Internet Marketing Ideas for Cookbook Authors and Recipe Ebook Writers

Here are a few ideas for marketing cookbooks and recipe ebooks online:

Do a Cook-Off Challenge

Recently chef Gordon Ramsay, host of MasterChef and Hell’s Kitchen, challenged Bobby Flay to a cook-off (aka Culinary Throwdown) via an Instagram video (http://www.facebook.com/gordonramsay). That challenge video went viral, not only online but via AP and People.

Here’s what Ramsay said: “Should I let you in on a little secret? At the end of the year, we’re going to go and do a throw-down. We’re going to do the most amazing live cook-off against a chef that I’ve grown up with and admired for many years, but he keeps refusing to go up against me. You may not have heard of him, but his name is Bobby Flay.”

A video posted by Isai Rocha (@izzy_serious) on

As a chef yourself, and a cookbook author, you could do the same. Pick a famous chef (preferably one with a large social following) and challenge them to a barbecue cook-off, a cake bake-off, a salad make-off, or whatever your specialty is. Share your cook-off challenge via your social networks and hashtag your shares with the name of the person you challenged. Share via a Facebook Live event and then share on Instagram, etc.


Become a Member of AllRecipes.com

Join AllRecipes.com and share a video. One member’s recipe for Smoke Salmon Quiche was seen by 19,010 people via AllRecipes’s Facebook page.

Besides being featured on AllRecipe’s Facebook page, your recipe or recipe video could be pinned to one of their Pinterest boards or featured via their Instagram feed.

Over 1.2 million people follow AllRecipes on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allrecipes.

One member’s Grilled Salmon I has been repined 794,031 via AllRecipes’s Pinterest page, which has over 300,000 followers: https://www.pinterest.com/allrecipes.

819,307 people subscribe to AllRecipes’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4tAgeVdaNB5vD_mBoxg50w.

Over 787,000 people have viewed the following recipe from AllRecipes:

There are many other high-traffic recipe-sharing websites. Join a few others and share your recipes, your food videos, etc.


Connect with Food Bloggers

Connect with prominent food bloggers. Here are a few of them to get you started:  http://bookmarketingbestsellers.com/diy-bloggers-food-bloggers-beauty-bloggers-garden-bloggers.


Write a Q&A Column

Propose a Q&A column for a targeted high-traffic website. For example, check out PopSugar Food: http://www.popsugar.com/food (which is one of the top 1,000 websites in the world). Propose to them that you write a Q&A column on baking cookies, or using spice mixes, or creating yogurt recipes, or whatever your specialty is.

If they don’t accept your offer, locate another high-traffic website that targets your topic or the audience you want to reach.


Interview Other Cookbook Authors

Create a podcast where you interview other cookbook authors. Or create a Google Hangout series to interview other cookbook authors. Or a webinar series. Or a Facebook Live series.

Get to know other cookbook authors, famous or not well known. Become the go-to person for people wanting to know more about cookbook authors.


Become a Food Blogger

If you don’t want to do interviews, then start blogging about other cookbook authors. To up your blog traffic, create one or more of the following:

Cookbook Author Hall of Fame online

cookbook awards

cookbook author awards

Top Recipe of the Week (from other cookbook authors or ebook recipe writers)

Food Blogger Hall of Fame

Top 10 Food Bloggers of 2016

Top Food Porn Photos of March

Top 30 Facebook Food Pages

Your Favorite Instagram Food Porn

Top YouTube Food Channels

Top YouTube Food Videos

There are lots of ways to make your website a go-to place for people interested in cookbooks or recipes.

About John Kremer

John Kremer is author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books, the Relationships Matter Marketing program, and many other books and reports on book marketing, Internet marketing, social media, and book publicity. -- .

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