Bites. Camera. Action!
The ins and outs of cookbook photography.
Not So Secret Agent is an email newsletter all about the inside scoop on cookbook publishing from senior literary agent, Sally Ekus. Make sure you never miss an email. Subscribe!
First of all, thank you ALL for your comments, messages, and care after my last post, Crying into Congee. I am relieved to share that I am feeling MUCH better. My healing is going well and though I am more tired than usual (hello parenting a 5-year-old!), my energy is increasing every day.
You voted. 30% of the survey respondents want to read about photography in cookbooks. 25% want to read a guest interview with an editor, and 23% wanted an author interview and day in my life post.
“Out of this world” Knox Gelatin PR campaign, circa 1980s
Honestly, I was hoping that photography wouldn’t come out on top only because I have SO MUCH to say about this topic and it is hard to figure out where to begin.
This newsletter is NOT meant to be a one-stop shop for all your cookbook publishing information, but it will give you accurate information based on my 15+ years of agenting and real-life book deals/examples. If you want to supplement the info here with other varied and tangible examples, go listen to every episode of the Everything Cookbooks podcast. The latest episode is all about food photography and shooting your own cookbook – what serendipitous timing!
As I said, when it comes to photography, it is almost paralyzing to try to cover all the questions. So I decided not to.
Instead, let’s unpack the two most common questions I get as a cookbook agent:
1. How is photography handled?
2. Who pays?
Number one is the motherload. Spoiler alert: IT DEPENDS – this is pretty much my answer to every question about cookbook publishing. For every book deal that shakes out one way, there is another around the corner that goes a different way.
***Not So Secret Agent Side Note: This why having an informed agent is essential if you want to publish a cookbook. This isn’t a shout out to me btw. See here for a list of cookbook agents who know how to guide you through photography and so much more. These agents have varying expertise and experience, and you should research each one before querying. ***
When you intend to work with a certain photographer:
If you personally know who you want to work with, pitch/include the photographer’s work in your book proposal.
If you don’t know the photographer personally, just include their website in your book proposal with a note that you will be relying on your agent and publisher to reach out.
If you do know them, no, they don’t need to shoot unique/new work for your proposal. You can include a link to their website, social, and even a PDF portfolio of curated samples that speak to the tone and vision they would execute for your book.
Nine times out of ten, if an author really wants to work with someone, and that someone has either shot cookbooks before or is open to learning how to shoot a cookbook, that partnership will come to fruition.
Language in your publishing contract will usually say something like the photographer is “mutually agreed upon” by the author and the publisher. Ultimately, it is up to your publisher to sign off. Which brings me to…
Who is responsible for delivering the images? Who pays?
Spoiler alert, IT DEPENDS!
Many years ago (like until 2015ish), publishers would almost always contract directly with a photographer. Now authors get the expensive honor of paying for photos out of their advance.
Fast forward through the many years of bloggers who also shot their own recipes – long gone are the days of separate photo budgets. Today, publishers get to “save money” by paying one advance to cover the delivery of both the manuscript AND the photos.
Now listen, I am not knocking the many artistic people who somehow build fabulous dishes in their kitchen, sit at their computer to write about them, and then can create studio lighting in their home so they can crank out 100 hero food shots.
Heck, I rep some of those incredibly talented people!
But food photography has gotten wild in the past 10 years. By wild I mean expensive. So expensive, in fact, that it can become cost prohibitive.
So now the author must use part of their advance to pay for photos. Depending on the publisher, it may also be stipulated that the author must spend a specified amount on the photography.
Paying for photography is more than just hiring a photographer. Authors must also figure out the food stylist, prop stylist, studio space, assistants, travel and logistics, etc.
Sometimes a photographer has a whole team they work with, while sometimes putting this team together is a collaboration.
Some food photographers have their own studio.
Some travel to the author and rent a studio nearby.
Some travel to the author and shoot in their home. (This is a money saver! And a major dish/mess maker!)
Some studios come with a prop closet as part of their studio-inclusive rates.
Others charge extra.
Some studios have go-to food stylists; some do not.
Some publishers have their art directors on set for the whole photo shoot.
Some do not.
Some authors are on set for the photo shoot. Others are not. Yes, you read that right, not all authors want to be (or need to be) on set.
Some publishers have their hands in every creative-direction call and want to approve the shot list. Others just wait until the author hits “send” on a bunch of images.
Oh, and how those images are to be edited, saved, coded for the manuscript, and sized, well you guessed it…IT DEPENDS.
You get the idea.
I also must say that even the most generous advances can quickly get spent when the author is responsible for delivering say 120 recipes and 100 hero shots, 20 lifestyle shots, and 10 how-to process shots.
Remember, paying for photography is an expensive honor.
***Not So Secret Agent Side Note: What are hero and lifestyle shots you may ask? Hero shots are finished plated dishes. Lifestyle shots are images of the author, environmental shots, or really anything that is not a food shot. They are the images that convey the tone of the book.***
Does your contract stipulate that each recipe has to be a standalone hero shot? Or could you put 5 recipes on a tablescape and keep the budget tighter by grouping recipes? Again, these are all conversations to have along the way.
By now you are probably thinking, what if I, the author, wants to shoot my own book?
There are pros and cons to shooting your own book. Will a publisher “let” you? IT DEPENDS! Most of the time when one of my authors wants to shoot their own book, we say that right up front in the proposal. We include sample photos and even go so far as to do a sample photo shoot to submit for approval by the publisher and art director.
I once had an author, with novice photo skills, who wanted to shoot their own book. We wrote into the contract that they would be given the opportunity to test shoot and submit for approval. Prior to that shoot, I connected the author with professional photographers for consulting and coaching. And it all worked out! The author’s photos looked great and were “acceptable,” meaning the publisher formally approved as per the contract language.
Wait, should authors shoot their own cookbook?
Pros:
· Advance is kept by author
· Creative control is author-led with publisher weigh-in
· Authors can work at their own pace and spread the photo shoot over time
· You may use your own props/make your own props and surface
· You can reshoot any images necessary or over-deliver cover options
Cons:
· Advance goes towards photos (including stylist, studio, props, etc.)
· Authors miss out on creative collaboration/expertise from publishing experts
· No extra hands (food shopping, assistants, food stylists, prop experts, etc. – though I would recommend at the very least hiring someone to help with dishes!)
· Energy: it is massively exhausting to shop, prep, cook, plate, style, prop, and shoot your own book
The timing of when a photographer is brought in also varies greatly.
Generally speaking, unless a proposal is pitched and acquired with a photographer on board, photographers are discussed once the manuscript is underway. The author, agent, and editor will start brainstorming names. They may outreach to the photographer to get quotes and see if they are available.
Usually, images are due shortly after the manuscript is due (so the recipes are already done and edited before the pictures are taken).
As an agent, I prefer that the editor and I work together to outreach to gauge interest/availability/cost first. Yes, even when the author is responsible for hiring the photographer. This is because publishers and agents know how to vet who will be able to work collaboratively, which is an essential personality trait that the best food photographers share.
Creating cookbooks is a collaboration at every turn. You want to work with team players.
So what does this all cost?
Here are four real scenarios that illustrate just a few of the many ways photography can shake out:
1. In 2016, I was getting bids from photographers to shoot for a cookbook that was already under contract. The deliverables were 100-115 color photographs, including 75-80 finished recipe photos and 25-40 other shots (ingredients, process and prep photos, social shots, lifestyle, environmental and portraits). Ten bids came in that ranged from $0, i.e.: I (the photographer) will shoot the book for free to gain the experience and break into shooting cookbooks, to quotes of over $110,000! Most bids for the photos landed in the $30-65k range. The team settled on a $35,000 budget that came out of the advance. Author was on site for the photo shoot and it was spread out over 10 days.
2. In 2019, during a rare scenario where the publisher was hiring the photographer directly and the author did not have to incur this cost/pay for it out of their advance, the contract specified that the publisher would pay $30k. Even though my author was not directly responsible for hiring, I recommended several photographers that I thought would be a good fit and within this budget. The photo shoot happened in author’s home over the course of a week.
3. In 2023, I worked with a contract that stipulated the publisher hired the photographer directly BUT the amount was charged against the author’s advance. As such, the author’s approval of the final budget for this was essential. The final budget was $30k. The photo shoot happened off site in studio and author was not present.
4. In 2024, a client got quotes from three photographers for 119 full-color photographs (consisting of approximately 101 full-color recipe photographs, 3 full-color cover photograph options, and 15 full-color lifestyle shots). The quotes came in estimating roughly 10-13 days of shooting (in the author’s home) and between $45k-58k. The author ultimately spent $54k out of their advance, not including other expenses. The photo shoot happened in author’s home over 13 days.
I hope this post helps pull back the curtain on some of the ins-and-outs in cookbook photography.
There are so many questions I haven’t covered! Such as:
· Credit
· Payment terms and the schedule in which a photographer is paid
· Food styling, prop styling, studio spaces, and prop and drops!
· Usage rights and copyright (think foreign editions)
· Expenses
· Should there be a photo with every recipe?
· Do all cookbooks NEED photography?
· And more!
If you are an author looking to connect with photographers:
· Ask your editor who they have worked with in the past and check out those photographers online.
· Look at cookbooks or other genre books to see who shot them. Credit may be on the title page or copyright page.
· Ask a food stylist you know who they love working with and why. Same tip goes for how to find awesome food stylists; ask photographers who they love working with and why.
· Flip through food publications to see whose work is featured.
· Make an IG post when you announce your book deal with a CTA for photographers to contact you!
· Ask your colleagues who have published books who they worked with.
***Not So Secret Agent Side Note: publishing can be a very insular industry. While it can be great to work with the many known and talented food photographers, I also recommend that authors, agents, editors, and art directors search for undiscovered and underrepresented talent that are looking to break into our industry.***
If you’re a food photographer and you want to shoot more cookbooks:
· Find cookbook publishers on IG, search for their publication day posts, and see who is tagged. Look for the agent and editor. Outreach to introduce yourself and your work!
· Grab your favorite cookbooks off your shelf and look at who the author thanks in the acknowledgment section. Find the art director. Send an intro email!
· Search LinkedIn and IG for “art director” and cross search with the various cookbook publishers.
· Put your location in your IG profile! I can’t tell you how many times agents, editors, and art directors begin their searches in a certain geographic region. Better yet, make sure your website SEO makes you top of the search result for your location!
· If you are a food photographer and have NEVER shot a cookbook but want to break into this genre, it is possible! Reach out to the many talented food people who you think are likely to publish a book. Even if it might be years down the line. Let them know you would love to stay in touch if they ever decide to publish a cookbook. Or offer to work together on their proposal!
· Keep tabs on the cookbook publishing industry and connect with as many food stylists in your area, or places you would be willing to travel to work.
· Connect with people who run cookbook proposal workshops and classes.
***Not So Secret Agent Side Note Success Story! Many years ago, an extraordinarily talented food photographer booked one of my hourly publishing 101 consultations. They had shot one book and wanted to know how to get on more publishers’ radars. Fast forward: They have gone on to shoot over ten more cookbooks and counting!***
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Thank you!
~Sally~
I promise, the Not So Secret Agent subscriber Zoom hang WILL be rescheduled. Deets on that coming soon!
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Sally, you are such a treasure trove. I can’t tell you how much my life has changed since our one-on-one conversation about this very subject because of the knowledge you imparted!
What a fantastic source of knowledge! I can't wait for the next time someone asks me about cookbook photography so I can point them here!