Publishing approach
One of the first big decisions we had to make was whether we should go through a publishing company, or whether we should self-publish. It was a tough decision, especially when lots of people we talked to had different opinions on what they thought was a better approach. After lots of chats with different people and a bit of research I came to the conclusion that there’s no right or wrong - it’s more about what approach you prefer, and how involved you want to be. There are heaps of pros and cons to each path, but in the end after a lot of thinking and investigating, we decided to self-publish. You may be wondering what the difference is between the two, so here’s my explanation on both approaches and why we decided to self-publish:
Publishing company approach
Going through a publishing company, such as Penguin Random House can be great if you’re looking for a more hands off approach. These companies have people with great levels of experience in the publishing world, helping you to bring your idea and content to life. They complete a lot of the business and behind the scenes tasks too, make decisions for you, work within timeframes, and help to get your book into stores. This means you can purely focus on the book itself and not worry about the million other tasks that wrap around it. It can sometimes be difficult being accepted by the publishing company to progress if you’re not well known in the book world with the thousands of requests they do receive - but if you can submit a strong request to be accepted and are aligned to this approach, it’s definitely one to consider.
Self-publishing approach
Self-publishing essentially means that you play the role of the publisher. You complete the marketing, distribution, photography, editing and proofreading, design, project management, legal activities, and a range of other tasks. It’s not just about the creation of the book, but all of the other critical tasks and the small business wrapped around it to make it a success. It does mean that there’s a lot more work involved and there’s a bit of risk for doing these activities yourself, but it means you have full ownership and creative control, and no rush on timelines. This approach does mean that everything has to be project managed and planned down to a tee with the right people and skills in place to help with key activities - but if that can be nailed, it’s totally possible!
After understanding each approach and what would be involved, we’re so glad we made the decision to self-publish. It’s been a lot of work, but it’s given us the opportunity to learn a tonne of new skills around small business and cookbook making. We did take a bit of risk with our approach being first timers experiencing the journey of cookbook making, but felt that if we stayed committed and took the right steps, we could do it - and we did!
Keryn Kalyan