TRANSFORMATION. It seems like yesterday I was sealing up an impossibly massive stack of envelopes. Each contained a lengthy proposal for my first book, carefully addressed to a selected group of publishers. Each contained a little piece of my heart. Each contained a little nugget of my dreams. If you’ve read my story, then you know that despite the eventual success of the superfood series, there’s no fairy tale here: each of those first envelopes was met with rejection.
“Don’t you think superfoods are too niche?”
“What celebrities do you know?”
“What if we did your book in black and white?”
These were the types of responses I initially received to the idea of Superfood Cuisine (that eventually turned into Superfood Kitchen). And these were also the reasons I chose to initially self-publish … because sometimes the voice of your own vision is stronger than a chorus in the real world. (Besides, it may be a chorus, but it’s still just one chorus.) I deeply understood and believed in the power of superfoods then as much as I do now.
Putting together that first book was a wildly exciting, excruciatingly focused, and very often, seemingly impossible task. For my runners out there, it is VERY akin to running a marathon – there are lots of times where you have to put your muscle where your mouth is… forget that you have 26.2 miles ahead, and simply focus on putting one foot in front of another. Though it took me a little more than a year, I can honestly say that it took me a FULL year – as in, I did almost nothing else than work on the singular task of “The Book” as it was simply, and notoriously, called. Not having a publisher meant more than not having a means of distribution, it meant not having a sounding board, not having a director, and at times, not having a proper shoulder to cry on (trust me, you’d be crying too when you’re on minimal sleep and your pancakes don’t work on the 8th try). It was creatively captivating and emotionally exhausting, but there was a finish line, and one day I finally crossed it. And just like that, boom: 3000 copies of my very own book, sitting in all their glorious TANGIBLE form in my garage. (And no real plan initially on how to sell them, I might add.)
A lot has changed since then in the past years: I have a now have publisher (a wonderful one, Sterling) who has taken on Superfood Kitchen. I’ve published several other books with them since, which have gone on to do very well. Plus, I’ve had some truly incredible opportunities come my way to share the superfood love even further. For all of this, I am so profoundly grateful. But, a bit like a first-born child, Superfood Kitchen still has a little bit of a “something special” … at least to me. It was, and continues to be, the base behind everything I do. That’s why its latest transformation is such a special one.
Republished now as a paperback, Superfood Kitchen (or technically Julie Morris’s Superfood Kitchen as it is called) can enjoy a broader reach than ever before. It’s offered at a much lower price point (yay!), and will have a wider distribution, too. If you have one of my other books and haven’t had the opportunity to pick up this title before, now is a really great time to do so (and/or get one for a friend!). In addition to over 100 superfood recipes that span everything from breakfast to dinner entrees, you’ll find that half the book is a true “book,” complete with heavily researched material on what superfoods are, why they’re so important (more than ever before), and of course, how to use them.
In case you’re wondering, no, superfoods are not a niche subject anymore, there is no celebrity name-dropping, and the book is in full-color – thanks! In all seriousness, I hope this book is as special to you as it is to me.
Thank you for reading. ~ Julie
Please note: Superfood Kitchen (hardcover) and Julie Morris’s Superfood Kitchen (paperback) are the same book, with the exact same material. Amazon lists them separately – I’ve put in a request to change this for clarity’s sake, but changes have yet to be made. So the takeaway here is: Same book!
