BOSH!

Veganism was one of the big trends in cooking in 2018, and BOSH! by Henry Firth and Ian Theasby was the undisputed champion of the burgeoning publishing sub-genre. On the face of it though, this wasn’t a vegan cookbook at all. Instead, Firth, Theasby and HarperCollins imprint HQ pitched it as a collection of “All Plants” recipes, shaking off some of the labels of vegan cooking and instead drilling deep into the mass market. Easy, flavour-packed recipes, bright design and colourful photography all helped to transform the image of this way of eating.

HQ’s work on the book—including promotions tailored to different retailers, extensive social media activity and a festival-style event at Borough Market in London—won it the Marketing Strategy of the Year category at this year’s British Book Awards.

Its authors were tireless in their support too, setting out not just to promote a book but to build a brand that can last for years. Print sales through the TCM had reached 142,000 by the end of 2018, behind only Tom Kerridge, Jamie Oliver and Yotam Ottolenghi in the ultra-competitive cookbook sector. And with interest in vegan food—sorry, “All Plants”— continuing to soar in the first few months of 2019, it seems likely there is much more to come from the BOSH! boys.

“It was a really smart piece of publishing... HarperCollins identified a growing interest in the market and used every social media tool available to realise big sales,” said one British Book Awards judge. “Well-published with thoughtful avoidance of the v-word... great design and colour that led to real shelf presence,” said another of its impact in shops.