This is the question that is running through everyone’s mind and frankly will be your biggest investment in creating your cookbook.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to this answer and I know that’s not what you want to hear, but it’s the honest truth.
What I can share is the various categories I take into account when creating an estimate.
One of the key points to consider is that it is an “estimate” which means you can negotiate the terms and pricing to fit the scope of the project.
Here is what I have to account for while creating your estimate:
Pre-Production (Administrative) Tasks
Art Direction
Image Research & Planning
Props, Planning & Shopping
Ingredient Planning & Shopping
Team Coordination & Briefing
Set Building & Organization
Production (Shoot Day) Task Hours
Gear Set Up
Food Prep and Cooking
Set Styling
Food Styling
Clean Up
File Backup
Post-Production
Image Organization & Filing
Culling
Editing
Secondary Retouching & Collaboration with Creative Team
Uploading/Downloading Files for Delivery
Post Shoot Communications
Image Storage
And last, but not least...
Licensing & Usage Terms
Click HERE to understand copyrights and licensing terms for your cookbook. This can be a tricky thing to understand, but I have broken it down with an easy to understand metaphor!
After I take all of the above into consideration, it’s time to create your estimate! Although I don’t price things out “per recipe”, I can share a ballpark figure of $650 to $1000 per recipe which is about where most cookbooks fall for a 5 Year Exclusive Usage Rights Agreement.
Now that you have a better idea of my estimation process, let's find a time chat more in depth about your cookbook to get a better idea of how you (or your publisher) can budget for your images!
