Participants tweeted best ideas for 'So You Want to Write a Cookbook?'
Ashley E. Blom, 25, of Greenfield, recently won The Lisa Ekus Group's "So You Want to Write a Cookbook?" contest.
Before Ashley E. Blom went to college, she was what might have been called cooking challenged. Now she is being represented by the prestigious Lisa Ekus Group in any potential cookbook deal.
"It was really sad how little I could cook," said the 25-year-old graduate of Boston's Emerson College. "I would make a mess of the kitchen simply trying to make cookies from refrigerated cookie dough and typically burn them in the process."
Halfway through her college career, she was living in her own apartment, spending too much money eating out and toying with the idea of being a vegetarian. "This put me in a position where cooking for myself was the only option," she said.
She taught herself to cook using cookbooks and Googling recipes and various cooking techniques. After college, her first job wasn't one at which she could write creatively on a daily basis, so she decided to combine her new love of cooking with her lifelong love of writing.
"It started with a name I thought was funny - Quarter Life (Crisis) Cuisine - and went from there," said Blom, a 2006 graduate of Smith Academy in Hatfield, of her blog.
She began learning about food photography, so her posts at www.quarterlife
crisiscuisine.com now have better photos to accompany them.
"I also add a dash of personal stories to my blog, to give a voice to it that others can relate to. I'm still learning, but it's become a real passion," she said.
That passion helped her win the "So You Want to Write a Cookbook?" contest sponsored by The Lisa Ekus Group, a Hatfield based company that specializes in representing culinary talent.
Inspired by the March Madness basketball tournament, the contest was conceived and orchestrated by Sally Ekus, literary agent and daughter of the company founder.
"Our goal was to experiment with Twitter as a way to find untapped talent and also to break out of our standard proposal review process," Ekus said, noting that the contest achieved both.
The contest began on March 11. Participants were asked to pitch their best culinary non-fiction ideas to the agency via Twitter, and the agency staff judged the contest.
"The tweet is the new elevator pitch," Ekus said. "As social media has changed the way companies, especially publishers, look to conduct business and identify new talent, it made perfect sense to identify potential new writers through this medium."
Tweets were sent to #Sign
MeSal.
More than 100 contestants were narrowed down to 16, then eight, four and two, before one winner was selected and then signed by the Ekus group.
Contestants "followed" one another and tweeted supportive and encouraging words during each round, even after they were eliminated, which "was amazing to watch," Ekus said. "I feel like I helped nurture the creation of a supportive network of first-time authors."
Though she excelled in certain rounds, Blom simply got by in others.
"It wasn't until the final round where she came out on top," Ekus said. "During each round there were certain people who we thought would go all the way; ultimately the whole team here agreed on the winner."
"Throughout the competition," Ekus added Blom "tweeted accurate, smart and innovate ideas at each round" and "made us laugh."
She said Blom "won representation by our agency."
"She does not have a book deal yet, though we anticipate one down the road," Ekus said.
"Many people have great ideas but need help with the logistics of writing a proposal and guided through the publishing process. This contest allows the winner to work with me from the ground up."
Asked if there are plans for another contest, she replied, "There is a lot of chatter around here about making this an annual competition. March Madness happens once a year, so why not #signmesal?"
Blom, a Greenfield resident and marketing assistant for Greenfield-based The Sandri Companies, hopes to include about 75 recipes in any future cookbook, with accompanying anecdotes and life advice.
"I never thought my idea, as conceptualized in my blog two years ago, would ever make its way to a book," Blom said. "This contest is the first step in making my dreams come true, and I am so grateful to have been a part of it."
Blom, who feels cooking can be good therapy for any "quarter life crisis," plans to have a section on dating in any future cookbook as well as finding a job, hosting parties and other challenges 20-somethings face.
She envisions humorous names for recipes -- maybe "got-the-job chocolate cake" or "breakup nachos"--that correspond with the different chapters of the book.
"I want to create recipes that are accessible to people my age and beyond who want good food but don't necessarily have the budget to make gourmet meals at home," she said.
Her favorite recipe of all time is probably her stepfather's strawberry pie or her mother's mashed potatoes with beefy gravy. "I've tried to recreate these in my own cooking, but theirs always just tastes better," she said.