The Future of the Cookbook

1. The Future of the Cookbook Tools of Change Tuesday, February 14, 2012 #TOCfuturecook

2. Today’s Panelists • Adam Salomone - Associate Publisher, The Harvard Common Press • @hcpdishes • Jesse McDougall – Co-Founder, Catalyst Webworks • @jsmcdougall • Ronny Golan – Founder, BookPulse • @bookpulse

3. Why the “future of the cookbook?” • Tremendous growth in consumer interest regarding an understanding of food, cooking technique and food ways, etc. • Concurrent growth in the breadth and depth of content available online • Food blogs, websites and technology plays • Publishers need to rethink the ways in which they deliver content • Current e-distribution methods are either too expensive (apps) or ill-suited for use in the kitchen (ebooks) • The proliferation of digital options means consumers are willing to pay less and less for content (i.e. free recipe websites) • Publishers cannot keep up with content generation in the digital world

4. Three Avenues of Exploration • Content • What are the ways in which publishers can rethink content generation to make publishing cycles faster and more responsive to trends? • Monetization • How are cookbooks suited to new monetization opportunities both inside and outside of the book? • Social engagement • Consumers are more interested in talking about food and cooking online • Connection to brands, personalities and authors

5. Content Generation • Curated content generation vs user content generation • Hybrid model – Food52 • AllRecipes.com, Meredith acquisition • Trend cycles, how can publishers take advantage of new trends? • Food bloggers • UGC • How can publishers blend the print and the online world? • Enhanced content? • Cross-media usages • Repurposed content initiatives • How is the author’s role changing with content creation?

6. Monetization • Monetization inside the book • Ad-based revenue models • Co-branded cookbooks (i.e. the new “custom pub”) • Affiliate supported “stores” inside the book • Can the book become the equivalent of a cooking store between two covers? • Monetization outside of the book • Individual recipes • Recipe bundles • In-print vs electronic • Web/Subscription-based opportunities • Curating cooking verticals, seeded with recipe content. • What aspects of a recipe do you think consumers are most willing to pay up for? • Content, voice, narrative • Functionality • Do you think there’s a meaningful difference between curated content and non-curated when charging for individual recipes? • Do free online recipes complicate the process of recipe monetization?

7. Social Engagement • Examples of social engagement • Book-centric opportunities • Commenting, annotation, in-book cooking demos • Food platforms outside of the book • Specific platforms for engagement • Community-building, acquisitions, content shareability. • Author involvement in outreach • Personalities and brands • Connection • How food bloggers fit into that social community • Gatekeepers

8. Case Study: The Online Food Publisher • What is the cookbook publisher of the future? • How about this: • Online publishing house • Uses backlist of recipes to seed content across 5-6verticals, oriented around one major food site • Health, barbecue, cocktails, baking, etc • Author acts as “editorial director / community manager” • Curates content from other sites in their vertical, works with bloggers to bring in new content • Other authors in publisher’s backlist participate on the site as well • Each site is equipped for sharability of content, monetization via advertising, community store, and co-branded opportunities. • Sells cookbooks from the publisher, but also other products as well

9. Questions?

10. Thank you!