Thank you for this tutorial on broccoli rabe, it's a PSA 🙏🏼 The pink cover with the candy cane letter reminds me so much of the retreat in Sicily! I can't wait for Saturday ❤️
Wonderful post and so happy to see you here on Substack. Thank you for showing the evolution of the your recent book cover. I bought a copy of your “first pancake” a couple of years ago and it delighted me with its recipes and content. Then, Sicily, My Sweet arrived! It’s a refined gem with even more over the top content. I love how it gets to the everything, everywhere, all at once-ness of Sicily. Well done you! I look forward to reading your posts on Substack.
I love these cookbook covers! I'm so happy that we're beginning to get cool, abstract or illustrated covers in the US. I've always been jealous of the British book covers!
This is delightful. As a designer, I really empathize with authors and how they can feel caught in the cogs of the machine when their books go into production. The team at Hardie Grant is so good, it looks like they really understood the vision and were great partners to you. It's so unusual to see cover iterations and feedback shared too, thanks for pulling back the curtain there. I have to admit I really love the candy striped typography, but your final cover is truly the winner—good color contrast, large and easy to read type (so important for online retail), and an ILLUSTRATION! What?! I adore when American cookbook covers don't rely on a pretty picture to tell the story. This cover feels just right. Brava!
Im so glad you liked it. Uh-oh, so many people are saying they love the candy-striped typography! Yes, Hardie Grant was a great partner and very collaborative. (Which is all about me taking the time to learn what the heck I was doing!)
This post spoke to me. The one lesson I always tell people publishing a cookbook is pick your battles. I don't like my first cookbook. A part of me will always love it for it being the first, but the rest of me hates it. I lost battles over the name of it, the photography, the stupid way they wanted to do the ingredient lists to make it 'unique' and I don't like the cover which I saw for the first time when it was uploaded to Amazon. I have a second cookbook that I adore because of that first experience; I knew where to let something minor go in order to have greater leverage over the things that really mattered to me.
Cool to see the process but definitely like the final cookbook cover the best. Also this was a really fun Everything Cookbooks podcast episode to listen to 😀
Thank you for this tutorial on broccoli rabe, it's a PSA 🙏🏼 The pink cover with the candy cane letter reminds me so much of the retreat in Sicily! I can't wait for Saturday ❤️
Haha it’s a mission!
Going to the greenmarket Friday to buy veg for your bone broth smoothies Saturday. Can’t wait!
I am so excited to see what you purchase 👏🏼
Wonderful post and so happy to see you here on Substack. Thank you for showing the evolution of the your recent book cover. I bought a copy of your “first pancake” a couple of years ago and it delighted me with its recipes and content. Then, Sicily, My Sweet arrived! It’s a refined gem with even more over the top content. I love how it gets to the everything, everywhere, all at once-ness of Sicily. Well done you! I look forward to reading your posts on Substack.
The “Everything, everywhere, all at once-ness of Sicily”!! How perfectly put. May I quote you? I’m grateful you’re here.
Please do. So happy to see you here!
The evolution of the cover of "Sicily, My Sweet" is fascinating to see! Thank you for sharing all these images complete with publishers comments.
Happy you like it. Now I’m wondering if I should have chosen the cover with the candy striped letters….
I love that cover too ❤️
Loving EVERYTHING about this post! Patience, time, persistence, vision…and am 100% design-nerding out on the cover iterations!
Thank you Megan - as one design nerd to another.❤️
Great post! Such an important message about playing the long game. So cool to see all the cover options!
The long game…yes.
I love these cookbook covers! I'm so happy that we're beginning to get cool, abstract or illustrated covers in the US. I've always been jealous of the British book covers!
Thank you Ginger! I wholeheartedly agree (about British cookbook envy:-)
This is delightful. As a designer, I really empathize with authors and how they can feel caught in the cogs of the machine when their books go into production. The team at Hardie Grant is so good, it looks like they really understood the vision and were great partners to you. It's so unusual to see cover iterations and feedback shared too, thanks for pulling back the curtain there. I have to admit I really love the candy striped typography, but your final cover is truly the winner—good color contrast, large and easy to read type (so important for online retail), and an ILLUSTRATION! What?! I adore when American cookbook covers don't rely on a pretty picture to tell the story. This cover feels just right. Brava!
Im so glad you liked it. Uh-oh, so many people are saying they love the candy-striped typography! Yes, Hardie Grant was a great partner and very collaborative. (Which is all about me taking the time to learn what the heck I was doing!)
Don't second guess it—and put that candy stripe type in your back pocket for your next book :-)
This post spoke to me. The one lesson I always tell people publishing a cookbook is pick your battles. I don't like my first cookbook. A part of me will always love it for it being the first, but the rest of me hates it. I lost battles over the name of it, the photography, the stupid way they wanted to do the ingredient lists to make it 'unique' and I don't like the cover which I saw for the first time when it was uploaded to Amazon. I have a second cookbook that I adore because of that first experience; I knew where to let something minor go in order to have greater leverage over the things that really mattered to me.
I’m so glad it spoke to you! And knowing which battles to pick is CRUCIAL.
Cool to see the process but definitely like the final cookbook cover the best. Also this was a really fun Everything Cookbooks podcast episode to listen to 😀
Thank you!! Now I’m having second thoughts about the cover….