Maria Zizka on Making a Cookbook Career
The power of saying yes
There is NO cost to sign up for this newsletter, but subscribing insures you’ll receive new posts and stay up to date. If you like what you read, please let us know by hitting the ❤️ at the bottom of the post. We love your comments, shares, and restacks, too. We do welcome paid subscribers for anyone able and interested in further supporting the show.
Cookbook fanatics are known for scrutinizing the acknowledgments section in cookbooks to find out who was involved in the project. Doing so, we’re not just registering the identities of the team (although that can be a helpful way to develop an informal Who’s Who for the biz), we’re also taking note of the various roles. It would be impossible for an author to know (and acknowledge) every job required to bring a book to market (there are many people on the business and production side of things that few authors ever meet or even hear about), but reading a detailed acknowledgments section can provide a good sense of the community that it takes to bring a book to life.
There’s so much to be gleaned from reading the acknowledgments that it’s a habit we recommend to anyone looking to learn about how cookbooks get made and how to break into the business - and it’s a habit we share with this week’s guest, Maria Zizka.
When I began writing cookbooks, my name never appeared on the cover. I started in the quiet, inconspicuous roles like recipe tester or coauthor, and I worked my way up from there. During those early years, I formed a habit of reading the acknowledgements before any other page. I’ve never forgotten the sense of pride that rose in my chest when I saw my name.
Long before Maria became one of the top US cookbook collaborators, she was “obsessed with cookbooks” and determined to transform her obsession into a career. But how? The first step was realizing that there was a lot she didn’t know, and so she set out to educate herself through a combination of schooling and on-the-job experiences.
The story of how she found her first recipe testing job is best told in her own words, so I’ll let you listen to the interview to hear her tell it, but long-story-short, she landed in the home kitchen of one of LA’s most esteemed chefs, Suzanne Goin, an already established cookbook author. The recipe testing assignment morphed into an immersive training in the whole cookbook-making process, from editing to production. This experience set the tone for how Maria would shape her career by saying “yes” to the opportunities that came her way and then following the thread to the next possible opportunity.
It's been some 15 years since that first recipe testing job, and over the years Maria has worked as an editorial assistant, a cook, a recipe developer, a cookbook collaborator, a co-author, an “Americanizer” (the rather awkward title to someone who edits cookbooks for the North American market), and solo author. To date, she has contributed to over 45 cookbooks, many by big-name chefs and celebrities, and she’s written five of her own. And she shows no signs of stopping.
Every book is so different and has completely different needs. No two books are the same.
Maria’s story is a testament to how there’s no one way to build a cookbook career. Beyond the top credits, like author, photographer, and editor, it takes a host of hard-working individuals to create a cookbook. Every role, no matter how seemingly small, requires a certain skill set and impacts the finished product. As Maria reminds us at the end of our interview, trying all kinds of different things is a great way to gain experience and learn, especially if you can approach each with an open heart and a “yes, and…” attitude.
This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support the Everything Cookbooks podcast, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Links from the episode:
Maria Zizka Website
Where Chefs Eat, Phaidon Press, 2018
The Newlywed Table by Maria Zizka
Boards, Platters, Plates by Maria Zizka
One-Bowl Meals by Maria Zizka
Cook Color by Maria Zizka
The Hostess Handbook by Maria Zizka
Sunday Suppers at Lucques by Suzanne Goin
I Love You: Recipes from the Heart by Pamela Anderson
Honey & Co., by Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer
Kitty Cowles, Cowles Agency
Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to browse all books mentioned in the show (purchasing books here supports the show, independent bookstores, and authors. A win-win-win! 🏆)
Next week on EVCB:
Next week, we welcome Martin Sorge to talk about his debut baking cookbook while he is still in the thick of creating it. (He had just sent off the manuscript when we spoke with him!) We chat with Martin about how he got started on his baking journey and the role Everything Cookbooks played in how he developed, pitched, and wrote his cookbook. It’s a fun chat, especially when Martin turns the tables on us and asks us for advice and insights as he begins this next venture.
Bye for now. We’ll be back here next week and hope you will be, too. In the meantime, keep on writing, reading, and cooking. ✍️📚🍳
Molly and the EVCB gang
Lots of ways to support Everything Cookbooks
There is no cost to subscribe to our Substack — and no pressure — but subscribing helps support the show. Please tap the ❤️ at the bottom of the post if you like what you read. We appreciate your comments, shares, and restacks, too. And of course, we welcome paid subscriptions if you’re able and interested in further supporting our work. There’s even a special category for superheroes for our super fans.
Shop for EVCB merch on our website, and books mentioned on the show can be found at our affiliate shop at Bookshop.org. Every bit of support helps!
Maria's way of writing letters to get her start is such a unique approach -- and it sure was effective!
Maria is a thoughtful superstar and an absolute pro.