do you find time to write your book when being an author isn’t your primary source of income?
35:37 Should you get audience input to help shape your book?
37:24 Ways Emily could leverage her book to build her meal planning membership
38:50 Choosing a self-publishing platform and printer for your self-published book
40:21 How to learn more about what Emily does and how to connect with her

GET INDIVIDUALIZED HELP PLANNING YOUR COOKBOOK!

If you need individualized help planning out your book, including choosing the right topic that will mesh perfectly with your business or deciding what should go into your book, consider signing up for one of my Book Mapping Sessions. We’ll meet for 75 minutes and I’ll walk you through my Fast Author Framework™ so you can plan an amazing book FAST.

The Book Mapping Session is perfect for any nonfiction author who is struggling to come up with a plan or outline for their book. You’ll receive an exclusive set of worksheets to go through before our call to make sure you get a ton of value out of the call. Based on your answers from the worksheets, I’ll also do a little market research to help us make sure that you’ll be writing a great book that’s competitive in your market. Then, we’ll have a one-on-one 75-minute video conference that will help you create a detailed outline for your nonfiction book. You’ll walk away from the call with a detailed outline that will make your book writing time much easier and more focused, saving you a ton of time during the planning and writing processes.

Ready to jump into the planning process? You can sign up for your Book Mapping Session here.