I'm excited to announce that I wrote a book about raising turkeys! "An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Raising Backyard Turkeys: Varieties, Feeding, Shelter, Care" by yours truly, Stacy Benjamin, is available for pre-order now at online book retailers, with a release date of January 7, 2025. In the book I share my experiences raising heritage Narragansett turkeys over the past nine years, as well as providing lots of tips to help you navigate life with these big, beautiful, charismatic birds. You'll learn about the differences between heritage and broad-breasted turkeys, and how to pick the one that's right for you. There are chapters on how to set up a brooder and caring for poults (baby turkeys), feeding, housing, flock dynamics, things to know about keeping turkeys with chickens, raising the next generation by letting broody turkeys hatch eggs, and seasonal care considerations. Each chapter features a personal anecdote to give you additional insight into life with turkeys and some fun examples of what you can expect when raising these larger than life personalities! My goal in writing the book was to give you all the information that you need to be successful raising heritage or broad-breasted turkeys in a small farm or homestead setting.
Writing the book was a lot of work but also really enjoyable. I thought it would be fun to give you a behind the scenes look into the process - from how it all started, through the photo shoots, editing and book layout along with a sneak peek! I've been blogging about our farm life for many years, and it had occurred to me that writing a book about turkeys would be something that I would like to do, but I had no idea how to go about making it happen. On my instagram account @5Rfarmoregon I share regularly about all the fun I have with turkeys, and I host the #TurkeySnoodSunday hashtag where I invite people to share their turkeys with me. Imagine my surprise when I received an email from an editor at Storey Publishing saying that she enjoyed my Instagram content, and asking if I would be interested in talking about writing a book about turkeys! We spoke on the phone that same day, and within a week I had submitted a proposal with my book idea along with some writing samples from my blog and articles I had published in Backyard Poultry magazine. My proposal was accepted, and I signed a contract in August 2022 to provide a 35,000 word how-to guide on raising turkeys on a small scale.
Woohoo! Now it was time to get to work! I had prepared a table of contents with chapter topics and detailed subheadings in the book proposal, and I tackled the writing a few hours at a time just as if I was writing a magazine article one topic at a time. I wrote a chapter each month, and I turned in the manuscript in March 2023. Then began a several month period of editing where I addressed questions and comments from the editor, and I re-read the entire manuscript after each round of edits. The publisher hired a professional photographer, who came to the farm several times in June and July 2023 to take photos of our set-up and turkey behaviors, get beauty shots for the chapter dividers, as well as a long list of photos that I had prepared to go along with the topics discussed in the manuscript. The publisher wanted photos of baby turkeys, and I was only too happy to oblige! I had two momma turkeys that summer which provided lots of adorable photo opportunites, and of course my main tom turkey Ringo who loves to pose for the camera was thrilled to get his photo taken dozens of times! The photographer also took some fun photos of Ringo and I, which I especially treasure because I hardly have any good photos of us that aren't selfies!
After each photo shoot, the photographer sent a set of proofs, and I categorized and assigned key words to the photos so that the publishing staff knew what each photo was intended to show. I made recommendations about which photos to use in the book, as well as where they should go in the text, and I also wrote most of the photo captions. The photos and captions took a lot more time than I had anticipated, but since they are so helpful to illustrate the topics discussed in the book and I wanted everything to be just right, I didn't mind the extra work. Since the photographer wasn't always here to capture those picture perfect moments, and I am constantly taking photos of my turkeys, I submitted many of my own photos for consideration for the book, and I was excited to have 35 of my photos included in the book.
The editing and photo selection were completed in August 2023. The next step in the process was for the book designer and art director to prepare the book layout by designing the overall look of the book, determining how the photos fit in with the text, picking fonts, chapter divider photos, and I'm sure many more things that I was blissfully unaware of. The book layout was complete in December 2023, and this was the first time I got to see a PDF of the entire book minus the cover. For the next few months there wasn't much for me to do other than answer a few questions and provide a few more photos and captions. Then it was time for the front and back cover design, and getting book endorsements to include on the cover. The final book layout and cover design were finished in June 2024, and now the book is off to the printer. By November 2024, I should have an advanced copy to hold in my hands! The book will be officaly released on January 7, 2025.
Heritage turkeys make a beautiful and rewarding addition to your homestead. If you are thinking about adding turkeys to your flock, this book will give you all the information you need to get started, and it also has lots of helpful information for existing turkey owners too. I'll be sharing more sneak peaks, book reviews, and some fun collaborations on my Instagram account in the coming months, so be sure to follow me @5Rfarmoregon for more turkey fun! In other exciting news, I have a new T-shirt design available now. Get your "Farm Life, Best Life" shirt on my shop page while they last!
