Identify your audience and theme. Consider your audience's age and cooking experience. If you are writing a cookbook for children, for example, you may need to simplify recipes or chose recipes that can be accomplished in a few steps. Sort your recipes to decide your cookbook's theme. If you have more dessert recipes than entree recipes, for example, you might consider publishing a dessert cookbook. You can also organize your cookbook by regional and ethnic cuisine.
Conduct research to add depth to your cookbook. If you are compiling a Mexican cookbook, for example, include facts about the country, or region within the country, and information about ingredients. Include photographs and drawings to add interest.
Collect your recipes. Start by organizing recipes to which you have the rights, such as your original recipes and those given to you by family members. Tell friends and acquaintences that you are publishing a cookbook and ask for their permission to publish recipes they have shared with you in exchange for acknowledgement. If you wish to republish recipes that appear in an old cookbook, confirm that the copyright has expired.
Print your cookbook for personal use. If your cookbook is intended to be a gift, you can type up the recipes in a word processing or desktop publishing program and add images and other graphics. Print the pages on your home computer, staple them together or place them in a three-ring binder. You can have the pages printed and bound at a copy shop for a more professional-looking cookbook.
Publish your cookbook for sale. Prepare your book for self-publication by typesetting your content according to the publishing company's style manual, if it has one. Your cookbook layout can be simple or elaborate, depending on your skill level using the advanced features of a desktop publishing or word processing software. You can also hire a freelance editor and graphic designer to help you create a finished product to list with a print-on-demand self-publishing service or to present to a literary agent who specializes in cookbooks. Upload your cookbook into an e-Book publishing platform or send the printable files to your print-on-demand service of choice.