How Do I Self-Publish a Cookbook?

Decide between colour and black ink before you take the photos. That choice sets what each copy costs to print, the price you have to charge and the format of the book. Then you lay it out, order a proof and publish.

I have published cookbooks myself, so this is a post I wanted to write properly.

Should my cookbook be in colour or black ink?

KDP’s paperback printing cost page gives the formula for Amazon.com: a fixed cost plus the page count times a per-page cost. I opened it on 04-Nov-26. It shows no date for the figures, so check it again before you decide.

Here is the sum for a 120-page cookbook on a regular trim, and on a large trim (wider than 6.12 inches or taller than 9 inches):

Two rules from KDP’s Paperback Submission Guidelines matter here. Standard colour needs at least 72 pages. And standard colour is not offered at 8.27 x 11.69 inches (A4), where premium colour is the only colour choice.

The gap is the point. Premium colour costs more than three times as much as black ink to print the same 120 pages. KDP pays your royalty from the list price minus that printing cost, so a colour cookbook needs a much higher price to earn the same money. For the royalty sum and a worked example for a long colour book, see how to price a self-published book on Amazon.

My advice: if your book works without photos on every page, a black ink interior with a colour cover is the cheaper first edition. If the photos sell the food, accept the price. For the trim sizes themselves, see the KDP publishing sizes post. For the wider cost picture of a photo-heavy book, see the cost of a photo book.

What do I need to know about the photos?

KDP says all images, cover and manuscript, should be at least 300 DPI. A photo that looks fine on a screen can fail that test, so check each one at the size it prints.

Should you take them yourself or hire someone? That is my view, not a KDP rule: if the book is about your own home cooking, your own photos can suit it, as long as they are sharp, well lit and consistent. Hire a photographer if the photos are the main reason a reader will buy. Whichever you pick, fix the ink and trim first, so every photo is shot and cropped for the page it will sit on.

Can I make a Kindle edition of a cookbook?

KDP’s page on creating reflowable books says a book can be converted as a reflowable ebook when the body text can be easily separated from the images. A cookbook can work that way if each photo sits with its recipe. Do not expect the print layout to carry over, because on a reflowable ebook the reader changes the text size and the page breaks move.

Can I use recipes I didn’t create?

The US Copyright Office’s FAQ says a mere listing of ingredients is not protected. Its Circular 33 adds that a simple set of directions is not protected either. A recipe may be protected where it comes with substantial literary expression, such as an explanation or directions, and a collection of recipes in a cookbook may have a basis for protection. Circular 33 also says photographs and illustrations you own can be registered too, but the ingredient list and the dish itself cannot.

So: write the method in your own words, take your own photos, and credit where a recipe came from. This is US law. I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice, so if you have a doubt about a particular recipe, ask one.

Can I sell the cookbook in person?

Yes. Once the book is live you can order author copies. You pay the printing cost for each copy, and shipping comes on top. So each premium colour copy you sell at a market has already cost you about the $8.80 above plus its share of the shipping. Set your table price with that in mind.

What should I call it?

Use the words readers search for. Pam’s vegan cookbook only started to sell after she changed her title and subtitle, and I tell her story in do this and you will never write a book that busts.

Want a second pair of eyes before you print?

If your recipes and photos are ready and you want to check the ink, trim, price and layout before you pay for a proof, book a free 25-minute call.

Free 25-minute self-publishing call with Chris Baird

Tell me where your book is now. You leave the call with a clear next step for publishing it.

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