Catherine Guden

Pickle Puss: A Young One’s Guide to Pickling Around the World

OVERVIEW: This is a cookbook for young people that includes the histories and recipes for pickled dishes from 10 different countries. The aim of this book is to introduce the process of pickling, for those unfamiliar and take this a step further by including the history of the dish within the context of its country of origin, followed by an easy to follow step- by -step recipe kids will use to replicate the dish. The book is tailored for young people to gain appreciation for different cultures and create a new pickled dish to incorporate into their diets. The author, Brad Leone, is an experienced chef, a test kitchen manager for Bon Appetit as well as the creator of his own web series “It’s Alive” which focuses solely on creating new pickled and fermented foods. 

BLURB: Pickle Puss is a children’s cookbook exploring the world of pickles and their unique origins. It takes a closer look at the history of pickles from different countries, such as Sauerkraut from Germany, Kimchi from South Korea and Cornichon from France, as well as includes step-by-step recipes to follow. This cookbook is crucial for young experimenters in the kitchen,  those partial to the tangy and bold tastes found in pickles and adults looking to introduce fermented gut-healthy foods into their children’s diets. Author, Brad Leone, the headliner of Bon Appétit’s popular web series, “It’s Alive”, is ready to bring his love of fermented foods to the next generation. 

PUBLISHER: Phaidon

Phaidon was born originally as a graphics or art book publisher, and continues to this day to be highly visual, which would be the perfect place to publish a cookbook, especially one for young people because the visuals and design will be a large aspect of this book. They publish both cookbooks as well as children’s books, which is the perfect overlap for Pickle Puss. They are also the “world’s leading publisher of books in the visual arts, food and children’s markets” (phaidon.com). Another important aspect of choosing Phaidon is their international market reach and their ability to translate into multiple languages, which is crucial for a book like this to succeed because not only are we marketing to young people from all over the world, but the content itself is international food and recipes from different countries. Finally, they have experience publishing books similar in style to this one, including, United Tastes of America : An Atlas of Food Facts & Recipes from Every State!.

MARKET:

• Primary market is ages 10-12.
• These young people might be pickle lovers.
• This age group is curious and has the independence to cook in the kitchen.
• The book provides an added aspect apart from the recipes because kids can explore the history of these pickled dishes and the cultures they came from to learn about other countries’ cuisines. (merges culinary and cultural arts).
• Secondary/ other market is adults who have young people in their lives and they want to cook together and/ or introduce pickled foods into their diets. This also includes fans of the author, Brad Leone. His web series has over 8 million views and the Bon Appetit channel has 6.12 million subscribers.

I need to do further research into the market on pickling/ fermentation, because I know this has been a trend circulating for the last few years. I also need to look into what specialty grocery stores/ restaurants could be a possibility for carrying the book because I think that could be a way to reach the possible “pickling/fermentation-enthusiasts” audience.

COMPETITORS/ COMPLIMENTARY TITLES:

There is currently no pickling book for children on the market.

• Sandor Katz’s Fermentation Journeys: Recipes, Techniques, and Traditions from around the World- Sandor Katz (Chelsea Green Publishing Co)
• Susie’s Sourdough Circus: with Amazing Recipes!- Kathy Sager (Harbour Publishing)
• United Tastes of America: An Atlas of Food Facts & Recipes from Every State!- Gabrielle Langholtz (Phaidon)
• The Complete Book of Pickling: 250 Recipes from Pickles to Chutneys to Salsas-Jennifer MacKenzie (Robert Rose Inc)

FURTHER RESEARCH MOVING FORWARD:

• Look further into the market for pickling/ fermentation books and products
• Research possible places to market specifically to children interested in cooking- an after-school cookery program?
• Look into children’s cookbook sales
• Make sure the cost of producing this book (including all of the special illustrations and images needed) will make sense
• Figure out which format to use for this style of cookbook that makes it the most useful and accessible for children

P&L CHART:

BASIC COSTING
		(the calculation)	fill in the yellow sections
Price of book	£14.99		Basic assumptions built in	55% discount
Life print run (less frees)	2400
total	£35,976	a	PAGE LENGTH	50
less discount at 55%	£19,787	b	TOTAL PRINT RUN (includes frees)	2500
REVENUE	£16,189	a-b=c
pre press (fixed)	£3,850		Use your specifications costsing for these fixed costs
production (variable)	£1,160		Use the production print runs ADD TOGETHER THE PRINT COSTS AND EITHER THE HB COST OR THE PB COST
royalties at 10%	£1,619		basic  assumption royalties built in	10%
COSTS	£6,629	d
GROSS PROFIT	£9,560	c-d=e
%	59.05%	e / c as a %
other costs	5000
NET PROFIT	£4,560	f
%	28.17%	f / c as a %
In your proposal give us a rough idea where you think you will sell the books? (ie bookshops, UK, rest of world etc.)

FORMAT AND PRICE:

Hardback

234mm x 156mm

Pages: 50

Price: £14.99

USPS:

1. There are no children’s pickling books on the market.
2. This book teaches children about different cultures and the importance of celebrating diversity and acknowledging the origins of our food.
3. Brad Leone is a popular, well connected chef with a large social media following. 
4. Fermentation and pickling products are growing in popularity and not expected to slow down any time soon.