Need a professional editor to help fine-tune your recipe book manuscript? Looking for a writer who can translate your kitchen notes and stories into the cookbook of your dreams? Email me at [email protected] to learn more and get a quote. My rates vary depending on the scope of the project.
With a decades-long career in cookbook publishing, editing, food writing, and recipe development and testing, I bring both fine-tuned skills and a big picture mentality to every project I work on. Plus, having published a cookbook of my own, I know how things work from both the author’s and editor’s perspectives.
My cookbook editing and writing services include:
Interested in working with me? Send me an email at [email protected] to get started.
With a decades-long career in cookbook publishing, editing, food writing, and recipe development and testing, I bring both fine-tuned skills and a big picture mentality to every project I work on. Plus, having published a cookbook of my own, I know how things work from both the author’s and editor’s perspectives.
My cookbook editing and writing services include:
- Developmental and line editing—In a developmental edit (or first-draft edit), I’ll review the organization, theme, and flow of your cookbook manuscript, and I’ll return the file to you with detailed notes and suggestions that will help you tighten and focus your writing, elaborate where necessary, and cut sections or recipes that do not serve the overarching purpose of the book. In a line edit (for books that have already been revised and are closer to submission or printing), I’ll take a very close look at your manuscript, correcting grammar and spelling mistakes and suggesting revisions that will help make the book more engaging and readable while maintaining your unique voice.
- Recipe editing—Cooking is your art form; recipe writing is mine. If you are having trouble translating the dishes in your head into book-worthy recipes that any cook can replicate, I’m here to help! Send me your recipe notes or formulas, schedule a few video or phone chats to answer my questions, and I’ll send you a file with the recipes formatted according to cookbook publishing standards. For an additional fee, I will also travel to your kitchen and type your recipes as you cook them.
- Book proposal editing and writing—Want to pitch a cookbook idea to an agent or editor, but not sure where to start? Whether you’re just formulating the book concept, finishing your first draft of the proposal, or somewhere in between, I’ll use my experience as an author, editor, and cookbook publishing pro to help you stand out in the submissions pile.
- Cookbook collaboration (writing, ghost writing, etc.)—A successful cookbook is more than a collection of recipes; it also includes personal stories, interesting backgrounds on people, places, and ingredients, detailed descriptions of cooking techniques, and more. However, not all chefs are as good at writing as they are at cooking. That’s where professionals like me come in. Depending on your needs, I can write book and chapter introductions, essays, recipe headnotes, technique tips, and more, relying on lots of interviews to capture your unique voice and style.
Interested in working with me? Send me an email at [email protected] to get started.
Peggy can be depended upon for thoughtful, experienced food editing: she has the background of an in-house editor so has a head for pacifying designers and satisfying authors while keeping an eye on the schedule above all. And she’s a great lunch date to boot!” — Kristen Green Wiewora, former senior cookbook editor at Running Press Book Publishers
