Author Q&A: Bonnie Scott

Preparing for our latest author Q&A had us gazing wistfully at our fridge.

That’s because our interviewee, Bonnie Scott, is the author of dozens of recipe books, including the best-selling "In Jars" series and Cookie Indulgence.

Maybe we should’ve asked her how she burns off everything from her test kitchen ...

SADYE: What piqued your interest in cooking and writing cookbooks?

BONNIE: I have degrees in journalism and computer information systems and was an IT manager for twenty years before deciding to become self-employed and set up information websites and blogs for myself and others.  

After running websites at home for about ten years, I started getting bored and had read about making money writing cookbooks somewhere. I decided to give it a try and love writing cookbooks!

I got into the market when Kindle books were just becoming popular so I did really well.

SADYE: How does a cookbook writer set himself/herself apart from all the blogs out there?

BONNIE: People still love to have a cookbook in print to follow when they are cooking. I actually make more money on paperbacks than I do ebooks.  

Some people do use the ebook copy to cook from, but I find many people still print out a copy of the recipe before beginning.

SADYE: How do you decide what type of food to write about?

BONNIE: I am not sure how the idea for a cookbook comes to me. I create a folder for a cookbook when I get an idea.  

I probably have fifty cookbook folders waiting to be written right now. I also helped a friend and my son get started writing cookbooks.

SADYE: What has been your most successful sales strategy?

BONNIE: I run some Amazon ads but don’t pay more than five cents an ad. I use only two promo services when my books are free.

SADYE: What has prompted you to stay Amazon-exclusive?

BONNIE: I started out with Amazon and have done so well that I never tried to go wide. Maybe I will with my next book.

SADYE: What kinds of results do you see from your free-ebook promotions?

BONNIE: Putting my books out there for free not only greatly increases my page reads — which I do get paid for — but because the book is so popular when it is free, after the free period, the units sold for both ebooks and paperbacks increase greatly.

(This increases) my Amazon best-sellers rank and visibility, in turn increasing my sales. It’s a win/win situation, and except for the promos I run monthly, I don’t have to invest any money in my book ventures since I do all the publishing myself.

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Learn more about Bonnie Scott on her website, where her books can also be purchased, and like her on Facebook.

Know an author you'd like to see featured? Email sadye (at) thefussylibrarian.com with a recommendation!