This is my daughter Kaylee, showing off my box full of copies of the Pantry Cookbook. I'll be mailing these to the nice folks who gave me help and encouragement on the project, plus various family members. The remainder will be sent to food banks.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Here's my Spokesperson. . .
This is my daughter Kaylee, showing off my box full of copies of the Pantry Cookbook. I'll be mailing these to the nice folks who gave me help and encouragement on the project, plus various family members. The remainder will be sent to food banks.
Would you like to buy a copy of the Pantry Cookbook?
You can! The Pantry Cookbook is now available at amazon.com for $9.85. While it isn't necessary for you to purchase a copy - I am, after all, making it available in .PDF format for free - if you buy a copy, I make a whole three dollars!
The book is a soft cover, and I'll post photos of it shortly. . .
The book is a soft cover, and I'll post photos of it shortly. . .
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Now Available!
The final version of the Pantry Cookbook is now available! It is free, for your viewing or printing pleasure. The files can be found at Google Docs here. For quick and easy printing, grab the Cover and Inter .PDF files and use them to make a 7 x 10 book, with black and white interior on white paper, at CreateSpace. Printing at CreateSpace is easy - just make an account and follow the directions for publishing a book.
If you prefer to do something a little more complex, such as adding text to the book interior or cover, or using your own cover art, you can do that as well with the other files. I will explain those later. . .
If you prefer to do something a little more complex, such as adding text to the book interior or cover, or using your own cover art, you can do that as well with the other files. I will explain those later. . .
Update. . .
I am now making the final, minor tweaks to the Pantry Cookbook. I will be proceeding from here directly to publication. Once the book is out of my hands again, I'll be putting more attention into this blog and the Facebook page. In the mean time, sorry about the mess. Stay tuned!
Friday, November 25, 2011
Cookbook publishing, round two!
The Pantry Cookbook has been uploaded to CreateSpace for the second, and hopefully final, round of reviewing.
I am so ready to order up a box of cookbooks and call it a wrap!
I am so ready to order up a box of cookbooks and call it a wrap!
Thursday, November 24, 2011
"Never index your own book."
That's a quote from Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut. I have no idea how I can retain that absurd bit of trivia from a book I read once, fifteen years ago, but it stuck with me. And now that I have first-hand experience with indexing my own book, I understand what a profound and beautiful statement it is.
Argh argh argh I'm in index hell!
Okay, so it''s not all that bad. I just hoped and expected to have the last imperfections ironed out a few days ago, and another proof copy ordered up by now. But the index is the primary way by which many cookbook users find things in a cookbook, so I'm going over mine as thoroughly as I can manage, when I am awake enough not to mangle the job.
On the bright side, the proof copy is darned pretty. I'll get a photo of it posted soon, so that folks can see what they're getting.
Among other things that this last (cross my fingers) revision has fixed were mis-spellings, an improperly numbered chapter heading, the addition of a substitute for page numbers, and one recipe that got lost between drafts one and two.
Argh argh argh I'm in index hell!
Okay, so it''s not all that bad. I just hoped and expected to have the last imperfections ironed out a few days ago, and another proof copy ordered up by now. But the index is the primary way by which many cookbook users find things in a cookbook, so I'm going over mine as thoroughly as I can manage, when I am awake enough not to mangle the job.
On the bright side, the proof copy is darned pretty. I'll get a photo of it posted soon, so that folks can see what they're getting.
Among other things that this last (cross my fingers) revision has fixed were mis-spellings, an improperly numbered chapter heading, the addition of a substitute for page numbers, and one recipe that got lost between drafts one and two.
Monday, November 14, 2011
The Pantry Cookbook is Now Available for Download!
The Pantry Cookbook is now available for download! You can read it online, or download it for reading, here at Google Docs. It's free! If you want to, you can even print out copies. These files are formatted specifically to be printed by CreateSpace, at 7 by 10 inches, in black and white, on white paper. You will have to pay the printer if you have copies printed, but you won't have to pay me anything.
I will caution you, however, that you might want to wait on printing until I have a chance to review my proof copy from the printer. It should get here on Wednesday. I'll post with the go-ahead to print as soon as I have reviewed the book. [Update: the copy has arrived, and looks great! However, I do want to revise a few small things. I estimate that the book will be ready for printing in December.]
Some more about printing, and copyright stuff: instead of US copyright, I am using a "Creative Commons Attribution", so that this book can be easily used as a fundraising tool. The text of the attribution is as follows:
This book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. This means you are free to share (copy, distribute, transmit) the book, and you are also free to adapt the work, so long as you attribute the work to Michelle Clay. You may not use this work for commercial purposes, with one exception: you may sell copies of this book so long as all profits go to support food banks, school or community gardens, or similar non-profit programs that address hunger or nutrition issues.
So, if you are raising funds for a cause that has something to do with hunger or nutrition, you have my blessing to sell printed copies or sell digital copies or sell it online (all of which can be done easily through CreateSpace), so long as the profits go to the cause. May this be the easiest fund-raiser you've ever done!
Incidentally, part of my reason for doing this is my disgust at all of the fundraisers I was forced to participate in as a student. There is nothing as demoralizing as selling cheesecakes or candy or wrapping paper or Girl Scout cookies only to have 75% or, yikes, 90% of your hard-won cash go to the company that makes the shoddy product that nobody wants to eat. (Well, at least Girl Scout cookies are tasty, if you like highly refined food-like products.)
With this fundraiser, you can set the price of the book yourself.
Uploading a book to CreateSpace is free. From there, you can print copies of the Pantry Cookbook using the Author's Discount for something like $5 per copy, plus shipping. If you pay the $39 to be upgraded to the Pro Plan, it's closer to $2.50 per copy. (Sorry, I'm sleepy from a rough night with the baby, and can't seem to find the specific price on CreateSpace right now. But those numbers are pretty close.)
If you want to just order one single copy and don't want to bother with the rigamarole of uploading and setting up an account, then you are welcome to order a copy from my account. As soon as it's approved and posted to Amazon, it should be available at list price of $9.85, which will earn me a few bucks with each copy sold. And maybe if I'm lucky, I'll make back what I spent on the cover art! :)
Happy fundraising!
Post Script: I have set up a page for the Pantry Cookbook on Facebook. I can't seem to figure out how to add a "like" button on my page here, but if you would like to receive Facebook updates on the cookbook project, please visit the page and "like" it. Thanks!
I will caution you, however, that you might want to wait on printing until I have a chance to review my proof copy from the printer. It should get here on Wednesday. I'll post with the go-ahead to print as soon as I have reviewed the book. [Update: the copy has arrived, and looks great! However, I do want to revise a few small things. I estimate that the book will be ready for printing in December.]
Some more about printing, and copyright stuff: instead of US copyright, I am using a "Creative Commons Attribution", so that this book can be easily used as a fundraising tool. The text of the attribution is as follows:
This book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. This means you are free to share (copy, distribute, transmit) the book, and you are also free to adapt the work, so long as you attribute the work to Michelle Clay. You may not use this work for commercial purposes, with one exception: you may sell copies of this book so long as all profits go to support food banks, school or community gardens, or similar non-profit programs that address hunger or nutrition issues.
So, if you are raising funds for a cause that has something to do with hunger or nutrition, you have my blessing to sell printed copies or sell digital copies or sell it online (all of which can be done easily through CreateSpace), so long as the profits go to the cause. May this be the easiest fund-raiser you've ever done!
Incidentally, part of my reason for doing this is my disgust at all of the fundraisers I was forced to participate in as a student. There is nothing as demoralizing as selling cheesecakes or candy or wrapping paper or Girl Scout cookies only to have 75% or, yikes, 90% of your hard-won cash go to the company that makes the shoddy product that nobody wants to eat. (Well, at least Girl Scout cookies are tasty, if you like highly refined food-like products.)
With this fundraiser, you can set the price of the book yourself.
Uploading a book to CreateSpace is free. From there, you can print copies of the Pantry Cookbook using the Author's Discount for something like $5 per copy, plus shipping. If you pay the $39 to be upgraded to the Pro Plan, it's closer to $2.50 per copy. (Sorry, I'm sleepy from a rough night with the baby, and can't seem to find the specific price on CreateSpace right now. But those numbers are pretty close.)
If you want to just order one single copy and don't want to bother with the rigamarole of uploading and setting up an account, then you are welcome to order a copy from my account. As soon as it's approved and posted to Amazon, it should be available at list price of $9.85, which will earn me a few bucks with each copy sold. And maybe if I'm lucky, I'll make back what I spent on the cover art! :)
Happy fundraising!
Post Script: I have set up a page for the Pantry Cookbook on Facebook. I can't seem to figure out how to add a "like" button on my page here, but if you would like to receive Facebook updates on the cookbook project, please visit the page and "like" it. Thanks!
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