Copywriter + Editor

Cookbook | Brand Marketing

BRAND VOICE | BRAND MESSAGING | DIGITAL COPYWRITING | DEVELOPMENTAL EDITING | RESEARCH | COPY EDITING | PRODUCT COPYWRITING | BLOG COPYWRITING | PROOFREADING

Introducing the Problem

Client requested web copy for PR marketing and distribution.

Goals

  • Create strong mission statement for multiple channels.

  • Create content that can be repurposed for a variety of assets, length, etc.

  • Strike balance between engaging and educational copy.

  • Sell all copies of self-published edition independently.

Pre-Launch Banner Copy

Challenge

  • No one-sheet sample or reference.

  • Less than one week to create to meet launch schedule.

Digital Copy

Source: mamacitacookbook.com (archived)

Solution

  • PR one-pager got developed in tandem with site assets for cookbook website.

  • Because timelines were short, client gave me user access to draft, revise and edit as needed.

  • Developed voice and tone for author, utilizing emotive phrasing to call audience in (to action).

  • Transformed client’s notes and interviews into final mission statement and purpose entitled My Family’s Story.

  • Copy sections created for client:

    • Pre-launch banner copy

    • Mission statement: long-form My Family’s Story

    • Mission statement: short-form with CTA

    • Mission statement: one-liner

    • About the author

    • Product description

  • Wrote product descriptions for the ISBN and LCCN applications, so we weren’t starting with a blank page.

  • Suggested CTA signup, email and fundraising visibility. Since marketing budget was limited, we didn’t move forward with this strategy.

Retail Copy Samples

Product Description

Source: Now Serving L.A.

Results

The mission statement copy became a rallying call for the author’s social media campaign, featured in posts and stories on client’s Instagram page.

  • Client received multiple interview requests, including Book Larder, Seattle PI, and Peddler Journal.

  • Client received several publishing offers.

  • Client independently sold all 500 copies of self-published edition.

  • Expanded by Princeton Architecture Press and listed in Best New Cookbooks of 2022 by The Seattle Public Library and Amazon.com.

Learnings

  • Community nurturing is a crucial step for a debut of any kind.

  • Involving your audience in the fundraising stage, outside of a creator’s and/or author’s immediate circles, has the potential to create a bigger impact.

  • Also, save high-res website layouts for your future self’s portfolio.

Blog Copy

Image credit: Delaney Brown

Final version submitted

How do you make a reader feel something more abstract, like nostalgia and yearning?

You provide as many sensory details as possible to create a concrete feeling that a reader can touch or hear.

One of my favorite things about writing is worldbuilding and setting the mood/tone.

When detailing a scene from memory, which can create distance if not done effectively, sensory details like a regional bird call can ground a scene.

My goal was to cast a golden hour light on a childhood memory that my client hopes to reclaim for herself.

Results

  • Cena was published as a blog on Grlsquash.com.

  • Credited as an editor.

  • Client asked me to develop and edit her self-published cookbook.