Talking with David Black and Peter J. Kim
A look inside the agent-author relationship
It costs nothing to subscribe to this newsletter, but doing so keeps you up-to-date on the latest news from our community. We also encourage paid subscribers; these really help us keep the lights on at Everything Cookbooks HQ!
Literary agent David Black is not currently accepting unsolicited queries. He’s been running his own agency for over 35 years, representing some of the biggest names in publishing (cookbook authors, as well as best-selling journalists, politicians, athletes, and more). He’s at a place in his career where he only takes on new clients that he seeks out or that have been referred by a trusted source. So how then did Peter J. Kim, a debut author without much of a platform, land David as his agent? Well, we invited both of them onto the show to find out — and to ask how they worked together to sell and publish Peter’s new cookbook, The Instant Ramen Kitchen. We also gained some serious insights into the publishing marketplace.
As a busy and well-respected literary agent, David is constantly in conversation with editors, and he knows firsthand that they are pitched every day, endlessly. To drive his point home, David did the math: most editors receive 20 to 25 book proposals each week (or 1,000 to 1,300 annually), but they can only sign 10, maybe 15 new books per year. That means that their job is to say “no” - over and over and over.1 David shared this tough love insight with Peter (as he does with all his authors) when they started to work together.
“I say, well, here are the numbers, and your odds suck. You get one shot.”
So how can an aspiring author beat the odds and earn the rare “yes”?
Write a great proposal. And then write it again, as many times as it takes. Some of David’s authors have rewritten their proposals “three, four, five, ten, fifteen times,” because once an editor passes on a proposal, it’s too late to go back and do it over.
View your proposal as a blueprint. David warns against designing a proposal to act strictly as a selling tool. Your proposal should articulate the book you want to write in a way that the material sells itself. Easier said than done, I know, which brings us back to those multiple revisions.
Align with the publisher. Not every book is for every publisher, so unless you’re a big-name author that publishers will fight over, you want to understand the culture of the publisher you’re pitching and the kinds of books they make. How will your book fit into what they are trying to do? If you can’t answer that, maybe your book isn’t for them.
What about platform? Our conversation with David and Peter shed fresh light on the topic of pitching a book solely on the size of an author’s platform. David is seeing the pendulum starting to swing away from influencer and celebrity book deals, as those books are not holding up in the long run. While they are often big sellers out of the gate, once they reach the limit of the author’s celebrity, the sales fall off. In their place, David sees a market for books of substance, books destined for the backlist2—and that’s what he’s banked on with Peter’s new book.
“I am seeing that people are turning back towards [authors] who have something to say, and who may be around tomorrow….Hopefully it’s going to result in books that have a long tail, because it’s that long tail that has made the industry work.”
And hopefully, we’ll be here at Everything Cookbooks HQ to talk about this pendulum swing and everything else going on in the cookbook publishing biz.
Links from the episode:
The Instant Ramen Kitchen by Peter J. Kim
137: Being a Cookbook Editor with Sarah Billingsley of Chronicle Books
Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to find books mentioned in the show. (Buying books here supports the show, independent bookstores, and authors. A win-win-win! 🏆)
Next week on EVCB:
We get into all things food photography with Eva Kolenko, the photographer of over 50 cookbooks. Eva talks about her start, how she made the jump to actually making a living as a photographer, and her advice for aspiring photographers. We hope you’ll tune in. In the meantime, keep on writing, reading, and cooking. ✍️📚🍳
Molly and the EVCB gang
Special thanks to our new sponsor, The Local Palate Cookbook Club, a space that celebrates all things cookbooks. Their digital library includes exclusive author interviews, seasonal cookbook round-ups, reviews, and plenty of recipes. Members receive the newsletter, discounts to their Marketplace and in-person events, and opportunities to win free cookbooks and kitchen swag.
Lots of ways to support Everything Cookbooks
We appreciate your ❤️s, comments, and restacks, too. And of course, we welcome paid subscriptions if you’re able. There’s even a special category for superheroes for our super fans.
Shop for EVCB merch on our website. Any book mentioned on the show can be found at our affiliate shop on Bookshop.org. Every bit of support helps!
“They have to say ‘no’ between 980 and 1,230 times” per year, according to David.
A backlist is a publisher’s books that are still in print but have been on the market for at least a year (some say two years). This is opposed to newly-published titles, which are known as the frontlist.
My nominee for most interesting quote from this episode, via agent David Black: "Too often now, publishers are relying solely on an author's audience in order to sell a book...they are looking to reach an author's audience rather than amplifying an author's vision." Such a good episode all-around. (And, yes, I realize I make this same comment every time a new episode of Everything Cookbooks drops.)
I am so proud to be represented by the David Black Agency.