Michael Batterberry, co-founder FOOD ARTS magazine

I was standing next to Michael Batterberry in the crowded Rainbow Room. We were listening to Reese Schonfeld as he revealed his plans for the launch of the TV Food Network.

It was 1993 and I’d guess just about everyone in the room was secretly hoping we’d be discovered, and he’d invite us, (beg us), to sign a contract for our future appearances on his network.

The more he said, the more our hopes were dashed.

After a few minutes, Michael turned to me and said, “Let’s go and have a glass of champagne in the bar, there isn’t a place for us here.”

From the outset it was clear there would be no room for anyone of Michael’s depth and breadth of interests. Michael and his wife, Ariane had the intellectual heft and undaunted persistence to raise the money for the publication of Food & Wine magazine.

Later, a bitter dispute with their partners resulted in the Batterberry’s ouster from this magazine. The tragedy eventually led to their next venture: FOOD ARTS Magazine.

Food & Wine lives on with a current circulation approaching a million subscribers.

FOOD ARTS also lives on as the most influential magazine for top flight restaurants.

Ariane lives on as publisher of FOOD ARTS.

Michael was managing editor. He too will live on as the generous visionary who encouraged the flow of ideas into the magazine. (He even allowed me space to discuss issues related to biotechnology.)

Michael earned the respect of legions of food professionals who admired him as a historian, as a great writer, a wonderfully witty speaker, an insightful forecaster of food trends and a mentor for innumerable chefs and other food folk.

We were so fortunate to have known and admired him.

Illustration by Charley Harper

What is a literary agent? And, do I need one when I want to write a cookbook? I love reading cookbooks. How can I make a food job out of that? I’ve lost count how many times I’m asked those questions.

Like a memorable dish made of the best ingredients, a great agent is one part editor and coach, one part advocate, one part broker, one part marketing, trend spotter and visionary savant, spiced with wit and sage advice. The best agent buys the champagne when the book idea is sold, and later published.

A literary agent represents the author of a book idea to publishers and ensures that every transaction you, (the writer), make to work with the publisher is fair and reasonable. It is as important to find the right literary agent, who will represent your work passionately, as it is to find the right publisher to produce your work respectfully.

Only a small group of literary agents devote most of their energies to cookbooks and culinary subjects. Most work on the east or west coast, where the large publishing houses are located. They can be hard to find outside of culinary organizations like the IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals). Many authors thank their agent on the acknowledgment pages of their book, so with just a little detective work you can easily track them down.

“Having (literary) representation tells an editor that your book project has been vetted by a professional who thinks highly enough of you or your topic to take it on,” reveals Lisa Ekus, founder and owner of the Lisa Ekus Group, a literary agent for numerous cookbooks and culinary public relations and media training agency.

Sadly, it is almost as difficult to find an agent as it is to find a publisher these days. An agent won’t waste her or his time trying to sell a proposal unless she or he thinks it will find a home. So before you write that cookbook, it is important to know what you’re getting yourself into. Writing a cookbook, no matter how great the idea, is not easy. As veteran executive editor and director of cooking publishing at HarperCollins for almost two decades, Susan R. Friedland recently pointed out in her remarkably insightful FOOD ARTS article, “Nowadays, even famous chefs find it as challenging to get a book published as to score a multi-star review in a major metropolitan daily.”

Friedland adds, “A wise chef, who is lucky enough to have stirred the interest of a publisher or has the urge to write a cookbook, should hire an agent, preferably one who represents other cookbook authors and knows the terrain. It’s advisable to ask around to get recommendations from colleagues and then interview several potential agents. It’s important to find a compatible agent, as you will be spending a fair amount of time together (if not in person, by e-mail and telephone) and will want to partner with someone with whom you can work well.” (See below for Friedland’s top literary agent and food editor picks.)

Other than access to publishers — which is critically important — the agent negotiates the author’s contract. The focus is on: (1) the amount of money given to the author as an advance, (2) manuscript delivery dates, and (3) royalty scales. If these terms sound unfamiliar, you need an agent.

Usually an agent asks the author to sign a contract stipulating the agency will receive a commission for her services, which means a percentage of the funds advanced to the author and of all future book royalties. (This is generally in the 15 percent range.)

The author receives payment in stages; the first is received when the contract is signed and the next at different points in the process. All are contingent on the author meeting the terms of the contract. Usually there are no more than three payments. This typical schedule is a kind of insurance for the publisher, who wants to make sure the author won’t complain too loudly or actually refuse to make any of the editor’s suggested changes.

The agent also negotiates the vexing question of who pays for certain things such as photography. Sometimes the publisher advances the cost of photography, but the fees may be deducted from the author’s future earnings. Agents often find and negotiate the author’s collaborators, (as is often the case for restaurant chefs stuck in the kitchen), or the occasional ghost writer. Occasionally the agent is able to persuade the publisher to pay for the book’s index, though frequently this is a cost billed to the author.

Becoming A Literary Agent:

Sadly, one is not born a literary agent, rather one becomes a literary agent over time and with experience. Just ask legendary literary agent, Jane Dystel of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. To get started in this field, apply for a position with an agency that is representing the kind of books that appeal to you.

While you are sure to learn all the steps involved in selling a book to the right publisher, it is most critical that you love to read. All literary agents start by reading through the “slush” pile of book proposals, seeking that rare gem that will lead to gold.

FOOD ARTS Magazine

As mentioned, here is Susan Friedland’s top literary agent and food editor picks, courtesy of FOOD ARTS magazine:

TOP AGENTS
David Black David Black Literary Agency, New York City, 212-242-5080
Doe Coover The Doe Coover Agency, Win-chester, MA, info@doecooveragency.com
Janis Donnaud Janis A. Donnaud and Associates, New York City, donnaudassociate@aol.com
Jennifer Griffin The Miller Agency, New York City, Jennifer@milleragency.net
Angela Miller The Miller Agency, New York City, angela@milleragency.net
Judith Weber Sobel Weber Associates, New York City, info@sobelweber.com

TOP EDITORS
Ann Bramson Artisan Books, New York City, info@artisanbooks.com
Pam Chirls John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ, pchirls@wiley.com
Maria Guarnaschelli W.W. Norton & Company, New York City, mguarnaschelli@wwnorton.com
Dan Halpern Ecco Press, New York City, virginia.smith@harpercollins.com
Judith Jones Knopf, New York City, 212-782-9000
Pam Kraus Rodale, Emmaus, PA, info@rodale.com
William LeBlond Chronicle Books, San Francisco, bill_leblond@chroniclebooks.com
Rux Martin Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, rux.martin@harcourt.com
Suzanne Rafer Workman Press, New York City, suzanne@workman.com
Anja Schmidt Dorling Kindersley, New York City editor@dk.com
Geoffrey Stone Running Press, Philadelphia, geoffrey.stone@perseusbooks.com
Aaron Wehner Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA, aaron.wehner@tenspeed.com

©Jim Scherzi, 2008

“A food photographer tries to capture the essence of a pear, a head of garlic, a completed dish or the noisy vibrancy or hushed luxury inside a restaurant. Each person sees things differently and translates an impression into a unique style,” says my friend and famed food photographer James M. Scherzi.

His advice: “Follow your passion. You have to develop your own ideas in order to stay ahead of the trends in photography. Read everything you can, particularly food and home magazines like Bon Appetit and Gourmet, Architectural Digest and Metropolitan Home and subscribe to many food publications. For the role of the food photographer is to stop the reader long enough to capture his attention and make him want to read the copy and buy the product.”

If you dream to be a food photographer, the best way to get started is to apprentice with a food photographer.

©Jim Scherzi, 2008

This will help you recognize that it takes a particular skill to capture the real image of food.  It is not the same thing as photographing shoes or automobiles or a house on fire.

Check cookbooks and magazines (like FOOD ARTS and FOOD & WINE) to find a photographer whose work you admire and find his website. Ask if you can work for him in his studio. This may mean lugging heavy cameras around or fetching lunch but the experience will enable you to see what the job entails, and give you an idea whether you can make a living at it. It will also offer vital insight about developing the all important portfolio you’ll use for selling your own photographic skills.

A newspaper photographer can earn about $200 a day. Of course this will vary, depending on the circulation and the location of the publication. Magazine assignments are billed at a considerably higher rate, and the fees for food advertisement photography are in an entirely different league.

It is important to bear in mind, though, that the overhead of being a food photographer is also very costly. As a freelancer you may be in a position to earn as much as $100,000 a year, but you may also have expenses of $80,000 or more. The cost of professional equipment can range as high as $25,000 and must constantly be updated.

You must also be familiar with software programs like Photoshop, Illustrator, PageMaker or Quark, Word, Excel, File Maker Pro, and be able to create and maintain your own web site.  In addition to your artistry, you need to be a good business person or be able to hire someone to do the job if you’re not good at it.

If you are able to book two assignments a week or about a hundred jobs a year, you’ll need to earn (net, not gross) at least $650 on each shooting day. Your expenses will include the cost of the film, an assistant along with a food and prop stylist. Props for the photo background can be rented and the client customarily pays for the food that is used in the shot. Even so, you may need to rent additional equipment and you must factor in the cost of time, your time—of processing the film and completing the assignment.

A commission that can be billed to the client at $1,200 a day may seem like a hefty fee but there’s not much profit left over. There is also the never-ending task of finding more work, producing estimates and spending (non-billable) time with the client.

©Jim Scherzi, 2008

The much more positive side of the coin is that a skilled photographer can charge considerably more than $1,200 a day for his work and bill the client for expenses. An established photographer will work five days a week, particularly if he has a big project such as an entire cookbook or a food website, rather than a single image.  He may also have several steady clients that require constant images of food products and finished dishes.

Best of all, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing your photograph can be admired more or less forever—even after the meal is gone and the dishes are done.