What to put on the back cover of the cheesemaking book?

The back cover text is often the hardest thing to write in a book. There’s only a certain amount of words that fit on it, and those words need to be enticing enough to make people want to read the book.

I wrote some things up for a Permies wiki page for the book, this may end up being the back cover of the book, or it may not. Would the following description make you want to read the book? Or could I word it in a different way or emphasise different things about the book?

Anyone can make their own cheese…


Making your own home dairy products was an essential skill in the past, and a skill that continues to create resilience and reduce food costs in the face of supply disruptions and uncertainty.

Whether you’re in the middle of a city, or on a homestead, you can make delicious cheeses in your home kitchen. Natural small batch Cheeseamaking is perfect for homesteaders, farmers, and anyone that appreciates good cheese.

Topics covered include:
•Milk: Working with different types of milk and seasonal conditions, best practises for storing and handling milk.
•Rennet: Homemade rennets, sourcing the best possible rennet, how to dilute and test rennet.
•Homemade cheese cultures.
•Cheesemaking equipment: Getting started with gear you already have, making your own equipment, pressing cheese without a cheese press, and how to achieve great results at home.
•Cheesemaking in detail: All the steps of cheesemaking explained, both the “why” and the “how”. Learn to change recipes around to suit your lifestyle and tastes and make your own unique cheeses.
•Aging cheeses - how to age cheeses at home in many ways, on or off the grid.
•How to use leftover whey.
•Easy-to-follow recipes for over 25 styles of cheese, plus other dairy products including yoghurt, butter, and ice cream.
•Troubleshooting: What to do when things don’t go according to plan.

There will also be some short review quotes below this.

What are your thoughts?

Small spelling typo here: "Natural small batch Cheeseamaking is perfect..." and is it cheesemaking? Cheese-making? Or cheese making?

Otherwise, the only thing I notice doesn't seem to be a big surprise - the phrase cheesemaking is used a lot.

Carla Burke wrote:Small spelling typo here: "Natural small batch Cheeseamaking is perfect..." and is it cheesemaking? Cheese-making? Or cheese making?

Otherwise, the only thing I notice doesn't seem to be a big surprise - the phrase cheesemaking is used a lot.

I picked up on that when putting it onto the cover file to test it, so all good : ) That would have been embarrassing!

I'll have another go over it to see if I can remove some of the "cheesemaking"s, might be possible, might not be.

Having seen some of the contents of the book, do you think the back cover text reflects that? Or could I express the exciting stuff in the book better in other words?

I think it will be great!

I think that you should show pictures of cheeses- isn't a picture worth a thousand words? Also you should be punny, like - This is the whey to great cheese!

I have not made cheese, nor had the notion to make cheese prior.

I like how I can look at this back cover and know what I could learn.

My initial thoughts before reading the back cover is that this book is not for me because I don't have the land/expertise to even try but you address that in the second sentence.

I think it is very effective. Great job.

Timothy Norton wrote:I have not made cheese, nor had the notion to make cheese prior.

I like how I can look at this back cover and know what I could learn.

My initial thoughts before reading the back cover is that this book is not for me because I don't have the land/expertise to even try but you address that in the second sentence.

I think it is very effective. Great job.

Springing off from this comment, my thought is a second line that emphasizes the Everyone/Anyone.

I don't have that line mind you but maybe someone else will.

A line to make someone like Tim think twice will definitely grab anyone who has thought about it.

Up to three weeks ago when my first Jersey heifer calved, one of my "doubts" would be finding
high quality milk to use.

The cost is addressed in some of the other points but time & money might be another doubt to address with a second "headline."

Another suggestion - with or without adding a line - is to move the current second line to the bottom before the reviews
as I think the third line is a better second line.
The second line is beautifully written and very good information but a little complex for "grab you" copy.

Maybe an analogy to another process that is of similar difficulty but more familiar.
Since I haven't made cheese, I am not much help there.
Something like "If you can find a new recipe, collect the ingredients and follow the directions...you can do this"
okay that is terrible but maybe it gives the idea.  

Just brainstorming.

Also, I am part of a small homesteading group on X, currently about 300 accounts.

They do regular "Spaces" (an online verbal conversation) and are starting to look
further afield for speakers. The audience may be small, I seen 10 people in a space
and I've seen 30+ but I wanted to toss it out there. I know cheesemaking would be
of interest. And it is the kind of forum where you can pick one part of your area
to expound. People might ask other questions but there is leeway about how it
is done and the moderators are pretty good at crowd control. It is very laidback, though,
in tone. Not like doing a webinar where you have to try to hit every detail.

You are welcome to message me if interested. And yes, it can be after you finish the book lol.

I like what you wrote! I do think a little more emphasis on the savings would be important, at least in the US, where prices are quickly becoming prohibitive for many people. I browsed the cheese case in the one grocery store in town that carries a good selection of specialty cheeses and there were no organic selections of any kind, in a store that caters to the organic consumer. There is organic cheddar and mozzarella as well as cream cheese, yogurt and sour cream in the dairy case but they are dreadfully expensive. As far as any other cheese, including chèvre, they are not organic and are outrageously expensive.

I’m a member of a group that is for milk cow owners and it is astonishing how many new people show up constantly! In the US, more and more people are getting out of the rat race and searching for a more sustainable lifestyle. I think words pertaining to sustainability, control over ingredients and simplicity (or equivalent, as I’m definitely not good at that) are going to speak very loudly in the minds of that audience.

I like to be able to glance at the back cover of a book and get a general idea without going to in depth. I would just tighten it up a little bit. Something like this, maybe?

Anyone can make cheese

Whether you’re in the middle of the city, or on a homestead, you can make delicious cheeses in your own kitchen. Natural Small Batch Cheese-making is the perfect guide for anyone that appreciates good cheese.

Making dairy products at home was an essential skill in the past, and is one that continues to create resilience and reduce food costs in the face of supply disruptions and uncertainty. Some of the topics covered in this book include:

Milk-working with different types as well as best practices for safe handling and storing
Rennet-sourcing the best rennet or making your own
Homemade cheese cultures
Equipment-getting started with what you already have and making your own cheese press
Step by step recipes including the 'why' and the 'how' of different methods
Different ways to age your cheeses, on or off-grid
What to do with all that whey
Troubleshooting when things don't go according to plan

There are recipes for over 25 styles of cheese as well as yogurt, butter, and ice cream!  (Is there a Kefir recipe in the book?)

Hi Kate,

Your list of topics is great. It is what I would want to see. To up it a little, explain, in brief, how your book is different from all those other books.

Thanks so much for the feedback!

While I was offline I was tinkering with it a little more, based on some feedback I got via Kickstarter along with my own intuition. This is what I came up with, but I'll have another go over it with all the helpful feedback here.

Anyone can make their own cheese…

Making your own home dairy products was an essential skill in the past, and a skill that continues to create resilience and reduce food costs in the face of supply disruptions and uncertainty.

Wherever you are, you can make delicious cheeses in your home kitchen, starting with just one litre or one quart of milk. Natural Small Batch Cheesemaking is perfect for homesteaders, farmers, and anyone that appreciates good cheese.

Topics covered include:
•Milk: Working with different types of milk and seasonal conditions, best practises for storing and handling milk.
•Rennet: Homemade rennets, sourcing the best possible rennet, how to dilute and test rennet.
•Homemade cheese cultures.
•Cheesemaking equipment: Getting started with gear you already have, making your own equipment, pressing cheese without a cheese press, and how to achieve great results at home.
•Cheesemaking in detail: All the steps of cheesemaking explained, both the “why” and the “how”, learn to change recipes around to suit your lifestyle and tastes and make your own unique cheeses.
•Aging cheeses - how to age cheeses at home in many ways, on or off the grid.
•How to use leftover whey.
•Easy-to-follow recipes for small batch cheeses, plus other dairy products including yoghurt, butter, and ice cream.
•Troubleshooting: What to do when things don’t go according to plan.
•Cheesemaking for survival and self reliance: Techniques for making dairy self sufficiency more flexible, adaptable, and achievable, from a successful off-grid cheesemaker.

May be too late but my initial idea is to make it more action-oriented/empowering by phrasing the bullet points differently. Like this:

This book will show you how to
-Work with different types of milk and seasonal conditions for best results
-store and handle milk safely
-make homemade rennets, source the best rennet, dilute and test rennet.
-getting started with gear you already have or can make, or make do without
-

ETC...
It's fewer words (faster/easier to read and comprehend) and less textbookish.