Friday, January 23, 2009

The Accidental Vegan-Second Edition



I just received a copy of the updated version of my first cookbook, "The Accidental Vegan". The first edition was published by Crossing Press, a small, independent publisher in California. A few years ago they were bought by Ten Speed Press, a larger independent company with wider distribution.

An editor called me nearly a year ago and said they'd been looking over their list for titles that had value but weren't selling quite as well as they should, in other words, books that would be good candidates for updated editions. I said I'd love to rework it. We gave it a new introduction, and meticulously updated the recipes to make them more user friendly. We also added about twenty new recipes.

When I wrote the first edition I'd alluded to the fact that I'm not a vegan myself, but I didn't address the issue head on. A number of the reviews on Amazon questioned my credentials as the author of a vegan cookbook, in light of my personal dietary choices. When it came time to write the introduction to the new addition, I decided I might as well come right out with it. There are many good reasons for all of us to eat vegan meals, whether frequently or occasionally, and there are many good reasons for an omnivore to write a vegan cookbook.

2 comments:

Ruth Donnelly said...

Wow--I'm glad to hear there's a new edition! The Accidental Vegan is one of my favorite cookbooks. I just made a couple of your dips from that book--Babaganoush and the Anasazi Bean Dip (made with pintos because I've never seen Anasazi beans anywhere). I posted about them on my blog, which meant I wanted to see if you had a site so I could link to it, and...that's how I found your blog! Thanks for all the wonderful recipes!

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to drop in and let you know I like your cook book, for whatever that's worth. ;) I just bought it a few weeks, but am delighted with it thus far.