Writing life: Are pitching contests a recipe for success?

Creative cookery

Are pitching contests a recipe for success? Rosalind Moody meets a cookbook author whose Great Cookbook Challenge win took her to the top of the Amazon charts

Imagine this: Dragon ’ s Den, but rather than business prospects, it ’ s cookbook proposals. Pioneered by TV chef Jamie Oliver, and joined by Louise Moore, MD at publisher Micheal Joseph, The Great Cookbook Challenge was broadcast on Channel 4 at the start of this year. In it, we watched eighteen budding cookbook authors being put to the cooking tests, all to prove themselves worthy of winning their own cookbook publishing deal. On discovering this show randomly one evening, it was like all my Christmases had come at once. Wholesome cooking content with a publishing perspective? Be still my beating stomach.

The proud publisher behind Jamie Oliver himself, as well as Nadiya Hussain, Mrs Hinch, Jeremy Clarkson and Marian Keyes to name just a few, Michael Joseph found its winner. Spoilers ahead – it was Dominique Woolf. Her book Dominique ’ s Kitchen: Easy Everyday Asian-Inspired Food was released on 9 June, is endorsed by Jamie himself and is already a bestseller. 224 pages strong, the reader reviews alone make your mouth water, let alone the beautiful book itself.

‘We wanted to help to open the doors a little wider and contribute towards breaking down barriers to make the publishing process more transparent and diverse, ’ Louise Moore explained on Waterstones.com. ‘The decision on which cook to invest in rested with me... It was an absolute honour to work alongside [fellow judges] Evening Standard restaurant critic and food writer, Jimi Famurewa and awardwinning recipe writer and author, Georgina Hayden. ’

Luckily for Dominique, Asian food is also more ‘in ’ than ever. Holly Shackleton, editor of industry-leading trade magazine Speciality Food, writes that

‘ yuzu – fragrant Japanese citrus juice – is up 57% from 2020. ’ Umami is also credited as a big trend for this year, and other key drivers are ‘ plantbased eating, wellness and interest in world cuisines. Glutamate-rich ingredients such as seaweed and dried shiitake mushrooms give meat and dairy-free dishes a flavour leg-up, while fermented foods like miso, kimchi and pickles are associated with wellness. ’ And, despite the ubiquitousness of free recipes online, cookbooks are still king. Louise reports that cookbooks are, in fact, ‘increasing in popularity, and cookery makes up a growing portion of the overall publishing market. ’

Seems Dominique couldn ’ t have pitched her debut at a better time, or through a more exciting process. As I chat to the winner herself on her path to getting published, she sprinkles in a few great ideas to inspire your own cookbook. I do love going behind the scenes...

The launch of every debut author ’ s dreams, Dominique ’ s book has received a rainbow of press, from Olive Magazine to the Daily Mail, BBC Radio 2 and plenty more. Since its release, it ’ s been the number one bestseller in three Amazon categories, including top of the Restaurant category (considering Dominique is a home cook, not a chef, this is impressive work).

Of course, my first question for her

had to be about her favourite recipe from it. ‘The book’ s salad section has a really nice lunch which is a hot smoked salmon rice bowl with a miso and mustard dressing, which people have been loving using on all sorts of other different dishes. It ’ s great for hot weather like this!’

‘I was extremely fortunate I had this opportunity, and it ’ s amazing I ended up winning, ’ she says. ‘I always had a feeling I could write recipes, but to have a successful book which is selling really well, it ’ s really exciting. My writing process was completely topsy turvy – I only had six weeks to write it, but I wanted to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. ’ I think I’d curl up in a ball under my bed if I was served such a short deadline on top of a full-time job, but it ’ s to Dominique ’ s credit that she picked up her pen and got stuck in.

How did it all begin? How so many things do in 2022 – an advert on Instagram. This is where Dominique made the first move. ‘I had to send in a two-minute video, with an idea and some background on me as a cook, and a few weeks later I got a call. Then, there were two Zooms. One was a cookalong where I had to make something with them watching. Eventually, in September, about six weeks after that initial application, I found out I was going to be on it!’

You ’d imagine that you ’d get the normal amount of time, if not an inch longer, to work on your debut cookbook, but it turned out quite the opposite. ‘It wasn ’ t about drafts – I won the show, then a few days later we had a meeting and I was given a schedule. The following week I was to deliver 20 recipes, then 15, then there was a break for Christmas. The Monday we all came back I was due another 15, then 15, and so on. By the end of January, we were photographing it. So it was a case of “ write them, test them, submit them ”’!

‘For the tests, I had to farm out the recipes to friends and cousins who didn ’ t even know I’d won – I just told them it was for my website. I asked several people in Jamie [Oliver]’ s team, so that each recipe had at least three tests to make sure they did work. The shoot took two weeks and I was cooking ten to eleven dishes a day, so while the food stylist worked her magic with one, I’d go and cook the next.

‘My blurbs introducing the recipes didn ’ t change much once I’d written them, which was great, but there was a little bit of time before it printed where I could adjust the recipes slightly. A few weeks of tweaks, such as swapping in a quicker method I’d thought of, or slightly changing the amount of an ingredient, and that was it!’

Dominique ’ s passion and drive is clear to hear. We talk about how she ’d been given a cookbook as a young girl which had fueled her curiosity in recipe-writing, and how I related to that nostalgic memory of hers. I want to know what ’ s next on her journey.

‘It ’ s still school holidays, but I’ ve got quite a few food festivals in August and September, so that ’ s great. I would love to think I could get a book number two, so I’ ve really started to think of ideas for that. I’ m working on developing my social media, because that ’ s really important these days. Content has not always been my domain, but if I go to a really nice restaurant I’ll make a reel. I’ m getting great engagement so far. ’

We writers may groan when we hear that C word, but despite being more business-led than editorial, Dominique is already a master at generating interesting content for platforms across London. ‘It ’ s really important to practise writing. I wrote something for a mum blog, and for a local cultural magazine in North London called Village Raw, and after meeting them at various events, they ’ ve featured me and been really supportive. A friend introduced my to a health and wellness site who wanted a regular recipe column, so I did that for nearly a year, and that was great experience. I wrote tips to become a foodpreneur for an enterpreneurial website [Dominique started a condiment business, The Woolf’ s Kitchen, during lockdown in 2020]. There ’ s nothing like having your work in print that ’ s not just on your blog. Find the opportunity, even it ’ s a small one, because it gets you experience and a portfolio.

‘I would have no idea how to pitch a book conventionally, though. I would say have an idea that ’ s different, with a new angle. An angle is the way you present something. It ’ s got to be something not done before. My mum is Thai, so my angle was inspired by that. Research and approach publishers for what books they already do, and don ’ t pitch something that ’ s exactly the same. Make your presentation of that really concise – I’ m sure there ’ s a format* . Network like crazy, use LinkedIn, and go to writer networking events. Ask people who have done it. There ’ s not just one way of doing things. You ’ ve got to work at the whole thing, which is hard, ’ Dominique insists.

If you ’ re considering following in Dominique ’ s breadcrumbs and applying to the show, remember, it ’ s not just contestants who are brand new at this unique process, either. ‘[Being on the show] was so far out of my comfort zone, and so different to the usual book acquisition process, ’ Louise Moore admits. Her final professional advice echoes Dominique ’ s: ‘If you ’ re someone who wants to get a cookbook published, you ’ re an accomplished cook and you instinctively understand how recipes work, my biggest piece of advice would be to think really hard about what you want to say. I’d also encourage you to test your recipes. ’You know what that means, right? Get cooking, writing and do lots of eating.

*She ’ s right, there is indeed. In my experience, most of the bigger publishers require an agent to submit something on your behalf. Research agents ’ websites, which specify how they want your pitch written out.

Dominique ’ s Kitchen is out now. Follow her at @dominiquewoolf or visit thewoolfskitchen.com. To apply to the next series of The Great Cookbook Challenge, look out for updates at plumpictures.co.uk/

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