Cookbooks have come a long way since their inception. Simple line drawings have given way to glossy coloured photos, bare-bones directions have ballooned into detailed step-by-step instructions, and a well-planned index is a must.

Just as the contents of cookbooks has changed, so has the approach to promotion. While nothing will ever replace a good old-fashioned, face-to-face book signing, on-line social media is becoming a marketing essential.

To get an idea of what’s going on in the world of book promotions, we talked to long-time Cuisine Canada member Jeff Crump about how he created and maintains buzz for his recently released first book, Earth to Table: Seasonal Recipes from an Organic Farm (Random House, 2009). Crump’s strategies are simple, inexpensive and seem to be working. The book has been available in bookstores for only a few weeks and has already garnered lots of media attention and consumer praise.

Here’s what he and co-author Bettina Schormann are doing:  

The Website
While Earth to Table might have hit the shelves last month,  marketing began two years ago — before they had a publisher. Crump launched a website with a blog component, EarthToTable.ca, and documented what he and Schormann were doing in the kitchen. Its focus wasn’t on the book; it was all about the food. “There’s a fine balance between boring and hype,” Crump says.  But their website had the right ingredients. By the time the book came out, the blog had generated plenty of interest and had two years’ of credential-raising content.

Crump built the site using the software that came with his computer, so all this promotional tool cost was his time.

Twitter:
A website alone isn’t enough. People had to know about it. So, a year ago @Earth_to_Table started sending out daily tweets. Sounds like a lot of work? Crump spends about 20 minutes a day, 5 minutes at a time on Twitter. In less than a year, he’s gained 2000 followers.

But Crump does more than just send out short messages. Interest peaked when he started attaching photos. Using his iPhone, he takes pictures of what he’s cooking and attaches them to his tweets. While the photographs in the book are carefully set up and professionally shot, these on-the-fly snaps are surprisingly popular. “People like to see inside my kitchen,” Crump says.

And the cost for this daily buzz? Nothing. Twitter is a free service and with WiFi in his kitchen, the real-time photo sessions add nothing to his iPhone bills.

Video
Not originally part of the marketing strategy, Crump and Schormann ended up shooting one at the request of their publisher’s American branch. Why? Martha Stewart wanted to see these “unknown” chef-authors in action. With the help of a videographer friend, Crump and Schormann spent a weekend turning the “How to Go to a Farmers’ Market” section of their book into a video.

Since videos can be expensive to make, Crump admits they were lucky to have a friend in the profession willing to help. But would a video have been worth the money? Well, according to Twitter, last week Crump met with Harold McGee at the Martha Stewart studio.

What online marketing strategies do you find most effective? Have you abandoned any as time-wasters? We’d love to hear your tips or pressing questions on the matter.

In the meantime, check out the video that caught Martha’s attention.

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Photo © Barnaby. Published under a Creative Commons License.