Everything Cookbooks

Kate and Kristin speak with Frances Abrantes Baca about her wide ranging design experience in the food media space. The founding design director of the award winning magazine Gastronimica, Frances shares her thoughts about the design elements that go into a cookbook—color, contrast, titles, page numbers, typeface, layout, covers, spines and, don't forget the table of contents. She discusses what catches her eye, what the differences in specific design roles are and where she finds inspiration before revealing what design choices draw her in and which drive her nuts. She talks about her newsletter, her process and leaves us with a few ideas and tips for authors and aspiring designers both.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Frances Abrantes Baca

• Newsletter
• Instagram

Episode 18: Pro Tips from Cookbook Critic Paula Forbes

Episode 11: Understanding Cookbook Design with Alice Chau

Episode 91: The UX of Cookbook Design

The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst

Sasquatch Books

Stained Page News

What Makes a Cookbook Cover Successful?

Don't Sleep on the TOC

Bay Area Women in Publishing Mentorship

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Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

• Wine Simple by Aldo Sohm and Christine Muhlke
• Tasting Rome by Katie Parla and Kristina Gill
• Cookbooking: a Fan's Guide by Debbie Berne
• The Design of Books by Debbie Berne

This episode is quite special. In fall 2025, Kristin and Kate spoke with longtime book designer Debbie Berne about her work in progress, Cookbooking: A Fan's Guide. She told us about the book in 2024, and we knew back then that it was a book for us. Author Michael Chabon called it a “theme-park ride through Cookbookland" — and he's right: the book is crammed with stories about food fads, hippy cooking, books for dudes, cooking "bibles," and so much more.

While Debbie was writing Cookbooking, she was also grappling with a form of incurable brain cancer. We recorded this interview when we did so she could tell us about the book in her own words. She passed away in December 2025, but her indomitable spirt and humor lives on in the pages of Cookbooking.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Debbie Berne

• Website

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

• Cookbooking: a Fan's Guide by Debbie Berne
• The Design of Books by Debbie Berne

Welcome to Season 10! Kate, Kristin, Andrea and Molly discuss the upcoming fall cookbook season and some of their thoughts about the current publishing landscape. They talk about price hikes and cookbook sales, AI recipes and their appreciation for the human touch and some of the obstacles that publishing is currently encountering. They share their thoughts and musings about what they see as the ups and downs in the wider world of books, and within the niche corner of cookbooks, before getting celebrating their new releases and upcoming projects.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Episode 144: The Author-Agent Relationship with Peter J. Kim and David Black

Episode 62: Single Subject Cookbooks with Martha Holmberg

Episode 178: Comic Book Cookbooks with Sarah Becan

Episode 135: The Manuscript is In. Now What? with Martin Sorge

Read it and Eat

Not so Secret Agent with Sally Ekus

Headnotes with Frances Baca

Cookbookery Collective with Jenna Helwig

Dianne Jacob's Newsletter

The Dinner Plan with Maggie Hoffman

Has the Restaurant Cookbook Boom Gone Bust?

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Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

This is a live conversation recorded in April 2026 during the first Cookbook Week in San Francisco, a city-wide event co-founded by Brian Hogan Stewart (of the Salt + Spine podcast), Jodi Liano, and Leslie Jonath. Here, Leslie  leads the conversation with Jenny Wapner, publisher of Hardie Grant North America, and Kate Leahy, an author, to discuss all things cookbooks. Jenny and Kate share how they got their start, what their day to day tasks look like and the recent projects that have most resonated with them. They all speak about the frantic, trend-focused nature of publishing, how the current political climate can affect a book and those glorious instances of unexpected success that keep them excited about the industry. The panelists highlight a few of their recent favorite projects and end by taking a few questions from the audience.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Brian Hogan Stewart

• Salt & Spine Podcast
• Salt & Spine Substack
• Instagram

Cookbook Week

Episode 65: Podcasting about Cookbooks with Brian Hogan Stewart

Episode 145: Eva Kolenko on Photographing Cookbooks

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Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

• My Egypt by Michael Mina with Kate Leahy
• Hand Taste by Esther Choi
• Feed your People by Leslie Jonath
• Elvira's Cookbook from Hell by Cassandra Petersen
• Full Belly Farm & Kitchen by Jenna Muller and Amon Muller
• Cookbooking by Debbie Berne
• The Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen

Happy New Year! Molly, Kristin, Kate and Andrea take a look at the past year in cookbooks and share their thoughts on the trends they predict for 2025. They discuss how the pandemic affected the cookbook market, how they see production costs and finances changing and share some insights from editors and agents about what publishers are looking for in 2025 (hint: platform!). They talk about speciality markets, single subject expertise, branded and restaurant books before sharing a few teasers of our upcoming season. [Originally aired 1/1/2025]

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

110: Sarah Fennel on bringing an online platform to the page

Attention Economy Substack

The Dinner Plan Podcast

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Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

Molly and Kate speak with Lara Hamilton, the owner of Book Larder Seattle's community cookbook store. Lara shares the motivations behind opening the store, why Seattle was the perfect base and how she sees the connection between food and books. We learn the origins behind the name, location and design of the store as well as some behind the scenes insights into ordering, event planning and curating its unique selection. Lara talks about her thoughts on trends, author platforms and building a space that is a must stop on author tour before revealing her most anticipated Fall titles. [Originally aired 9/25/2024]

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Book Larder

Book Larder Podcast: Molly Stevens

Book Larder Podcast: Kate Leahy

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Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

We're back and starting off Season 6 with grab bag of topics with all our hosts. Kristin, Molly, Kate and Andrea discuss the pros and cons of the (potentially overfull) Fall cookbook season and how to emotionally prepare but keep expectations realistic on pub day while prioritizing celebration. We share our insights and experiences on contracts, printed errors, correction pages and wade into some existential territory as we discuss optional ingredients in recipe writing before diving back into one of our favorite topics, platform. Finally, we talk about the the current cookbook trends we're loving, upcoming releases we're looking forward to and court some potential controversy with our thoughts on pumpkin spice. [Originally aired 9/18/2024]

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Monique of Hardcover Cooks

The Bojon Gourmet Pumpkin Spice Mix

Cookbook Chronicles: The Science and Art and of Recipe Development, by Martin Sorge

If Desired, by Joy Manning

The Truth About Platform, by Kathleen Schmidt

Kristin Donnelly's Newsletter

52: Matt Sartwell of Kitchen Arts and Letters

100: Advice from Our Listeners and Season 5 Wrap-Up

42: How to Write Recipe Titles

93: The Secret of Cooking with Bee Wilson

69: Writing a Menu Cookbook with Amy Thielen

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Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

Molly and Kristin speak with Sarah Kwak, a senior editor at Harvest an imprint of Harper Collins, to find out what the editing process is like. Sarah shares how she ended up at her current role, the focus Harvest has for cookbooks and what authors should keep mind regarding their proposal assembly before submission. She discusses her thoughts on comp titles, overcoming past book sales, multifaceted ways to grow a platform and what compels her to spend over two years working on a specific project. Finally, she talks about trends in the food world, the changes in the economy of publishing and her advice along with the books she is excited to release this year. [Originally aired 5/8/2024]

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Sarah Kwak

Harvest an imprint of Harper Collins

Episode 09: Cookbook Editing Tips from Jennifer Sit

Episode 48: Abi Balingit on Learning as You Go

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Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

In our last episode of 2023, Kate, Kristin and Molly discuss food trends and how they apply to the cookbook world. Whether it's butter boards, nacho tables, "girl dinner" or baked potato bars these stunt foods can loom large yet die quickly in the public consciousness. They discuss ideas on identifying trends, how to capitalize on them and the importance of keeping a variety of demographics in mind when working on "trendy" topics. Finally, we list some things we're looking forward to in 2024. [Originally aired 12/27/2023]

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Kristin Donnelly's Cookbook Proposal Class

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Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

The whole team, Kate, Kristin, Molly and Andrea, recap a few of their favorite episodes from this past season and answer listener questions. They chat about their mixed feelings for copy editors, the discussions they had about a recent Instagram story about recipe writing rigor and call out what they learned from a few recent interviews. The hosts then open up the mail bag and give their answers on recipe adaption and attribution, the idea of 'picking brains', including previously published dishes in a book and share how they add some flourish to their own book signings. Before signing off they shout-out an upcoming virtual event and share a note about what listeners can expect during our summer hiatus. See you in September for Season 10!

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Subscribe to our weekly Substack newsletter for more information about each episode and a peek at what's coming up.

174: On Being a Copyeditor with Melissa Haskin

170: Becoming a Food Photographer While Writing a Debut Cookbook with Saeng Douangdara

121: The Burnout Episode

172: Blurbs: Do They Actually Matter?

177: Collective Book Studio with Angela Engel and Amy Treadwell

Ali Slagle Post

Sally Ekus

IACP Talk with Kate Leahy and Abby Cerquitella on August 19, 2026

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show