Cookbook Promos
Healthy Homestyle Cooking
This was the very first cookbook promo I ever wrote. Beginner’s luck struck again, because it stayed in the mail for more than six years and was retired unbeaten. The book sold over a million copies.
Church Supper Cookbook
The client did not like this headline. It wasn’t promising any of the usual things, like flavor or easy prep or speed. I had good counsel, however, that the competition at these church suppers was ferocious. Your dish being SO popular that it was the first one gone seemed like the best way to get that benefit across. Did it work? You bet. This was a very successful promotion.
Betty Crocker’s Fix-It-Fast Family Favorites
I did not choose the title for this book. Though there were many times when I felt I could have come up with a better title for the book I was hired to sell, this was not one of them. I doubt I could have done a better job cramming ALL the key benefits into a title, and alliteration, too! This was my first Betty Crocker promotion. It did so well, I became the go-to guy for Betty Crocker promotions.
Jeanne Jones’ Homestyle Cooking Made Healthy
I worked on this promotion in the weeks following one of those creativity boosting seminars hosted by the client. My creativity freshly boosted, I pitched selling this cookbook in an entirely new way, not as a collection of kitchen benefits like convenience and flavor, but with the deeply emotional benefit of connecting with childhood memories through food. The client demurred. We came to an impasse, which wasn’t overcome for several months. A new marketing team for the client and I came up with this bookalog, which retained the “cookbook of memories” theme but strengthened it with solid practical benefits. The book sold very well.
Betty Crocker’s Picture Cookbook
This book was tailor-made for the “cookbook of memories” approach. Betty Crocker means memories to just about everyone. By this time (2003), the low-fat fad was fading and no one suggested altering the recipes. Pure flavor. Pure memories. Phenomenal success!
Betty Crocker’s 1-2-3 Dinner!
This promotion was unbeaten for over two years and sold more than a quarter million books.
Other Cookbook Promotions
