Quick and Easy Home Cooking for a Very Busy Cook

Have you indie published a cookbook yet? How did you get it to upload as precise, not gibberish?

This one is finally done! And it’s ready to claim its cranny on your cooking shelf!

It was a challenge!

I learned things about Word that I never thought existed. Things like what the ‘layout’ section is for. And how to use it. Phew!

And then there’s the upload as an eBook…

The biggest learning curve was getting it to upload as an eBook. We had to ensure it wouldn’t pop-up as gobbledygook on your, the reader’s, end. The problem was keeping the precise formatting through cyberspace that recipes need. But thanks to Amazon, there’s an app for that. It’s called Kindle Create (it’s free). I only had to download; install it and follow the so-called bouncing ball.

When I opened it to get this eBook finally rolling off to you, I had a decision to make. What kind of book am I creating? The correct answer is ‘print replica’. I uploaded my ‘camera ready’ PDF. And, much to my shocked glee, we were off, running, and done in no time… a ready to ship kdp file nestled into my computer.

The app is only for Amazon. Therefor, I could not successfully list Mama’s Morsels of Home on all my usual publishing sites. The great news is that it’s currently available on Amazon Kindle in both eBook and small print.

And in case you’re faced with the same predicament, I’ll share with you how I got it done. In 9 easy steps. Here they are:

Enter the recipes (with 300 dpi images) into a database like Recipe Keeper.
Download the ‘cookbook’ so you can open it in a word processing program like Word.
Open the ‘cookbook’ in your word processing program. Add your front matter, introduction, dedication, and back matter.
Format and edit the entire manuscript to your specs (page size, page breaks, layout, etc). Plan on several edits because things change and move with the formatting. You want the manuscript to be ‘camera ready’. When it’s ‘camera ready’…
Quick! Save it as a PDF to freeze everything where you want it!

Hang on! You’re on the home stretch to publish your cookbook successfully!

Create a new project in Kindle Create – it’s free on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.
Upload your ‘camera ready’ PDF into the app.
Check it. Save it. Export it to your cookbook file on your computer.
Voila! You now have an epub fixed format file to upload as an eBook. You also have a PDF ‘camera ready’ file to upload as a print book.

But in case you missed the caveat… Amazon is the only place that the eBook file will upload to. And Amazon is the only place that offers to print with full color images. So, Amazon it is…

Please email me here if you’ve found a better way. A better way to indie publish a cookbook with color photos to all venues.

So, in the meantime… It’s done! Ready for your perusal, cooking and dining pleasure. Here it is… sporting the cover that readers chose… I like it. I think you will, too.

Heads-up!

If you’re seeking 22 ingredient recipes, you won’t find them here. We also don’t have 22 steps to score perfection. And if you’re looking for man-cave meats, this is NOT the cookbook for you.

This cookbook is for the chief cook and bottle-washer who is short on time, cash, and energy.

It is perfect for those who love easy, tasty meals… and more…

Both ingredients and methods are classified as Super Simple to Simple.

You will find: