Cookbook Author Interview: Part 1

Sandra Gutierrez on writing, rejection, and career highs

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Part 1 of Guest Author Interview: Sandra Gutierrez.

Today’s post is the first half of my interview with cookbook author Sandra Gutierrez. Sandra has been a client of The Ekus Group for the entirety of her author career and has weathered many of the ups and downs of publishing. I chose to feature her work as my first cookbook author interview because she is an exceptional human and prolific cookbook author.

It is a tremendous honor that she has taken the time to share her work and insights with the Not So Secret Agent newsletter readers.

This interview is being released in two parts, and I welcome comments and questions below! Also, if you feel so inclined, help Sandra celebrate the one-year anniversary of her latest cookbook, Latinísimo (released October 3^rd, 2023 with photography by the incredible Kevin Miyazaki), by grabbing your copy for the holidays.

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How did you get started as a food writer?

I started writing at a very young age and I always thought I would be a journalist covering wars (I had grown up in Guatemala City during some of the most dangerous years of a civil war), but the moment I got married and had kids, that thought of being surrounded by danger quickly left my mind. I turned my attention to the culinary world at one point, starting a small catering operation and teaching cooking classes on international cuisines in Canada.

In 1994, I moved from Toronto to Cary, North Carolina. The move was a shock to say the least, as I went from a big city with a huge food culture and large population, to a small, quiet—albeit very quaint—southern town in the US. I didn’t know what to do with myself, until one day, my husband, Luis, drove back from work and told me that the local paper was looking for a food editor. He suggested that I write a sample article that he could drop off to the paper on his way back to work (those were the days before email…). I remember I wrote an article about olive oil that I titled “The Gold of the Mediterranean.” All of the information was off the top of my head, based on my years of teaching and the recipes I knew were favorites of my students. That afternoon, I got a call from the editor of the paper offering me a job. They had interviewed 65 applicants before me and they wanted me to start immediately. I have never looked back.

In 1999, I landed an interview with Emeril Lagasse, who was rising to great fame on the Food Network. The readership of the paper skyrocketed and my newspaper section became sought after by publicists and authors everywhere. I then began to write as a freelancer for major food publications both nationally and internationally, and I haven’t stopped since.

You were represented by Lisa Ekus before you and I started working together. How did you land her as your agent? Do you have advice for people who want to secure agent representation?

I was introduced to Lisa by Nancie McDermott, and Lisa asked to meet me in person at the Greenbrier Symposium for Professional Writers (which was headed by Toni Allegra). I had only weeks between that email and our first meeting and I wasn’t going to arrive empty-handed to what could be my only opportunity to get seen by an agent (and the best culinary agent, at that!). So, I took it upon myself to write a book proposal; I spent the next four weeks testing recipes and writing. That’s what I presented to Lisa upon meeting her. She signed me a few weeks later, and the rest is history. The best advice I can give people who want to find a great agent is to learn how to write very well and to know their subject matter better than anyone else. If you can write well, you can communicate your ideas; if you can write very well, you can create recipes that work for your audience. But you must know about food well, too.

***Not So Secret Agent Side Note: I love that this is how Sandra and Lisa connected. While hands-on writer/agent conferences feel fewer and farther between these days, being prepared is what really matters. Do NOT pitch before you are ready to work with an agent. If you are looking for where to begin in publishing, check out some of my go-to resources here. ***

Can you give readers a snapshot of how each of your books came to be published?

The first proposal I turned in didn’t become a book. However, the last chapter of that proposal did. Lisa began to send out the proposal to university presses (it was a new subject matter and quite academic). When the University of North Carolina Press read it, they focused on the last chapter: my discovery of a new culinary movement in the Southern United States that I had been studying and documenting for several years. I called it The New Southern-Latino Movement, and it catapulted the publication of my first cookbook The New Southern-Latino Table. 

After that one, which was received quite well by the national and international press (it made it all the way to newspapers in Israel and Singapore!), we presented UNC Press with a second proposal. I had been to an IACP conference in Portland a few months before, where I had visited a couple of food truck parks (that’s when the food truck craze started in full force). Earlier, I had noticed that from the hundreds of offerings from all over the world, the only Latin American offerings I could find at those vast parks where one or two trucks that sold Mexican food—mostly tacos. I remember walking back to the hotel and meeting Lisa at the conference and telling her that I had an idea for the next book: one about the fabulous street food of Latin America. It would allow me to present the food of almost every country in the Latin territory from a fun, inexpensive, and very doable perspective—a way in which Latin American cuisine hadn’t been presented before. You must understand that by 2011 when I wrote this proposal, there were only a handful of books on Latin cuisine published. None of them covered the spectrum of countries that make up Latin America.

So I wrote the proposal in a few days, and that is where you, Sally, come in. You were new to the agency. But you sold that proposal so quickly that I could barely catch my breath! I’ve loved working with you ever since. Latin American Street Food, published in 2013, and has been so successful that it came out on paperback last year and continues to sell well.

After that, UNC Press offered me the opportunity to join their cadre of southern authors and pen a book in a series of books called The Savor the South Cookbooks. That’s what led to the publication of Beans and Field Peas in 2015.

But that year, I also wrote a fourth book, Empanadas: The Hand-Held Pies of Latin America. For this one, Lisa brought me in after the publishing house expressed interest in the theme.

Then I took a much-needed rest while I worked on a proposal for a large book. Lastly, LATINÍSIMO, was published by Knopf in 2023. I think that was a very exciting day for both you and me, as they also agreed to publish the book (a huge compendium of modern-day recipes for home cooks) simultaneously in Spanish (something never accomplished before). So, as your readers will see, not one of my books followed the same publishing path as the others.

Can you comment on the types of rejections you got for your proposals and how they shaped your book ideas (or not)?

Oh, boy… rejections. I’ve had so many, I’ve lost count. The thing is that, to me, they are and have always been part of the journey, not the culmination. I’ve always said that every rejection letter I got was a “not now, not here, not yet…” answer. I never accepted them as a permanent and absolute “no.” Most of the rejections were beautiful letters and emails that explained clearly why the proposal was being rejected. I so appreciated those rejections the most because they allowed me to keep re-shaping my proposals, polishing them until they became a reality.

One particular editor from a well-known publishing house requested several proposals from me after having long conversations about them. I wrote five different proposals on five different themes for him—he didn’t accept any of them. I promised never to waste my time with this publishing house again or on writing curated and requested proposals exclusively for one editor.

However, none of my efforts were wasted, as the material I researched and developed for every one of those proposals became parts of my other books and fueled many articles. Why throw the baby away with the bath water, right? The magic word here is: repurpose. Learn to do great work that you can use several times. You need a thick skin to put up with rejection and you need a great positive attitude and a no-quitting spirit to be in this business.

To me, rejection has meant a sweeter reward when a book gets published.

You have published with a university press and larger traditional publishers. What are some of the strengths that publishing with a university press brought to the table?

I loved writing for a university press. First of all, you learn to vet and to prove each and every point you make because they will do the same on their side to make sure that the book can be used to teach truth. Those who love to research, who love to teach, and who love history, find good homes in university presses. The money up front isn’t very good, but it’s not always about the money at first. Once you’re vetted by a university press, you are recognized as a respected expert in your subject matter by everyone else and that has enormous value for authors. Having more academic-leaning cookbooks has also allowed me to jump into the lecture sphere, which has led me to present my work in both universities and museums. Several of my books appear in syllabi across universities. 

***Not So Secret Agent Side Note: When a book is published by a university press, the author goes through a peer review process. These can be laborious, time consuming, detailed, and ultimately a very positive (or negative!) experience. This process is not for the faint of heart!***

I know publishing Latinísimo was a long time coming. What does this book mean to you and for your career?

Latinísimo is the book I have always wanted to write. I’ve been working on this book for at least three decades, investigating, collecting recipes, traveling, and documenting. When I first started to become visible in the culinary circles, I remember editors and publishers saying they were looking for writers who could present new cuisines to them—they wanted new material for their readers. However, whenever I presented them with the entirety of Latin foodways, they immediately recoiled and claimed they were not interested in the subject matter. It was either too big, too complicated, not exciting enough, or the public wasn’t ready to go to those countries yet. In all honesty, I think most of them were scared because they knew very little (or nothing) on the subject at hand and didn’t want to risk publishing a book about foods they knew nothing about. I found myself having to break countless common stereotypes about Latin food (that we all eat Mexican food, for instance, or that all Latin food is monolithic and spicy). So many, in fact, that I made it my mission to address those stereotypes through my freelance writing. It required patient and careful conversations to open up a keen interest on the subject matter without frightening editors. I had to prove that I was an expert and that they could trust me, even if they themselves didn’t know how to navigate Latin foodways. And I also had to prove that there was a market. This book took years and years to sell—but the wait was so worth it because I ended up with the book I always envisioned!

***Not So Secret Agent Side Note: I will never forget the day I pitched Sandra’s work to Tom at Knopf. I always make sure to ask editors I am meeting with what is on their wish list. On that particular day, toward the end of our meeting talking through all the completed projects I had available, Tom mentioned his longing for a Latin American cookbook. Of course, I immediately verbally pitched Sandra even though the idea was still in the early phases of proposal development. When my colleague and I got in the cab after the meeting, we took a minute to hold space for manifesting this book deal for Sandra. It was what she had worked her entire career towards. I will never forget the feeling of taking the time to put a little extra energy towards Sandra achieving the book of her dreams. In all my being, I knew that this was HAPPENING.***

Stay tuned for the second part of the interview where we get into Sandra’s book tour and we unpack what defines a book’s success.

See below for more on Sandra and this week’s upcoming AMA with yours truly!

~Sally~

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About Sandra A. Gutierrez

In a career that spans more than two decades, Sandra A. Gutierrez, journalist, author, food historian, and professional cooking instructor, has taught thousands how to cook.

Born in the USA, this bilingual, award-winning journalist and author of five cookbooks is considered one of the top national experts on Latin American Foodways and on the United States Southern Regional cuisine.

She is the former food editor for The Cary News. Sandra has over 3,000 original recipes and over 1500 articles published worldwide. Her books have won her special recognition from The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal among others.

Sandra is a frequent speaker at conferences, universities, and literary festivals, among them: The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP), Southern Foodways Alliance, The Smithsonian National Museum of American History, The Anacostia Community Museum (Smithsonian Institute), The North Carolina Museum of History (Raleigh), The Levine Museum of the New South (Charlotte), The Atlanta History Center, Duke University, The University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and others.

Sandra has appeared in numerous television shows, including the nationally syndicated Daytime TV show on NBC and in Vivian Howard’s Somewhere South (for which she was on the Advisory Board). Sandra is a founding member of the North Carolina Chapter of Les Dames D'Escoffier.

A frequent judge for major food writing awards, in 2017, Sandra was awarded the M.F.K Fisher Grand Prize Award for Excellence in Food Writing. Sandra’s work and life story were featured in the Exhibit Gateways/Portales at the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum from 2016-2019. In 2019 her work and culinary objects became part of the permanent FOOD exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. On September 15, 2021, in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, Sandra was honored by the Smithsonian Institute as a “Woman to Know” and one of seven “Latinas who shaped American culture.”

Her Books:

The New Southern-Latino Table: Recipes that Bring Together the Bold and Beloved Flavors of Latin America & The American South (UNC Press 2011). It was featured in the Gateways Exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute Anacostia Museum from 2016-2018).

 Latin American Street Food: The Best Flavors of Markets, Beaches, and Roadside Stands from Mexico to Argentina (UNC Press 2013).

Empanadas: the Hand-Held Pies of Latin America (ABRAMS 2015); winner of a Gourmand Award for best single-subject cookbook in the United States.

 Beans and Field Peas: A Savor the South Cookbook (UNC Press 2015).

LATINÍSIMO: Home Recipes from the Twenty-One Countries of Latin America (Knopf 2023)

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Curious about how to land a cookbook deal? Join Literary Agent Sally Ekus on Oct 17, 2pm EST on Zoom as she breaks down everything you need to know—from finding the right agent to crafting a winning proposal. You’ll learn what goes into a strong pitch, how to attract an agent’s attention, and the timeline of cookbook publishing.

We'll also have time for Q&A with Sally so bring all your cookbook questions!  This is for official Bombesquad Members only. There are lots of membership perks, including our monthly member meetings, so be sure to check them out here.