How I Got My Cookbook Deal

dishing all the details in honor of my book's first birthday

I opened Big Night in August of 2021. I had no idea if people would understand my “dinner party shop.” Luckily, they got it. Even better, people seemed genuinely excited about it.

I was thrilled, and also overwhelmed. I had only just quit my full-time job in July – and then it had been an all-out sprint to get the store open two months later. Now that Big Night was officially in business, I had to figure out how to keep it open, while also keeping my own sanity. At this point, I had no help at the shop other than my sister and my best friend.

In October, I received an email from a publisher asking if I’d consider writing a cookbook based on the store: a dinner party cookbook. At the time, a book was the last thing on my mind – but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. I was literally running out of space on the shelves writing signage for every single product, every idea I had, every recommendation. I needed more room for storytelling.

Then, in February, another email from another publishing house. The woman who would soon become my editor, Amanda, wrote me and said: