The Real Krissy Marsh Cookbook – Food for Family and Friends
When I got a message from Krissy Marsh asking me if I knew ‘anyone who could write up a few recipes’ for her for a book project she wanted to do - I thought best idea was to meet and talk it through to get the full picture on what she wanted to achieve, before I just passed on a few of my contacts.
From that initial meeting the project turned into a wild (if not a bit crazy at times) ride from stuttering start to full speed driving the project to completion. At the end of the day, it was a great project and have to thank Krissy for the opportunity to create something amazing for her.
The brief:
The initial idea was to create a cookbook to include Krissy’s favourite family recipes from her Aussie roots to the countries she has lived in. She wanted to portray her passion for sharing meals with family and friends. And for the proceeds to be donated to Ronald MacDonald House Charity, where she is an ambassador.
The Client:
Krissy Marsh is a dynamic powerhouse, funny, generous and full of countless ideas and has a million things on the go all at once. She was one of the Real Housewives of Sydney in both seasons 1 and 2.
Krissy loves cooking at home and bringing people together. She believes that cooking is a skill, and one that can be taught at any time in a person’s life. Krissy’s motto: “Cook with love, the rest is merely ingredients.”
The look:
To present, in an authentic way, Krissy’s passion for cooking and entertaining that has been influenced by her extensive travels and exposure to different cultures and cuisines.
Each recipe needed to bring the warmth and vibrancy of the author, to tell the story of her life experiences and of those people she loves. It also wanted to include heart-warming and amusing anecdotes to inspire her readers to create their own memories through the joy of cooking and entertaining.
This was achieved by grouping the recipes into eight chapters and giving each chapter a subtle colour palette that related to the recipes. Each chapter had a series of lifestyle images and at least one recipe featuring Krissy preparing the ingredients.
Props were a mix of Krissy’s own cook and serving ware and all the images were shot in her home and garden, with one quick visit to the marina. Space was allocated on each recipe for tips and anecdotes to be ‘handwritten’ in Krissy’s voice.
The scope of work:
As far as the book credits go, my official job title was Project and Style Director
The scope of the job started with hand picking the expert team to work on the book – initially this included editor, designer, photographer, recipe transcriber, photo chef and sub-editor. Extending my role to production manager and stylist on the food shoots, creating shot lists, props hire and purchase, plus the overall budgeting and expenses reconciliation, generating a timeline calendar and keeping these both on track. Organising meetings with client and team, overseeing the printing process, investigating legal requirements, disclaimer and release form obligations, sourcing QR codes and ISBNs, working with the web designer and PR company, communicating with book distributors, Krissy’s PA, sourcing and costing postage options, confirming shipping and warehousing interstate and investigating and commissioning offshore e-book conversion and distribution.
As the Real Housewives of Sydney was in production during the book shoot, the team needed to work around the film crew and schedule, as Krissy wanted the cookbook to be showcased on the show. This meant book ‘dummies’ needed to be printed at lightning speed locally and the film crew accommodated within the food shoot and coordinating Krissy’s hair and makeup days with our shoot dates.
Once the book was printed and landed, Krissy appeared on Channel 7 the ‘Morning Show’ - I worked with Krissy to prepare the recipes and the props for the show and styled the set for the segment.
From my first meeting with Krissy in February to the final sign off in October of the same year – during that I worked across every area of the book dotting ‘i’s and crossing ‘t’s to be sure I could deliver a fantastic outcome to my client.
The budget:
As Krissy had never authored a book before, she had no idea what size, print run and cost budget she would need to allow, for the kind of cookbook she wanted to produce. She needed guidance on which direction to take, self-publish vs publisher. I worked up a number of draft budgets options with ballpark quotes and a timeline to produce the book
Based on the options presented, Krissy decided to self-publish and the realistic budget was established and was the guide through the entire process, enabling a profit to be donated to Ronald MacDonald House charity.
The outcome:
The Real Krissy Marsh Cookbook is a 176-page hardcover cookbook divided into 8 chapters with over 50 recipes and a multitude of cooking tips. Each chapter is based around Krissy’s family life and her extensive travels.
- Starting the Day
- Aussie Classics
- An Italian Affair
- Yum Cha and Chinese Favourites
- Fishing with the Boys
- Drinks & Small Bites
- The Sweet Life
- Super-useful Basics
CLIENT FEEDBACK:
‘I am fortunate enough to have known Louise for many years. Louise co-ordinated and brought to life The Real Krissy Marsh Cookbook. Louise’s creativity and passion for a project is like no other. She worked efficiently and effectively to help me create a book I am exceptionally proud of.’
Krissy Marsh
Media Personality & Real Housewife of Sydney Seasons 1& 2
