Jack Monroe moves to Bluebird for next cookbook

Pan Macmillan has bought world rights for food writer and campaigner Jack Monroe’s third book Cooking on a Bootstrap.

The book comprises 100 “affordable” recipes and is the sequel to the first cookbook A Girl Called Jack (Michael Joseph). It will include chapters on breads and breakfasts, super soups, beans, pulses and lentils, as well as new additions such as “eat your greens" and “don’t throw that away”, encompassing tips on using leftovers. 

The title was originally launched on Kickstarter in December, and met its original £8,000 funding target in just one day. Those backers will receive a limited print run of a special edition from Monroe to be released this spring.

At the time Monroe did not explain the decision to self-fund the project after being published by Michael Joseph for the first two cookbooks, but said on the Kickstarter page that “I’ve stripped it back from the gorgeous gloss that was book two, as beautiful as it was, the glass slipper didn’t quite fit my budget foot, so I’m going back to basics." However, Monroe said it now "felt right" to take the book to a wider audience.

Bluebird publisher Carole Tonkinson acquired world rights from Rosemary Scoular at United Agents. Monroe said their Nan would be helping to copy edit the book and a group of people on benefits and large families would be helping to test the recipes.

Monroe said: “When I first launched the Kickstarter it was intended to be a tiny run; I just wanted a way to deliver Bootstrap to the people who wanted it. That initial target was met in the first 24 hours, and the more people who pledged for it, the more I was able to open it up to people who needed it.

“Backers generously subsidised copies for schools, libraries, and people on low incomes and on benefits, including students and pensioners and by the end 1 in 4 of those sold were subsidised copies. I thought that would be the end of it, and then I got the message from Bluebird.

“I'm overwhelmed by the support for this. It's still a tiny operation; my nan is my copy editor and I have a bunch of busy people, people on benefits and single parents and large families testing my recipes for me. I'm glad to be doing this my way. Bluebird has been incredibly supportive, and it just feels right to make it available to a wider audience.”

It will be published as a trade paperback and e-book in January 2017.