Issue #78: The (surprising) economics of cookbook publishing
And more food trade secrets with Rome-based guide, writer, and cookbook author/publisher Katie Parla
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Today we’re talking to an expert in a topic that’s about sexy as they come… Italian food!
Interview by
. Edited by .Katie Parla is a force. The food writer and tour guide has spent the past 20-plus years building a thriving and multi-faceted career around her love of Italian cuisine.
On any given day, you’ll find her guiding hungry tourists through the streets of Rome, editing a cookbook, talking marketing strategy with a small business owner, recording a podcast episode about Italian wine, and catching up with family over FaceTime. To date, she’s written, edited, or contributed to more than 35 books (seven of them cookbooks) and hit the New York Times bestseller list twice.
I loved how honest and detailed Katie was about her food tourism philosophy, typical day, how and why she launched a successful cookbook publishing business, and more…
On her move to Rome:
I've lived in Rome for almost 21 years. Since my first trip as a sophomore in high school, I’ve been obsessed with the city — that’s actually when I decided to move here one day.
I had an art history degree and I started out leading private tours of archaeological sites. I was already interested in food on a personal level — I grew up in a restaurant family — and at the end of these tours, I’d tell my clients where they should eat and which foods they should try. Eventually, I transitioned to full food tours.
On what a tour looks like:
I started yesterday with a full-day food tour of Prati, a residential neighborhood south of the Vatican, and Trionfale, one of the largest covered markets in Rome. It’s all walking, and tours are max six [people], which makes them very conversational and intimate.
While there’s a lot of eating, there’s also a lot of placing Roman ingredients, cooking techniques, and traditions in their historical context. I love that visitors are so enthusiastic about Roman/Italian cuisine, but unless you’ve been going somewhere for years, it’s hard to have an intimate relationship with the people who own the trattoria or pizzeria.
A lot of the tour is trying to bridge that gap and showcase the people who are involved in making the food or sourcing the vegetables or slicing the prosciutto.
On the power of being a restaurant regular in Rome:
If you’re a regular, people will open their kitchens; they’ll tell you all the recipes and secrets. You know, clearly the fact that I bring business is important for the economics of, say, a bakery or gelato shop. But that’s not what the relationship hinges on — it’s about mutual respect and affection. Basically, do you show an interest and appreciation for what’s being done there? It means you don’t need to be a cookbook author or a guide to have access, which is amazing.
On cookbook editing for her publishing company:
After the tour, I went home and edited a pasta cookbook for seven or so hours. My company, Parla Publishing,1 has several cookbooks in the pipeline; this one is by Danielle Glantz, who has the coolest handmade pasta shop in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Danielle’s [philosophy] is: Get the best ingredients you can find. That might mean working with milled flour from Massachusetts. Who cares about the Italian stuff that's been sitting on a shelf for a million years? Get something that’s going to have a lot of flavor… and support food artisanship so that those small mills and wheat growers can stay in business.
On the greatest perk of the job:
Always being able to connect with people. In my experience, writing hasn’t been a good way to connect — I find it very challenging and isolating. Food tours let me be with people, which gives me both energy and knowledge.
And the biggest downside:
You can never say, “You know what? I'm not hungry.” It’s not allowed. And in general, the environment [in Rome] doesn’t necessarily prioritize fitness and thoughtful eating.
Lately, I’ve been trying to spend more time alone, walking in nature, and maybe this is basic, but hopping on the Peloton as much as I can.
On the finances of food entrepreneurship:
From day one, even when I was just starting out, I knew I could survive if I did four half-day tours a week. Rome’s cost of living isn’t huge. Now I do far more tours than that, and I have a team of seven.
During the pandemic, I sat down and did four years of taxes. You know, I do seven jobs. I saw at the end how much I had in the bank, but I wasn’t siloing them to assess how much I was netting for each.
I looked at one of my last corporate cookbooks and realized it had put me $30,000 in the red. Which is crazy! You could argue that it was great public relations; it put attention on all the other things that I sell. Which is certainly true, but $30,000 true? I don't know.
On losing money making a cookbook:
My advance had been $85,000, which I thought was a very good advance. It felt amazing. But 15% immediately went to my agent. And the advance (minus 15%!) is doled out in quarters… the first of which you have to use to pay a photographer as well as a tester to do all the research and development. Then there’s the personal PR, which is an absolute essential element; the book tour — I mean, I wouldn’t even say it’s funded by the advance. You have already spent your advance, so you’re going out-of-pocket to promote a product that a large, well-funded company is going to benefit from long-term.
If you sell enough books to earn out your advance, then you start getting additional funds. The cookbook I’m referencing just earned out after selling 35,000 copies. Now I get $2.40 cents (minus 15%) for every book sold.
There's not a lot of transparency around these things. Many authors, eager to have a title, sign on to deals that actually aren’t going to benefit them financially — could actually harm them financially.
On moving into publishing:
I thought, maybe I can publish books myself. How much would it cost to hire an editor, photographer, and designer? And actually pay myself for the time I spend writing and editing?
According to my math, I could break even at 6,000 books. And I figured I could do it because I’d sold 35,000 to 40,000 copies each of previous cookbooks. I thought, “Let me bet on myself. You only live once; you better go for it.”
On how her first independent book went:
Food of the Italian Islands, which was my first independent book, cost around $160,000 to produce, research, write, pay myself for, print, and store. I should footnote, I did not have $160,000 nor anyone who was interested in investing these funds! I negotiated with my printer to pay after a certain amount of time. I paid myself after a certain amount of time. I paid all the people that were producing the book upfront with money that I’d earmarked from my tours.
Through my website pre-order, I was able to cover almost all of my expenses. I sold out my first 15,000 print run. For the first time, I was making money as a writer.
On publishing other people’s projects:
Finally having a funded 401k and having actual money for the future felt great, but because it’s a very independent project, I was like, “How can I do this in a way that is collaborative and fun?”
Parla Publishing uses the model that I just laid out to help shepherd other people’s book projects. If they have a financial goal, I’ll help them figure out if it’s possible or not, and then how to achieve it.
Katie shared a few of her favorite things…
The products she can’t live without:
I spend most days outside getting dried out in the sun and wind, so I have to go with Skinfix Triple Lipid + Collagen Lip Treatment and a big ol’ container of Cetaphil moisturizing lotion.
What inspired her:
Nick Kokonas wrote a Medium post in 2017 laying out why the Aviary Cookbook was independently published. It stayed with me for years, but I never thought I had the profile that could support a successful indie title. Then I did the math!
What she’s currently reading:
I'm reading Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese, Patrick Leigh Fermor’s epic 1958 travel memoir exploring the rugged and isolated Mani Peninsula in Greece. It blends vivid descriptions of the landscape with historical reflections and mythological tangents.
What she’s listening to:
A boring litany of legal and political and tech podcasts, all of which whip me into a frenzy of fury and anxiety — so to take a break from it all, I am digging deep into the How Did This Get Made archive.
Thank you, Katie, for sharing your love of Italian cuisine with us. We’re dying to visit!
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Aja: Doesn’t that just roll off the tongue?
Holy moly. I am new to the world of Katie and already a huge fan! In awe of everything she’s been able to accomplish! Thank you for sharing this!
This was so much fun but can we do this in Italy next time pls???!!!