As experts in the industry for more than 35 years, we are excited to offer a wide range of presentations and workshops that cater to the specific needs and desires of individuals and groups.
Topics include:
- Creating and Writing a Book Proposal
- Changes in Publishing
- Cookbook Publishing Trends
- Lights, Camera, Action: The Keys to Successful Media Appearances, Interviews, and Demonstrations
- How to Find an Agent, Working with an Agent, and Selling a Winning Proposal
- Coming Out from Behind the Stove: Maximizing Media Opportunities
- The Art and Science of Endorsement Deals
- From the Kitchen to the Marketplace: Diversifying Your Culinary Career
- Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Publishing, But Were Too Afraid to Ask
- Chefs and the Cookbook Market
- How I Cooked Up a Successful Culinary Agency From Scratch
Our most popular workshops include:
Cookbook Publishing 101
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Writing Cookbooks and Cookbook Proposals
This session seeks to educate and inspire those who dream of writing a cookbook and examines the publishing process from all angles and perspectives. Topics covered include:
- Navigating the current publishing world
- Helpful resources for locating and working with a literary agent
- Pros and Cons of working with a literary agent
- What exactly is a proposal and how do I create one
- Building marketing, platform, and brand
- Recipe research, writing, and testing
- Proposals and cover letters
- Crafting your unique selling point
- Nuts and bolts — practical finances and what to expect
- Agent as advocate during the publishing process
- Getting to know the players in the culinary publishing world
- Organizations to join and network opportunities
- E-books and apps
- The role of photography & photographers in cookbooks
Honing Your Edge
In this interactive media skills seminar, created for groups in a classroom setting, experienced media trainer Lisa Ekus provides the skills and confidence culinary professionals need to work effectively with the media.
Beginning with an overview of today’s media environment, the course examines television, internet, print, and radio interviews from all angles, as well as personal appearances and cooking demonstrations. The goal is to replace intimidation and fear with confidence and energy. Chefs, chef educators, product spokespeople, and cookbook authors will perform as well in front of the camera and live audiences as they do behind the stove.
Topics covered include:
- Identifying and articulating message points
- The “dos and don’ts” of interviews
- Selecting and preparing recipes for demonstration
- Giving effective sound bites on-air
Ultimately, anyone committed to improving his or her performance in front of an audience — live or media — will benefit from this course.
Specific learning objectives include:
- Understand how to create and lead strong, interesting, mutually-beneficial segments for television, internet, radio, print, and personal appearances
- Learn how to build a “media toolkit”
- Learn how to physically and mentally prepare for appearances, interviews, and demonstrations
- Gain many practical tips and ideas for improving responses to questions during interviews and appearances
- Develop a game plan for addressing individual weaknesses and anxieties
- Learn how to deliver solo on-camera performances
Attendees will also have the opportunity to view and critique video segments from real television cooking videos. The seminar concludes with a Q & A session, although questions are encouraged throughout the presentation. Additionally, if prescheduled, a select number of volunteers will have the opportunity to give a brief culinary demonstration in front of the group.