I'm writing a cookbook!

a girl on her self-published journey

Drumroll please… I am writing a cookbook! She will be smaller than your average cookbook (think ~30 recipes), but is guaranteed to include delicious pastas, bright & zesty sides, spoon-licking desserts, cocktails to impress and more. Plus, there will be menus to pair it all together for your very own sunday supper parties.

Before we continue, many thanks to all of my wonderful friends and family who have volunteered as recipe testers. Your support means the WORLD! And a huge thank you to Debbie Diamond for helping me navigate the self-publishing world.

Now, you probably either thinking two things:

1. How cool & exciting!

2. Has Lindsey absolutely lost her mind?

For those of you confused by #2, writing and publishing a cookbook is a lot of work. Which is part of the reason why getting a book deal with a real-deal publisher can be such a feat in and of its self. First, the obvious part is developing the recipes themselves can be time-consuming and full of trial and error. But the more daunting part is the production: Editing, formatting, photography, more editing, more photography and so on. In the professional publishing world, those jobs are owned by many different people and is a multi-month long, detailed process.

Sorry to disappoint, but this self-published cookbook will be written, edited and funded by me… but nonetheless, it is a COOKBOOK! I could not be more thrilled. While it may not be full of beautiful photography and will be limited to about 30 recipes, it will still be a cookbook that I hope helps you feed your family, entertain your friends and inspires you to cook from your heart. At the end of the day, the recipes should speak for themselves - with or without the glitz and the glam of the professional publishing world.

So, if you have a dream you’ve been thinking about chasing: do it. One year ago, I embarked on my culinary school journey. Many of my corporate colleagues were overjoyed for me - but many were befuddled. Won’t this hold you back from future promotions? Or hurt your chances at being staffed on the best projects? Were some of the common questions uttered to me. Now that I am a year out, I wish I had the courage to reply: SO WHAT?! I had an opportunity of a lifetime to follow a dream and I now have a very clear vision of my career goals. And if I have learned anything in my first five years as a corporate professional, having a vision of your career goals is a blessing in and of its self. So many of us are just doing our best and hoping it sticks.

So, I am no longer taking for granted how lucky I am to know exactly what I want to do when I grow up. Instead, I am putting pen to paper on my own, self-published book while we continue to chase after the real deal. Hope you will follow along (patiently) as I navigate what on earth it takes to be a self-published author.

See you next time on Culinary Cookbook Diaries! Maybe I’ll share the title?!

Xo,

Lindsey