Tune in Next Time

I've heard that publishers love an author who can produce a series of books that drives readers back into the bookstores time and time again. Let's take those Twilight series books by Stephenie Meyer for example. The Twilight story is engaging, imaginative, sexy, and perhaps best of all, it leaves the reader asking for more. And as a result, readers flock to their local booksellers in fits of anxiety-ridden vampire-book-buying mania. Even I (as a person who hasn't read the Twilight series yet) sometimes find myself asking the question - Edward or Jacob?

Now, how does one apply this idea to writing cookbooks? How does one create a series of cookbooks that encourages readers to fork over even more money in exchange for another Nathan Scott cookbook? Though I am not convinced that anyone has ever run to a bookstore to purchase a copy of any cookbook out of some fit of anxiety-ridden book-buying mania, I do believe there must be a way to convince readers to buy more.

One thought I had was to just leave the last step off of my cookbook's final recipe – a sort of recipe cliffhanger, if you will. I could even include a cute note at the bottom of the recipe to illustrate my point. (Perhaps something along the lines of “To be concluded...” or “Will this cake work? Will Nathan succeed? Purchase his next cookbook to find out!”) That is, after all, an idea that does seem to work for the television and movie industries. But then again, omitting a step or two might just seem like an oversight and make readers think that I don't know what I'm doing.

I also considered making some giant food posters that I would chop up into quarters and include as the final page in a series of four books. That way every time a reader purchases a book, he or she gets the next quarter of the poster. But that idea kind of went the way of the dinosaur as well. Let's face it, it's a cookbook. What kind of poster could I create to include inside a cookbook? A giant tomato? Somehow I doubt people would be flocking back to the bookstores to purchase that next cookbook just to complete a poster of a giant tomato.

So where does that leave me? How will I create a series of must-read cookbooks? Well, I guess you'll just have to become a follower of my blog and tune in next time to find out.