Let’s say you’re a bartender.
You spend a vast majority of your time thinking and talking about cocktails and their relative ingredients. Your passion has caused a number of life problems from failed relationships to chronically disastrous kitchens. How do you nurture this insane passion into a career? One great way is to become published. Writing skills are not necessarily um… necessary (have you read some of my other posts? It’s like 4th grade English…) Pictures, presentation and the most important ingredient, great cocktail recipes are much more important. From some research I’ve been doing into the world of publishing, people are buying novels less and graphic, fun, special-interest books more. I am working on a cocktail book that I am hoping will be wrapping up by 2010 and wanted to share one of the best resources I have come across for amateur cocktail book writers. It’s called “How to Write the Perfect Book Proposal,” this how-to by Jeff Herman flew under the radar but has everything you need to move forward with a book idea.
It’s hard to find in stores, in fact the closest Barnes and Noble to carry it in Seattle, Washington was one in Austin, Texas. So fire up the search engine and check online, I got mine for about 7 bucks.
The publishing industry isn’t being bailed out by the government but it’s not the thriving money maker it once was. A lot of publishers are moving forward with non-print alternatives and more authors are self publishing (Gary Regan.) Like a good cook, a good bartender accumulates recipes and techniques over time and a book is a good way to show the world what you know and open a few doors for yourself as well. Good luck and I’ll post about my cocktail book when it’s completed.
By: Mark Sexauer
Filed under: Articles
