Food Time with Matt Rodbard
For some people who work in the media of food, July is hardly chill. It’s fall cookbook preview season, and for those on the beat, the spreadsheet is longer than ever this year. We’ve been getting sent PDFs since January, and the influencer boxes are starting to pile up at my doorstep. (Love me some Burlap & Barrel spices.) By late summer, there are hundreds of titles to consider for what often double boils down to a reported listicle. For authors, the preview in their respective season can feel like everything (and nothing at all).
There are, of course, podcast bookings, TV appearances, and feature articles to come, and the media interest in cookbooks is very strong these days. But for authors, the preview is an event, and it’s often the first time the author’s years of work are offered up for critical assessment without the protection of the warm cocoon of a publishing and publicity team.
When it comes to the business of cookbook previewing, many outlets do amazing work. Eater is always excellent, and their Eater at Home editor, Rebecca Flint Marx, has appeared on This Is TASTE a number of times to talk about her publication’s list. Food & Wine, Bon Appétit, Esquire, Cup of Jo, Wired, Simply Recipes, Real Simple, and many more put out great lists that are anxiously awaited by nervous authors. Previews start to drop in August, and you’d better believe that these authors are hitting refresh on publication home pages a little more than often—and possibly more than their own Amazon pages for rankings updates.
