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

Today’s Panelists Adam Salomone - Associate Publisher, The Harvard Common Press Jesse McDougall – Co-Founder, Catalyst Webworks Ronny Golan – Founder, BookPulse

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

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

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?

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?

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

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 5-6 verticals, 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

Questions?

Thank you!