My new book is here, and how did I create it?

In this post I want to tell you about the process creating my books.

My new book Dark Rye and Honey cake (Van Wafel tot Koek in Dutch) is out and as I am sure you follow me on other platforms like Instagram you’ve seen some promotion. It’s always a bit awkward to promote your own book or “blow your own trumpet”, you don’t want to annoy people but at the same time not all of your posts are shown because of the algorithm on there so you have to post frequently so at least some of it is seen. Visibility is important to promote your book.

With the posts on social media I want to explain to people, and show, what the book is about, especially now that I’m writing about the heart of the Low Countries which is far more abstract than British baking or British puddings, or Downton Abbey even.

For my new Substack post, only my second so far, I wanted to share the news of my new book but also tell you a little about the book making process. Other Substackers have gone before me to talk about book publishing and creating a book (see links below) but while for others creating a book involves a whole team with a food stylist, prop stylist, home economist, photographer (often with an assistant) director, designer, editor, publisher usually almost all present at the shoot, my team is me. Just me.

I research, I write, I search for props, I cook the food, I style it, photograph, edit photos, design the layout, place the text into layout and my husband designs the cover and any illustrations present in the book. Is this to save money? No, because my publisher pays me for all of these things like he would pay everyone on a book project normally. They are also responsible for editing, proof reading and publishing the book. And if they don’t like something, which hasn’t happened that much - usually it’s about too many words and too many pages - then they’ll ask for a change. We work together, but the creative side is ours to bring to life.

Why we do this is because I have a background in design, I’ve worked as a graphic designer designing magazines and books for nearly 10 years before I became a photographer and writer. I’ve shot other people’s cookbooks and I’ve worked for food magazines in the UK, most importantly the Borough Market magazine. My husband is a well respected illustrator and art director who has an international career like me. So if we have the two perfect people for the job, if we are those people, why would we get an entire team to do it for us. I love the control I have.

I wouldn’t dream of outsourcing anything apart from having recipes tested because dear lord once I’ve made a recipe 4 times I don’t want to make it again for at least a year. I’d also love someone to clean up after me, other than my lovely artist husband, he really shouldn’t but he does, because after I’ve spent 10 hours cooking and photographing I just want to eat cheese, watch The Big Bag Theory and fall asleep.

It is a lot of work, it becomes an extremely personal project and as many people say publishing a book is like giving birth, in my case it really feels that way and I’m fiercely protective of my babies. 

So where does it start?

I’m going to take Dark rye and Honey cake as an example. 

The idea to create about about baking in the Low Countries came to me during a writer’s block induced by that awful Brexit referendum result in 2016. I didn’t want to write about anything British because I can only write about something I’m passionate about and I felt a little hurt that so many people didn’t want to be in this Union. I’m lying… I was angry and disappointed and I didn’t recognise Britain anymore. Britain had been my first love, and I felt like the cheated girlfriend. Anywho. I proposed the idea in a Zoom call with my publisher in Australia and she told me she thought I was’t ready for this book and also that my story about Britain was not finished. She was a wise woman, the kind of publisher who manages to think about her author and business because in the end people, it’s about selling books, not doing favours. But important here is that she really thought about me too, not “just” business. I then started a book about herring which never got published and by 2018 I was over my grief with the help of the National Trust who commissioned me to write the National Trust Book of Puddings. It felt like they were saying, we don’t care that you are not British, we want you for the job, fuck Brexit. I wrote Oats in the North, Wheat from the South after it, then came The Official Downton Abbey Christmas Cookbook. Busy much? 

In my spare time, since 2016, while writing my other books, I collected old Dutch language cookbooks, read up about the history of the Low Countries and step by step embraced my own culture which I had disregarded in favour of everything British all my life.

In 2020 I proposed the book about Low Country baking again to the same publisher who had said I wasn’t ready for it. By now I was ready, with a bookcase full of old cookbooks from Belgium and the Netherlands, Germany and France and a head and heart full of knowledge. The proposal was complete, with an outlay of the recipes, the story I wanted to tell, images I’d taken to illustrate and a pitch about why they should publish this book. A little like a business plan for a book. The book proposal was so much more than what I initially proposed. It had grown with me, I had grown with it, grown to love my home region and its culture. The publisher accepted and now 3 years later the result is Dark rye and Honey cake (Van Wafel tot Koek). 

Then started the more research, hours at the reference library, recipe testing and taking photos along the way instead of having a dedicated week to do photography as that is something I can’t physically manage all on my own. My studio walls will be full of recipes and pens everywhere so I can make notes along the way. I write down everything and take phone shots of steps and results to remember later if I need to go back to it. If the page is full, I tape a new page to the bottom. There are small sets set up across my studio for when a recipe works out perfectly and I can take the photo. I take most of my photos in the evening because I prefer that light. My camera is always greasy and full of flour, taking the term “working beast” to a new level. While doing Oats in the North, I was doing so many things at once I knocked over my sparkly new camera, which broke it and lead me to nearly having a meltdown surrounded by Battenberg cake and Chelsea buns. Luckily I still had my old camera as a backup. Less fun than a new camera, though.

Because of my background as a graphic designer, I write straight into the design program, not in Word. When I was writing The Downton Abbey Christmas Cookbook I even made a fake layout I could write in because writing in Word made me miserable. (I wasn’t doing the design on that one as the books all have the same style). So while I am testing and photographing along the way I can see the book come to life. By the time I finish a chapter, that chapter is indeed finished, words and photos in layout. This is a thrilling experience, to see actual result instead of a plain Word doc… because for me my words, photography and design are completely connected.

I take a long while to create a book, because of the subject and research I do for it and because of the work that is involved doing this all by yourself. This means I’m also never going to get rich from writing books. Authors hardly ever do unless if you are one of the few famous peeps or freak successes like Pinch of nom or something. I am lucky that I’ve sold good numbers, my books remain good backlisters which are the backbone of a publishing company and my advances have always payed out (apart from Downton where I had to agree with a fixed fee for my work) I live for creating my books and being able to do this gives me such joy that I wouldn’t want it any other way. My husband is the same about his work and it is wonderful that our work sometimes overlaps.

When a book is then ready to go out into book stores there is book promo. While my publishers publicist is fabulous, a lot lies on your own shoulders as an author. You can’t sit back and think things will happen. I hear some people say that they can’t invest time in social media, well if you want your book or career to work you need to invest time and effort in social media and things like this Substack. Because community is everything and once you manage to get a following you don’t only give, you get so much in return in the shape of kindness, supportive words and indeed book sales too. Indeed if you have read all the way down tot his sentence I want to thank you for reading, leaving comments and maybe also buying my books, I can only do what I do with your support and I appreciate every single comment.

So, I think that’s it from me for now. If you have any questions or whatever feel free to ask them in the comments section. Please consider your local bookstore if you want to buy my book, even if they don’t have it, they are usually more than happy to order it for you. It’s Dark rye and Honey cake in UK English and US English and Van Wafel tot Koek in Dutch. For more info about the book check out my website here (Dutch page available too)

Here are some links to substack posts that are connected to this one:

Why cookbook writing is a brutal business

The evolution of (my) food writing

Should you write the whole book first?