She's Sold 2.5 Million Cookbooks, But You May Not Know Her Name
With her new book Every Salad Ever, Greta Podleski hopes that's about to change.
If you’re Canadian and into cookbooks I figure there’s about zero chance you don’t know who Greta Podleski is. She has published six titles, the first four with her sister, and combined the books have sold 2.5 million copies. That’s an astonishing number, especially considering that Canada has a population about one-eighth that of the US.
Greta’s latest Every Salad Ever (Bookshop/Amazon) was first published in Canada in April 2025, and, also astonishing, it has been on the bestseller list for over a year.
Even more impressively, Every Salad Ever was self-published. Greta was the author, publisher, food stylist, photographer, marketer, publicist, and even the distributor—she struck an exclusive distribution deal with Canada’s national book chain Indigo (think: Barnes & Noble). That means that Every Salad Ever has been a bestseller for over a year in Canada without being on Amazon.
Now, Every Salad Ever (Bookshop/Amazon) has a U.S. publisher: Clarkson Potter. (Yes, it’s available on Amazon in the States.) I had so many questions for Greta, including why she wanted to partner with a bookstore, how Every Salad Ever made it to the U.S., and why she thinks this book has been such a hit. She has a lot of thoughts on the latter question, in particular, and one of them comes down to knowing her audience:
In the recipes I use only mainstream ingredients, nothing too gourmet or fancy. I shop at my two local grocery stores and if they don’t have a certain ingredient, then it doesn’t go in the book.
This reminds me of something my former Real Simple editor Rory Evans said to me once: so many food editors develop recipes for other food editors, not their audience. I think about this—and mention it and try to avoid it!—all the time. I think this is an easy trap to fall into in cookbook writing too.
Thank you for being here Greta and for sharing your story!
The Cookbookery Q&A with Greta Podleski
Tell me how the original version of Every Salad Ever came to be.
GP: All five of my previous books were general, all-purpose cookbooks. I was toying with the idea of a single-themed cookbook and decided that salads were the perfect focus, since I’m a salad fanatic and a bit of a health nut. I ran the idea by friends and their positive responses (OMG yes! Do it! I love salads but I’m in such a rut! I’ll buy 10 copies!) motivated me to move forward. I worked for ten months straight with only two days off to write Every Salad Ever. It almost killed me, but I needed to hit an April launch deadline (just in time for salad season).
I know the book has been a huge success in Canada.
GP: Every Salad Ever was launched in Canada on April 15, 2025 (under my own publishing company, One Spoon Media Inc.) and has remained at the top of the cookbook national bestseller list this entire time. (It dropped to #2 a couple times when other big names launched their new cookbooks, then rebounded back to #1 very quickly. Crazy!) We’re approaching 60 weeks straight on the list. I’m not sure why I say “we” because it’s just me. But I somehow feel I’m not alone in this venture and I include my long-time fans and supporters in my success.
Why did you decide to work exclusively with one bookstore?
GP: I wanted to reduce my workload and stress load (I’m not 35 anymore!) and I don’t have employees, so an exclusive arrangement eased my mind. In exchange for the exclusive rights, Indigo bought a ton of cookbooks, non-returnable. Many people don’t realize books are returnable for a full refund. You could sell 10,000 books to a major retailer, receive payment, and then 6 months later they could send 5,000 books back, sometimes damaged, and expect their money back. It’s the part of book publishing that drives me (and likely most publishers) nuts. But it’s always been that way.
When you approached Indigo, was the team receptive?
GP: Yes, I'm a well-known cookbook author in Canada and each one of my six cookbooks has reached #1 on the national bestseller list. I have dealt with Indigo since the beginning (as well as Amazon, Costco, Walmart), so I had a well-established reputation with them as a successful author. When I approached them about the exclusive distribution arrangement, they were very excited about it.
Why do you think Every Salad Ever has been such a big hit?
GP: The sales success of Every Salad Ever is due to three factors, I think:
1) I promoted it like crazy doing media interviews on launch and for at least 6 months after...plus tons of social media posts;
2) People who bought the book loved it so much that they passionately spread the word to their friends and family and became unofficial unpaid brand ambassadors! I’m not kidding! It’s like I had thousands of free employees across the country hand-selling my book. It was truly wild. Indigo was blowing through cookbooks and initially stores were selling out until the head office realized they needed to double shipment quantities to keep up.
3) The excellence of the book. This is very hard (uncomfortable) to say about my own book, but I truly believe Every Salad Ever is an outstanding, high-quality, user-friendly, practical and beautiful book. There. I said it. LOL. When you’re a one-woman company and you’re both author and publisher, you need to be able to toot your own horn. Toot! Toot!
I always tell new or aspiring cookbook authors that they should absolutely LOVE their book before it’s published. They need to be their book’s #1 fan. Enthusiasm is contagious.
Also, my style is very casual, approachable and friendly. I think you feel that instantly when you open the book and see my choice of fonts and the interior design. When you read the introduction, you see my quirky personality, my love of silly humor and obsession with the TV show Friends. I’m just a “normal” person and readers relate to me, often treating me like their friend or neighbor. Every Salad Ever is not intimidating. Big bold food photos jump out and scream “Pick me! Make me!”
Tell me more about the photography.
GP: I only use natural light and I keep the props simple. The salad is always front-and-center. When readers open to any page, I want them to see the photo and think “Yum! I’m making that!”—not “Oh, I wonder if that linen napkin is from Williams Sonoma.” Potential buyers form an impression of a cookbook very quickly and I believe my style draws people in and makes them want to keep looking. “I can do this. I can make that. I have all those ingredients already.” That’s the reaction I’m hoping for. I set up my garage as a food photography studio because it has a couple big windows and plenty of shelving for my ridiculously large collection of dishes.
How did you go about finding a U.S. publisher for the book?
GP: Within a month of Every Salad Ever’s launch in Canada, I started hearing from Americans who either received my cookbook as a gift from a Canadian relative or knew about it from social media and wanted to buy it. Indigo wouldn’t ship to the US because of tariffs. These inquiries continued all last summer. In August 2025, I contacted agent extraordinaire Sally Ekus, because I once dealt with her mother, Lisa, many years ago. I emailed Sally the bestseller list with my cookbook at #1 and asked if I could please send her a copy of Every Salad Ever “to have a look.” When she received my package, she contacted me immediately and said, “We need to talk!” Sally had a really good sense for which publishers would love my cookbook. We signed a deal with Clarkson Potter in a matter of a couple weeks. Basically, I blinked and we had a deal. After the initial Zoom call with Editorial Director Jennifer Sit, I knew that Clarkson Potter was the best match for me. I’m not used to relinquishing control, so this has been a learning experience!
Tell me about the evolution of the cover from the original to the current US cover.
GP: Clarkson Potter wanted a “big salad” on the cover and chose my recipe called The Iconic Cobb Salad from my Classics chapter. It’s a fully loaded, totally decadent meal-in-a-bowl and I think with the current trend towards “high-protein everything,” it works! I was told the trend in cookbooks is not to have authors pictured on the front cover. This was a decision I didn’t agree with—but it wasn’t a hill I was willing to die on. I personally love seeing the face and personality behind the book. I’m on the back cover though! So, we compromised ☺
For the Canadian edition, because I’m a well-known, established author, I’m pictured on the front cover. I went with a textured, leopard-print book spine to match the shoes I’m wearing (which are made from recycled bottles). Not a typical look for a cookbook, that’s for sure! But it stands out.
What are you most proud of about the book?
GP: I’m most proud that despite an incredibly tight (nearly impossible) timeline to produce the book, I didn’t sacrifice ANYTHING in the way of content, design or quality along the way. I was able to intently focus for 10 months and crank out work like a madwoman. My editor still can’t believe I did it without collapsing. When you’re a perfectionist with a bit of OCD and ADHD mixed in with some ABC/XYZ and tons of passion and enthusiasm, anything is possible!
What would you say to someone who questions why cookbooks still matter in our “digital age”?
GP: Sometimes the online world feels a bit like food chaos, doesn’t it? First it’s cottage-cheese everything, next day it’s Greek yogurt “cheesecake” with Biscoff cookies shoved in it, then it’s fiber-maxxing with fava beans, then it’s whatever Haley Bieber is eating. If I hear the term “viral” one more time I’m going to break out in hives!
A cookbook is slower, calmer, comforting, motivating. The opposite of chaos. Cookbooks are tactile. And they aren’t just a collection of recipes, they’re an experience. It feels good to crack one open and browse for ideas and inspiration while sipping coffee. Cookbooks remind us of our childhood, our mother, our grandma, “the good ol’ days.” Cookbooks teach us to slow down a bit. And that’s a good thing. (Nod to old-school cookbook queen Martha Stewart.)
Finally, as a cookbook author speaking from decades of experience, anyone who’s written and published a cookbook has poured their heart, soul, blood, sweat, tears and usually years and lots of money into creating recipes and sharing stories and ideas meant to inspire others to cook. Authors deserve our support.
What do you find boring in a cookbook?
GP: I’m not sure if this qualifies as “boring,” but one thing that always jumps out at me is poor food photography. And that’s usually due to bad lighting. All the food-styling in the world can’t make a poorly lit pad Thai look good. And I do get tired of seeing the same fonts and layouts repeated over and over.
Anything else you’d like to add about Every Salad Ever?
I think I’m the only author in history to intentionally misspell a word on my book cover.
Every Salad Ever: From Grains to Greens and Pasta to Beans plus Every Salad In Betweens.
Rhymers gotta rhyme!
Interview has been lightly edited. If you purchase a book through one of these links, I may receive a small commission.
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