Food Network-William Morrow Book Deal

By JULIETTE ROSSANT First came a deal with Kohl's to brand Food Network talent kitchen products with the department store, after FN stars like Emeril Lagasse, Mario Batali, and Ina Garten had been doing it on their own for years. Then came a Food Network Magazine to capture the audience already reading about their favorite FN stars in branded magazines like Every Day with Rachael Ray and Paula Deen Celebrates. Now the Food Network is catching up to its own stars in the publishing world. Last week FN announced a deal with William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins, for a first-look to publish branded books by FN stars based on their shows. The first book is Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives by Guy Fieri, published in October. The deal is aimed at new talent groomed and picked by reality TV shows like The Next Food Network Star or new shows like Ask Aida or The Rescue Chef with Danny Boome. Most of the established stars already have multiple book deals with publishers. The next release in the joint venture, planned for late 2009, will be by Duff Goldman, star of Ace of Cakes. Publisher's Weekly reports: As part of the joint venture, Morrow (which will get the right of first refusal) will handle editorial, publicity, marketing, sales and distribution. Food Network will promote the books with on-air and online advertising. Sergei Kuharsky, general manager of Scripps Networks Enterprises, which owns Food Network, said, “William Morrow has the extensive publishing experience and working with them provides yet another way Food Network fans can touch and interact with the network and our stars.” The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. It looks like this opens the door to more book pitches woven into FN shows. With most episode recipes available online, it is hard to imagine how attractive these books will ultimately be. Previous articles: Hearst Launches Food Network Magazine Hearst and Food Network Plan Magazine Bobby Flay Joins Food Network at Kohl's Cooking.com Beefs Up Food Network Store [Food Television - complete] [Chefs & Branding - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging --> back to Super Chef