The 2011 Book Blogger's Cookbook

The 2011 Book Blogger's Cookbook Introduction

The 2011

Book Blogger's Cookbook

by Christy Dorrity

Foreword by Amanda Hocking

Dorrity Publishing ©2011

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author.

Introduction

Some of my fondest memories are of curling next to my mother while she read to me. As soon as I could sound out words on my own, I began my life-long quest of devouring every word in sight. Both my father and mother are schooled chefs and have instilled in me a love of fine foods. Over the years I have learned from them the joys of preparing and serving meals to loved ones.

I suppose it is not too surprising that I chose to impart my love of food with those who share my fascination with books. What could be more natural than combining my two favorite past times—cooking and reading?

When I began blogging about books, I was amazed at the thousands of people who willingly post their thoughts about books they read. I wanted to offer something to this wonderful community. I took photos of the meals I concocted and looked for ways to tie them into the themes and worlds of each book I reviewed. Soon I had an entire list of adventurous recipes and tasty reads.

In March of 2011, I realized that I had spent an entire year book blogging. I reviewed 40 books and showcased almost 30 recipes. To celebrate my one-year blogoversary, I decided to put together a simple cookbook.

A cookbook like I had in mind—centered on book blogging—would be incomplete without book bloggers. My own reviews looked lonely on the page so I enlisted the help of book lovers around the blogosphere. The book bloggers I contacted were enthusiastic, and with their help, the cookbook became a community effort. I encourage you to explore the bloggers' websites and use them as a launching tool to find even more great reads.

Although I read books of all genres and age levels, I enjoy young adult fantasy the most. In selecting books and recipes for this cookbook, I chose twenty of the titles that I read throughout the year. Not all of them are young adult or even fantasy, but each one is a book that I think will appeal to a wide range of readers. The books and accompanying recipes appear in the order that I reviewed them.

I included a photo with every review because I love it when cookbooks have photos to salivate over.

My recipes come from all over—my parents, grandparents, and friends. I tried them all and tweaked them to make them my own. I encourage you to do the same. Enjoy.

~Christy Dorrity

Author's Note

The book world is changing. Thousands of authors make their work available to the world through the internet and electronic books. You may be wondering how to find quality reading material amid the dross. Book bloggers are quickly becoming the world's standard for recommendations and ratings of the written word. Book blog sites can be used as a current, on-going reference to sort through the mediocre and find the treasures waiting to be discovered. No one knows this more than Amanda Hocking, author of the USA Today Bestselling Trylle Trilogy. When my husband suggested that I contact Amanda and ask her if she would write a foreword for the cookbook, I was certain that she would be too busy to trifle with a project like mine. Thanks for remembering the little people Amanda.

~Christy Dorrity

Foreword

Book Bloggers Rule!

Thank you for including me in the cookbook. I'm honored to be a part of it.

Book bloggers have saved my life. These guys are honestly my heroes. I'm a little in love with all of them.

Book bloggers absolutely without a doubt sell books. I can prove it to you. In May 2010, I had no reviews. I sold just over 600 books. I asked several bloggers if they would be interested in reviewing my books, and most of them said yes, even if they didn't generally review self-published work. In June book bloggers started reviewing my books. Then something surreal started happening. In June 2010 I sold over 4,000. My books were selling. Like, really selling.

Writing reviews is really, really hard. I mean in-depth reviews that explain what worked and what didn't. That's incredibly difficult. I don't know how they do it. I couldn't do it. Nor would I want to. These people are super human.

Seriously. That's just a totally insane concept to me. Clearly book bloggers sell books, and they do it all for free. Their only payment is free books. Really think about that. Their payment for selling my book is getting to read my book. And they work their butts off.

They're juggling families and jobs and school and pets and dishes, and they make time in their busy schedule to not only read a book but review it. That astounds me. I'm in awe of their drive.

I honestly don't believe I've ever sold a book in my life. The book bloggers, the readers, these are the salesmen. These are the people out there selling my books by talking about them honestly. And I am so, so, so grateful for them. Unbelievably grateful.

~Amanda Hocking, author of the USA Today Bestselling Trylle Trilogy

Dedication

This cookbook is dedicated to my husband Devon—my inspiration, cheerleader, editor, taste tester, graphic designer and publisher. I love you.