A thriving Iowa book publisher isn’t exactly in the murder-mystery business. For Tom Scott at G-and-R Publishing in Waverly, the “recipe” for success is mostly cookbooks — and he prints a million books a year. Scott says his most common kind of client is a church or fundraising group compiling a cookbook to raise money. The “Gifts in a Jar” books tell how to pack ingredients in a decorated gift jar so the recipient can make a fresh-baked treat from it. The cookbooks contain far more than just instructions for making a meal. He says the church books will have from three to 500 recipies, including stories about the recipies.As one example, many churches have done cookbooks to celebrate a 150th anniversary and the local stories included with the recipes can make up a valuable local history. Scott’s done cookbooks for groups in all fifty states as well as outside the U-S and for army wives who are temporarily abroad. He says another popular book for a local writer is a family history. Scott says one of the most exciting projects his Waverly publishing company has done is a collection of personal stories. Scott says people discovered shared history with their neighbors and relatives when they read the books, and he’d like to see more people and groups write that kind of personal history collection. See their website at www.cookbookprinting.com.
