Vox Media’s Eater Pens a 7-Book Deal With Abrams, Its Latest IP Play

The food and hospitality publisher Eater, a Vox Media title, has partnered with the publishing imprint Abrams to release seven books, the latest brand extension from within the Vox Media portfolio and the first literary venture from Eater. The first three projects will include a book of recipes compiled by Eater restaurant editor Hillary Dixler Canavan, slated for release in 2023, as well as travel guides to New York City and Los Angeles, slated for 2024, said Eric Karp, the senior vice president of brand licensing at Vox Media. “It's our belief that many people travel because they love food culture and that there aren’t any other major travel publications that hyperfocus on that segment of travel,” Karp said. “We think we can be innovators and present a unique offering on the shelf once we reach scale with enough cities.” Atlantic Ventures Is on Pace to Bring in 10% of Total Revenue Eater will be paid an advance by Abrams, which it will use to defray the upfront cost of producing the books, and it will receive royalties based on sales. The publisher declined to provide financial specifics of the deal. The enterprise comes as publishers increasingly eye brand extensions, such as licensing and merchandise, as viable revenue streams to complement their core advertising and subscription businesses. Some, such as The Atlantic and BuzzFeed Inc., have found innovative ways of translating their work into new vehicles, while more traditional methods, such as events and other editorial extensions, have become standard practice. With the partnership, Eater plays to its strengths The launch of Eater-branded literature, a first for the 17-year-old title, comes after the publisher conducted extensive reader outreach to determine what kinds of product extensions might resonate with its audience. Surveys sent to fans found that Eater aficionados would trust the brand to produce quality published books, affordable chef-grade kitchenware, and food and beverage products, according to Karp. These findings will serve as the basis for its product extensions going forward. The specific vehicle of book publishing also suits the Eater brand, as the publisher has covered the national restaurant scene for over a decade, providing it with a backlog of information and ample experience in offering culinary recommendations, said editor-in-chief Stephanie Wu. “The books combine our audience-first strategy with what we really own,” Wu said, “which is our editorial voice, our point of view, and how trustworthy and authoritative we are in the food and restaurant-recommendation space.” How We Cooked at Home During the Pandemic, According to Allrecipes The cookbook will include recipes and editorial blurbs that resemble the experience of perusing the Eater website. It will also provide tips from the chefs themselves, such as the proper way to dress a salad, that aim to empower home cooks to produce restaurant-quality versions of the dishes. Likewise, the travel guides will incorporate flagship Eater components, such as a fixed list of essential restaurants, as well as a QR code that readers can scan to access an up-to-date list of the hottest spots at the moment, according to Wu. The two formats let the Eater team leverage its previous reporting and flex familiar muscles, while the additional editorial insights aim to make the products original enough to warrant their purchase. Vox Media sees brand extensions as core to its business Under Karp, whom Vox Media hired from BuzzFeed Inc. last August, the media company has unveiled a slate of new initiatives designed to translate its fans’ brand affinity into sources of reader revenue. The brand licensing division contains five core lines of business, according to Karp: book publishing, scalable brand licensing, merchandising, collaborations, and badging, such as monetizing awards and reviews. Eater already has two existing brand extensions—a travel series with Hulu called Eater’s Guide to the World, and Eater Wine Club, a monthly subscription box. In addition to its partnership with Abrams, the publisher also has plans to introduce branded kitchenware products in the near future. While the book deal marks the first time Eater will enter the literary space, Vox Media currently has seven publishing deals across its various properties, including a partnership with Scholastic for The Dodo and Simon & Schuster for New York Magazine. It plans to ink at least three more book deals by the first quarter of 2023. “The fact remains that people are still looking for analog experiences in a digital landscape,” Karp said. “Guidebooks and recipe books—they help you focus on the act of eating, which is very analog and allow you to memorialize those moments.”