Why do people still buy cookbooks when recipes are free on the internet?

Author marketing tips from popular cookbooks

My husband reads cookbooks for leisure (and he cooks from them, lucky me). His favourite, and I mean this, is “Persian Cooking for the Non-Persian Bride,” a 2011 second-hand copy from an English bookstore here in Israel. As far as I’m aware, he is neither Persian, nor a bride, Persian or otherwise. What makes a cookbook sell when endless recipes are sitting for free on the internet? And why does a book written for a very specific woman in a very specific situation end up being the one my Ashkenazi husband can’t put down?

This is a lesson in marketing for authors of all genres.

This is not only a cookbook about food. It’s the story of a Venezuelan woman marrying into a Persian Jewish culture she knew nothing about, and using the kitchen to figure it out and show she belongs. Every recipe gives her a bit more of a foothold in this new family and culture where she wants to fit in and prove herself. So while I do admittedly love Persian food, my husband devours this book as much for its deliciousness as the experience of following a character’s struggle to become fluent in a new language.

Authors, we need to be the character of our marketing story.

Some of my top-performing posts on Instagram and LinkedIn (podcasts and media appearances always perform, but they’re rare) are from day-to-day storytelling:

1. What I affectionately termed “the Goodreads miracle,” when 47 strangers wishlisted The Spoon and the Sea a few days after release. It blew my mind so much I went and asked ChatGPT if they could be AI bots.

2. A shoutout thanking all the friends I polled for cover color and font votes, including a tally of who I’d annoyed most with messages.

3. Admitting that I missed my March UK sales target because of the Iran war, and sharing a lovely stranger’s review from the UK as the small win I could hold onto instead.

4. The 6-month book anniversary, reflecting on going from “omg a stranger bought my book” to wanting to never lose sight of what it means to wake up most days to reviews from strangers (image below)

There’s a real temptation to market ourselves and our books as finished, polished products. But that goes against everything we know about character development. Nobody roots for a character with no arc. Tell readers when something isn’t working. Say when you’re excited about a plot hole you just fixed, or a podcast you just booked. Lift the curtain, from the idea to the writing to the selling and back again, and show the cooking as much as the finished dish.