From Test to Table
why recipe testing is important + NSSA skill building
Not So Secret Agent is an email newsletter all about the inside scoop on cookbook publishing from senior literary agent, Sally Ekus (that’s me!). Make sure we never miss the chance to connect. Subscribe!
Dear Not So Secret Agent readers,
What makes a perfect recipe?
In advance of the Recipe AMA I’m hosting for paid readers on July 30th, recipes have been on my mind a lot lately! Apparently they have been on yours too since I keep finding myself in conversations about the inner workings of great recipes.
When I am working with, meaning I have already signed a client, and I read their recipes, I look for a few things:
Are the recipes detailed?
Are the ingredients listed in the order in which they are used?
Is there some semblance of a standardization in format, instruction, and specificity?
If any of the top three criteria (there are many more, this is just an example) are missing, I will often recommend that my client hire an outside tester.
Do most proposals I review include recipes that have been formally tested by a professional recipe tester? No. But testing is often done before I send a finished proposal out on submission. This is not always the case, however. It depends on the client.
You might be thinking: “Not So Secret Agent Sally, you legit ask your seasoned/experienced/high platform/beloved clients to work with an outside expert?! Do they ever get offended?”
Honestly, I’m not sure. I’d guess mostly not though, because we have trust. My clients believe me when I say editors will likely cook a few recipes from their proposal, so they better work.
Also, my clients know I am an expert in what will help sell their proposal. Being able to accept feedback and work with others is very helpful and frankly a requirement for becoming an author IMO. You should want to put your absolute best foot forward!
After all, you have ONE chance to get eyes on your book proposal and it needs to be the best proposal you can write.
If a client is resistant to having all the recipes in their proposal tested, I often counter by recommending that they pick a sampling, usually 3-5 of the total 10ish recipes that end up in the full proposal. Of those, I encourage at least 1-2 to be more challenging ones. Then I watch as my clients’ eyes widen at the feedback, questions, and notes they receive back. I love it when that happens! Having their recipes tested by an outside professional recipe tester is invaluable. I find it even helps refine how clients approach recipe development going forward.
No, you don’t need to do this immediately. You don’t even need to do it before you send your proposal to an agent. And yes, it’s more expensive. Also, yes, you are investing in yourself and in your book’s success. “But Not So Secret Agent Sally, is it worth it?”
YES, IT’S WORTH IT!
Whether or not you have your recipes tested prior to sending your proposal to an agent, if you end up writing a cookbook, it is very likely that at some point in the process you will engage a recipe tester.
Publishers often require recipe testing at the contract stage. The verbiage and expectations around what testing really means can vary. Or more accurately, it can be open to interpretation. Your tester might be a friend or a group of your longtime fans. In some cases, and your contract will clearly state third party recipe testing, and you may be required to hire an outside professional recipe tester.
***Not So Secret Agent Side Note: Who pays for recipe testing? Nine times out of ten, the author pays. The advance is used (theoretically) to cover recipe testing and many other expenses like food, photos, illustrations, travel, etc. On rare (VERY RARE) occasions, a separate recipe testing budget can be negotiated. This is not common. I REPEAT, DO NOT THINK YOU WILL GET THIS IN YOUR CONTRACT. Yes, that means you’ll probably have to pay food expenses as well.***
“But Not So Secret Agent Sally, how can I possibly be expected to plan to pay for recipe testing if I don’t think I need it? Also, I don’t even know what it costs. Is it expensive?!?”
Dear reader, I am so glad you asked.
Formal professional recipe testers (not your friends, sorry BFFs!) are usually in the $120-$200/recipe range—not including the cost of expenses. Friends or fans that you engage in recipe testing are often “compensated” with a shout out in the acknowledgement section and with a free copy or two of your book.
***Not So Secret Agent Side Note: Recipe testing, recipe development, and recipe writing are three different services. Yep, with three different industry fee ranges.***
Whatever combination of recipe testing an author pulls together, corralling, managing, and holding recipe testers accountable is a job in and of itself.
Let’s assume that you are convinced you should hire a recipe tester AND can afford to do so. Here are some of the questions you should prepare to discuss to align expectations:
Regarding deadlines: Will you be sending all recipes at once, or by chapter? Sometimes components such as fillings, sauces, spice blends, etc. will be presented separately, or used in more than one recipe. It’s helpful for a tester to know this so they can make extra batches or have several portions of dough, for example, at the ready.
Experience: If a tester candidate hasn’t worked on any/very many cookbooks, ask about which ones they personally own or reference. This may give an idea of how their kitchen practices match yours. If the tester is more seasoned, ask for two other authors they have worked with so you can check references.
***Not So Secret Agent Side Note: I recently heard a horror story about an author contracting an outside tester only to learn later that they had subcontracted the recipes out to another person. You want to be sure that the person you are hiring is the one personally testing all the recipes, unless sending the batch to an additional set of people is part of the agreement. So yeah, beware that there are testers who may subcontract or distribute recipes among friends, etc. If not disclosed beforehand, this is completely unacceptable and unprofessional IMO.***
Regarding recipe style: If you or your publisher has a style guide, provide it at the start. This will save time down the line. This includes how directions are to be written and how much of an author’s voice is welcome in a recipe technique.
Equipment/Ingredients: Let the tester know whether there is outdoor grilling involved or certain appliances/equipment (air fryer, electric pressure cooker, temperature-controlled proofer, bean pot) are used. This might be a deal breaker, or they may need advance notice and/or permission to acquire equipment and incur additional expenses. Do the recipes require proximity to specialty stores for ingredients or access to delivery via online sources?
Money (payment and reimbursement): Ask how the tester likes to be paid and if they invoice at the start and end, in parts, or monthly. For big cookbook projects (not just a few recipes on the proposal), monthly invoices/repayment for ingredients works well. Make sure to have clarity on if the testing must be paid in full before the book’s recipes are edited/formally “accepted” (which is an industry term) by the publisher. Keep in mind that your recipes may need re-testing after they are turned into your editor.
Communicating expectations:
If recording specific recipe prep/cook times is important, make sure the tester is aware. This might affect how many dishes can be tested within a workday.
Be up front and collaborative on both sides! No question is too detailed or off the table. Lean on an experienced tester’s expertise if this is your first book.
Establish times/apps/availability for you and the tester to be in touch and determine what mode of communication you’ll use.
Do you want the tester to offer suggestions/shortcuts in the directions, and/or flag possible substitutions for ingredients?
Do you want the tester to take phone photos or process shots? For reference only? Or for sharing on social? Can the tester disclose they are working on your book? If so, at what point in the process can they do so?
Are you a recipe tester or have you worked with one before and have something to add?
“Not So Secret Agent Sally, okay, I get it! I want to hire a recipe tester, but I have no idea where to find such a kitchen unicorn.”
Wow dearest reader, it’s like we have one mind. I got you.
First of all, with the massive shifts across print and digital media, publishing, and pretty much any culinary membership organization, there is no shortage of talented freelance recipe testers. Ask around. Tap IACP members, previous magazine staff, social media, and look at the acknowledgment pages of your favorite cookbooks (that you cook from and have recipes that work!). Also, check out The Complete Recipe Writing Guide, by Reanne Sarazen for a comprehensive book on all things recipe guidance.
If you love the expectation setting list above, you may also want to email one of my go-to recipe testers, Bonnie Benwick. She helped me put that incredible list together (major thank you Bonnie!!), and I often email her with last-minute proposal recipe requests or introduce her to clients who’ve just signed book contracts.
Bonnie Benwick worked as a journalist in the Washington, D.C. area for more than four decades, much of it spent at The Washington Post, retiring as deputy editor in 2019. During her 15-year Food Section tenure there, she wrote the “Dinner in Minutes” column and established the newspaper's test kitchen. She edited The Washington Post Cookbook: Readers’ Favorite Recipes (2013). As a freelance editor and recipe tester, she is involved in cookbook production.
Bonnie’s email, which I am sharing with her permission, is benwickb@gmail.com. People, it is incredible that she said I could share her direct email with my readers. Do not sleep on this! Hmmm now that I think about it, please don’t completely fill her schedule with your queries – I want to be able to keep tapping her excellence on a regular basis for my clients. Just kidding… kind of. 😊
Also:
If today’s newsletter left you with more questions than answers and seeking an in-depth discussion, I highly encourage you to come to the first NSSA Skill Building Session.
The topic? Recipes of course!! This Recipe AMA will be with another fellow tester that I adore, my very special guest Afton Cyrus.
Afton Cyrus is a freelance food editor and recipe developer based in coastal Maine. Afton began her food writing career at America's Test Kitchen, where she developed and edited recipe content for nearly two dozen cookbooks, including many which became New York Times bestsellers and received multiple IACP awards. She has since gone on to work on cookbooks for Ten Speed Press and Rebel Girls, and her food writing and recipes appear online for Serious Eats, The Kitchn, and King Arthur Baking Company. Today, she is a recipe editor for Simply Recipes and a food blogger at The Reader’s Kitchen, where she specializes in creating inventive and engaging recipe content for kids and book lovers of all ages.
Afton and I will cover questions such as:
What is the difference between recipe development, writing, and testing?
What are the different rates of compensation for each of these roles?
How do I know how many times I should personally test my recipes?
When should I “let go” of a recipe? (Don’t worry, we’ve all been there!)
What’s a helpful recipe tester note versus a tester’s opinion?
What’s the ideal flow between the recipe ideas in my head, on paper, and in the kitchen?
And so much more!
When: July 30th from 1-2:30ET (deadline to “register” aka upgrade your subscription is July 28th at 12ET)
Where: on Zoom (recording provided after)
Deets: The first hour will be an overview and AMA. During the last 30 mins, I will facilitate an OFFER & ASK networking session. This is your opportunity to either make an offer to someone in our virtual room to help support their work, or to make an ask of those who might be in a position to help you with a specific career goal. Come with a generous and abundant mindset, whatever this means to you.
Please note that the OFFER & ASK session is NOT specific to recipe writing, so feel free to come for the whole 90 mins and participate in whatever part feels aligned with how you want to show up.
This event is reserved exclusively for paying readers to ensure that those most engaged in professional development are in the same room. Paid subscriptions help support my NSSA ethos which include offering equity spots and compensating my guest experts.
Registration for the event closes at noon ET on July 28th. All paying subscribers will get an email with the Zoom info by Tuesday the 29th.
To “register” you must upgrade your subscription to this newsletter.
Want to join? Upgrade your subscription HERE. Equity spots available.
My guess is that there are readers of this newsletter who are thinking, “Not So Secret Agent Sally, I am also a recipe tester, and I would love a shout out to your community!” There we go with group mind again readers. I was hoping you’d say that!
Anyone who has experience as a recipe tester and is looking for more work, please fill out THIS FORM HERE. Please note that the contact info provided will be shared publicly with my NSSA readers. The deadline for adding your contact info to be included in this list is July 11th.
Did you work with an amazing recipe tester? Share this post with them and encourage them to add their name to the list!
It should be abundantly clear, but I will state it anyway: The list I will be sharing is meant as a community resource and I am not personally vetting the recommendations. I trust that you will do your own research, ask for referrals, and perhaps even chat through the suggested questions I provided above to find the perfect recipe tester for you.
Finally, if you are not yet at the point in your recipe writing process where you need to bring on a professional tester, my recommendation is to start with a friend or a superfan of your work.
“But Not So Secret Agent Sally, I wouldn’t begin to know how to instruct a friend to test my recipe?”
Okay, now this whole same wavelength vibe is just getting scary because guess what dear reader? Next week I am sharing my template for how to instruct friends and family to test your recipes. Stay tuned!
~Sally~
I’m a food writer and cookbook author and would love to test recipes for fellow authors!
This is another OMG thing that has changed so much over the years with cookbooks. Never used a recipe tester for my books or websites (other than myself) so I think I'd love to do it (for vegan, accidentally vegan, and vegetable recipes). Adding my name to the list!