Sara Domville's Salty Days Debuts with 'Our American Dream Cookbook'

Salty Days Media, a new publishing company founded by former America’s Test Kitchen exec Sara Domville, will debut its inaugural title, Our American Dream Cookbook, this fall.

The book, out October 1, is a collaboration with Samuel Adams’ philanthropic program Brewing the American Dream, which supports local food and beverage entrepreneurs across the U.S. with much-needed access to capital, networks, and business coaching. Our American Dream Cookbook highlights 80 of the more than 16,000 small business owners that the program has worked with in the last 16 years.

Salty Days, which is distributed by Simon & Schuster, is a partnership-driven publisher that plans to put out two to three titles per year, per Domville, who serves as CEO and publisher. Each title, Domville explained, will be “produced in collaboration with a major brand in the food and beverage industry.” The company, which she calls “a boutique firm with the benefits of expansive partnerships,” is based in Boston, with operations headquartered at Domville’s home on the South Shore.

“Launching Salty Days Media was driven by my passion for storytelling, the power of books, and the desire to showcase authentic content from across the globe to the diverse, book-loving American audience,” Domville said. She describes the company as book publisher with broader entertainment and ecommerce capabilities, and therefore plans to “produce books, content, TV, video, and ecommerce opportunities”

Before founding Salty Days in August 2023, Domville spent more than two decades in publishing, holding various leadership roles. She was most recently chief revenue officer at America’s Test Kitchen, an experience she said equipped her with “a unique perspective on culinary content, a strong network, and friendship with top culinary brands,” and was formerly president of F+W Media. She also held senior positions at the U.K.-based publishers David and Charles and Egmont.

Alongside Domville, Salty Days has two full-time employees: editorial director Kim Laidlaw and creative director Ali Zeigler. The team also includes a number of freelancers, including photographer Michael Piazza; brand consultant Marta Loeb; food stylist and culinary manager Christine Tobin; recipe developer, taster, and culinary lead Rachel Michael; assistant chef Laura Sui; writer Shirley Fairclough; and e-commerce consultant Tyler Sperry.

Domville calls Our American Dream Cookbook “the ideal inaugural title” for Salty Days and credits Boston Beer Company director of partnerships Jennifer Glanville Love, who oversees Brewing the American Dream, with coming up with the book idea and choosing Salty Days to bring it to life.

“I have never been prouder of any book, as it embodies all that is right with the American Dream,” Domville said. “As a first-generation American, this project felt particularly meaningful, especially since it includes many other first-generation, diverse female entrepreneurs.”

Our American Dream Cookbook will be supported by a robust marketing and publicity campaign. In addition to working with S&S reps, Salty Days plans to partner with Sam Adams reps to collaborate on what Domville calls “beer and book promotions in the grocery channel, or wherever it makes the most sense in the wider specialty markets.” 5WPR, the PR film managing all brands under Boston Beer, is handling publicity for the book, with a focus on national media coverage for the holidays, plus launch events in New York City, Boston, and Cincinnati, among other efforts.

As for the future, Domville teased “several exciting new brand partnerships in the pipeline for 2025, which will be announced in Q4.” She also shared plans to launch the Salty Days Store, an e-commerce platform for food and beverage entrepreneurs launching in August 2025, which Domville hopes will help “enhance discoverability and drive sales for our entrepreneurial partners.”