Occasionally we post reviews of great apps. Here’s a great one that just launched: Cookbook Café. Cookbook Café is an app that allows users to publish and sell your cookbook(s) as an iPad app and a web-based eBook. What’s great is this platform can be used for both profit, and for fundraising. Just imagine how many cookbooks will emerge in the coming days, weeks, months…
Here are some excerpts from the BakeSpace.com press release.
BakeSpace.com – the Webby honored food social network and recipe swap – announced the launch of Cookbook Cafe as the first do-it-yourself digital publishing platform for grassroots cookbook authors. It enables anyone to create, market and sell their very own cookbook as a native iPad App, as well as an interactive web-based ebook.
Unlike other do-it-yourself publishing services that help authors create traditional ebooks or mobile apps, Cookbook Cafe is free AND not limited by technology platform. It functions across different types of devices, including the iPad and any desktop or mobile web browser. It takes full advantage of the app environment, without trapping authors inside a technological “walled garden.”
How It Works
The Cookbook Cafe platform is built upon three core components:
- A free Cookbook Cafe iPad app with the cookbook storefront and reader.
- A Web-based version of the storefront and reader accessible through any web browser.
- A Web-based cookbook builder that automatically creates both a native iPad app and a website version of each cookbook.
A New World of Possibility for Cookbook Authors:
There’s no cost to build a cookbook and market it in the Cookbook Cafe iPad and Web-based storefronts.
Each author determines his/her own price — from giving a cookbook away for free to selling it for a price ranging from $0.99 to $9.99 (in one dollar increments). Each cookbook is acquired by the end-user as either a free download or in-app purchase on the iPad, or as a simple download/online purchase on the web. BakeSpace.com collects a commission only when an author sells a book for profit or fundraising. The commission covers all costs, including Apple’s app store transaction fee and credit card processing fees on sales made through the online storefront.
Commercial brands can also use Cookbook Cafe to create and market cookbooks themed around specific ingredients, types of recipes, events, etc. Cookbook Cafe’s launch brand partners include Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker, Driscoll’s Berries, Chobani Greek Yogurt and Sabra Humus.
To Get Started:
If you have an iPad:
Visit the App Store, search for “BakeSpace” and download the free Cookbook Cafe app. You can also find the app on iTunes at itunes.apple.com/us/app/bakespace.coms-cookbook-cafe/id467167455?mt=8
To check it out on the Web:
Visit cookbookcafe.com for an overview. To build your own cookbook or visit the web storefront go to BakeSpace.com/cookbooks.
About BakeSpace.com
BakeSpace was launched in 2006 as the Web’s first food social network and recipe swap. Described by USA Today as “the closest thing to a Facebook-like food site,” it’s a grassroots community for people who love to cook, bake and hang out in the kitchen. The site has been recognized by the Webby Awards for five consecutive years, earning back-to-back Webby Award nominations in 2009 and 2010 for Best Social Network. BakeSpace also produces the TECHmunch food blogger conference, which is held in cities across the U.S. to help food bloggers learn the hands-on skills they need to make their blogs more personally and professionally rewarding. BakeSpace.com is based in Los Angeles. More information is available at http://BakeSpace.com and http://BakeSpaceMedia.com.
