A common question we get us “How long should it take to complete my family cookbook? It is different for everyone. It depends on the size of cookbook you want, how many contributors you have and how much time you have to devote to the project in a given week. It can be done in as little as a week and as long as several years. Most people generally take 2-3 months on average to go from start to completed finished cookbook.

Here are some simple ideas for finishing your cookbook faster from Family Cookbook Project:

1. Invite Friends and Family to Help
Gathering recipes is more fun when everyone gets involved. Adding a contributor is very easy. Simply go to Editor Activities>Communication Center or find the “Invitation Tool” shortcut on your Quick Start. On this page you can enter a person’s name and email and even personalize the email they will receive. That email will automatically create a user account for them and include their login information in the email they receive.

2. Set A Deadline and Schedule

Family Cookbook Project has the ability to set a deadline for contributors to submit recipes. As editor, you have complete control over the deadline to contribute recipes to your cookbook. This helps keep your contributors motivated. Go to the Cookbook Info Center in your editors account and in the center box you will see a link to change it to any date that suits you.

Also personally schedule a few hours a week to add your own recipes and work on the design of the cookbook. You don’t want to wait until the end to accomplish this.

3. Add a Co-Editor
Sometimes a fresh set of eyes can find typos that you can miss. To make someone a “Co-Editor”, go to Communication Center and click on their name in the list.  Check the box next to their user name and update.  The next time they login they will have access to: Editor Activities Menu with all tools, Add/Edit any recipe to help with cookbook editing and sending messages through the Communication Center.

4. Send Reminders to Contributors
Did you know you can send an email reminders to some or all of your contributors at the same time. Use the remainder tool to every few weeks to keep the cookbook on everyone’s mind until it is finished.

5. Style Made Simple
Family Cookbook Project is a dynamic online publishing tool that have been developed over more than a decade and a half based on the needs of our editors. The options can sometimes feel overwhelming. However the default options are the most used settings in a significant number of cookbooks we publish. Don’t get bogged down trying to use all of the features the software offers. Just pick the ones that makes your cookbook perfect!

 

Bill Rice is Co-Publisher of the Great Family Cookbook Project, a website that helps families and individuals collect, preserve and share food memories by creating their own printed personal cookbooks. He is the author of The Wellfleet Oyster Cookbook (Available on Amazon) and the Cape Cod Cocktail Cookbook, both created using FamilyCookbookProject.com. He is also editor of the Donovan Family Cookbook, now it’s third printing.

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