Seaside Publishing in St. Petersburg, Florida, is known for its basic-looking, regionally-focused books, like One-Tank Trips, a series of guides to offbeat Florida adventures and attractions; and books on Cuban cooking and “easy, breezy Florida” cooking. But this fall, it is publishing a cookbook that could help the house get some national attention.
Seaside released Cookielicious, a $19.95 paperback original by St. Petersburg Times food editor Janet K. Keeler, who served as a Pillsbury Bake-off judge, in mid-September. The book is reminiscent of Martha Stewart Cookies, a recent bestseller from Clarkson Potter that favors a minimalist aesthetic and plays up the simple pleasure of cookies. Cookielicious has a four-color outside cover and two-color photos throughout with a four-color insert showing all 150 cookies featured in the book. In his introduction, Esquire food and travel columnist John Mariani calls Cookielicious "an ebullient collection of cookies that share one thing in common—they look, smell, crack, break apart, crumble and delight, from the moment you lay eyes on them." The recipes were originally submitted by readers and Keeler tweaked them.
Joyce LaFray, who had owned Surfside Publishing from 1980 to 1991, began Seaside in 1992. She sold Seaside in 2003 and, as she put it, “the new owners had no experience in publishing. They had a difficult time making a go of it and subsequently returned to the pest control business.” LaFray took Seaside back in 2006. She agreed the house has “been a regional publisher” since its inception but that it is starting to take a different approach to selling books, going beyond Florida—with Cookielicious leading the way. “We’re choosing the books we want to publish and then really heavily marketing them,” LaFray said, explaining that she has hired cookbook publicity firm Lisa Ekus to work on Cookielicious and orchestrate a national media campaign. “While Seaside has traditionally been a regional publisher, we all agreed that Cookielicious has the depth and breadth in subject matter to appeal to the masses,” Ekus told PW. The book’s first printing was 10,000 copies, but LaFray said she anticipates selling 50,000 copies before the year is over.
Seaside is having a launch party for the book today. It is open to the public, and already has 500 RSVPs. For $19.95, guests will get a signed copy, tastes of 10 cookies from the book, and coffee or punch and live entertainment. The party will take place at St. Petersburg’s Coliseum.
Despite the apparent success of Cookielicious, Seaside is not putting all its eggs in the cookbook basket; one of the projects LaFray is most excited about is Super Women of Poker: Expert Strategy for No Limit Poker, which comes out next spring. But cookbooks like Delicious Grapefruit Recipes, Famous Florida Seafood Recipes, and Key Lime Cookin’ have made about half their sales outside of Florida, a notable achievement for a traditionally regional house.
