So you’ve collected your recipes, entered them in the cookbook, written your introduction and made all of you are design selections. Now you’re ready to print your cookbook.
Here are the steps you need to take to get your custom cookbook ready to be printed.
Lock Your Cookbook
The first step in getting ready to publish a cookbook is to go to the publishing center in your editors account and lock your cookbook. There are three levels of luck in your cookbook:
- Level one locks contributors for new recipes.
- Level two stops all changes by contributors. – Once you start editing, you don’t want people adding new recipes or changing things that you’ve already edited. Checking this box prevents this.
- Level three locks the cookbook completely and now you’re ready to submit to print.
Once you locked your cookbook from contributor changes (Level two), now is the time to read everything and check for typos.
Proofread your introduction
Print out your narrative and give it to someone else to read. Often it is difficult to proofread your own work and allowing someone else to do it will find things that you would mess.
Review all of the recipes
Look for ingredients that are listed but not included in the directions or ingredients in the directions that are not included in the ingredients list.
Make sure the directions seem complete.
Check the layout
Go to the box that says preview your cookbook in the black navigation bar in your editors account. Here you can either download a PDF of your cookbook or use our 3-D preview tool.
Here you are checking for how pages break. If you find a page with only a word or two, maybe you can shorten version directions to make that recipe just a little shorter.
The changes you make here will determine how your cookbook will be printed. However it looks in your final PDF preview, is how it will look when your cookbook is printed.
Place your order
Now that your cookbook looks exactly the way you want it, it’s time to order.
On the ordering page you’ll see the number of recipes you’ve entered, and the number of pages in your cookbook. This is what will determine the cost of your cookbook along with the number of color photos.
Remember that the more copies of your cookbook you are order, the less the price per book will be. This is because the set up charges are spread out over more copies of the cookbook.
Once you’ve calculated your price, you need to enter your shipping address and click submit. This places your order with our publishing system. You then will be directed to a link that will allow you to pay online or you can send a check drawn on a US bank for payment.
One frequent question is can cookbooks be sent to more than one address. Currently you would need to place an order for each delivery address.
Once you’ve placed your order you can expect your cookbooks to arrive in 2 to 3 weeks. However during our busiest times of the year, it could take longer. if you want your cookbooks in time for Christmas, the deadline for ordering is November 30, however do not wait until the last minute if you can.
Bill Rice is Founder and 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 and is an avid genealogist tracing his family back to the 1600’s.
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