Cooking With Sue

In the summer of 2012, I decided to make a cookbook. At the same time, James was writing a collection of short stories. We worked on the books all summer without our family knowing, because we wanted to give them as Christmas gifts. We did it all online. The name of my book was COOKING WITH SUE, and the name of James' book was THE WAY IT WAS KINDA. Cooking With Sue was a collection of recipes from friends and family, and also included pictures of the person who gave each recipe to me.

James' book was based on many of his childhood memories with friends and family. We had our books published, and you should have seen the surprise on everyone's faces when they opened their Christmas gifts.

I had ordered enough cookbooks to give to my children, grandchildren, and my brothers and sisters. The first book order was printed in full color and cost $27.00 each. That wasn’t a bad price for a Christmas gift, but as word of my cookbook got out, people began asking if they could buy one. I felt $27.00 was too much to charge for a homemade cookbook, so I contacted the publisher to ask how I could lower the cost. Printing the books in black and white was the answer—so that’s what I did. I was finally able to get the price down to about $15.00 per book, which was my cost.

Over the next few years, I sold over 300 copies of my cookbook, but never for profit. I only stopped selling them when I lost all of my contacts with the company. My son was able to put my book online so anyone could visit and read or download a recipe. Still today, in 2023, I have friends who want to purchase the book.

James had only ordered enough of his books to give to the family and a few close friends. I hope they will cherish these books for years to come.