Jason Clampet’s Dirty Cookbook is a now finalist in Media Predict’s Project Publish contest with Touchstone Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc. We checked in with Jason for a quick e-mail interview.

OK … for starters, tell us the story of what you’ve gone through to try to get your book into print.

Up until my participation in Project Publish, I was taking a very traditional path towards publishing the novel. Over the last few years I had worked with Melissa Chinchillo at Fletcher & Parry to sell a children’s book to Hyperion, as well as on a separate YA project. When I had the Dirty Cookbook idea, I went to her first, chatted about the idea, and then began writing chapters.

Dirty Cookbook has such a catchy hook – guys who learn how to cook to win over women. You can instantly see how this could be a fun read. When did you first think of that basic idea?

In 2006 I was involved in a partnership to create a community website about food. There were five of us and we spent much of our time in kitchens in L.A. and London, pulling together recipes and cooking for one another. The prep and cooking time before each meal was a lot like the Mother’s Day scene in the online excerpt: trash talking, teasing – basically the same boasting and challenging you get on a basketball court or soccer field, but with knives.

The partnership went bad, and I retreated into a bit of a funk. Fortunately, though, my wife and I were living in Paris at the time, and we went for a run every morning that took us past at least one large market. During one of these runs a few days later, my wife told me to snap out of it and suggested that I should write about the positive aspects of the experience. I said that I would if she’d run back and buy some pork chops we just saw. She did, and I took the elements of the partnership that I loved – the camaraderie and friendships – and mixed them with a love story.

With such a good hook, have you had any interest from film companies?

I’ve always thought of this as a novel first, and I haven’t pursued writing or pitching a screen version. That doesn’t mean, though, that I don’t think there’s a place for the characters and their stories on TV or at the theater. With the exception of buddy-cop flicks, I don’t see many solid friendships between men at the movies, and on TV you have to watch a football game to see guys express any real camaraderie.

Do you know anyone who’s had luck with the technique? Have you tried it?

Friends of mine have been much luckier than I have been. For instance, I was friends with a guy in college who dropped out sophomore year and went to cooking school. He would periodically reappear on Friday nights and open a trunk filled with groceries and a plan to make something simple yet flashy – at least to a bunch of Missouri college kids like us. A handful of the guys, myself included, would get drafted as prep cooks and we’d end up with food for one or two dozen people – mainly women who were amazed that he knew which end of a frying pan to hold. His success in the kitchen and with our fellow co-eds inspired a generation of young Midwestern farm boys to learn how to flambé.

Would you do anything to improve the book business? Are the best books making it before audiences?

As a book buyer, I have to say I never have a problem finding a great book to read. When I was a kid there were only three options for finding stuff to read: the tiny Waldenbooks at the mall, the comic book shop in the strip mall, and the library. Now I can buy books at a smart, independent books shops; a super-store like Borders; online at Amazon, Abe or Audible; or, if the book isn’t out in the US yet, use a foreign online site like Amazon.co.uk. And the library is still there, too.

That’s my long way of saying that I think book buyers are pretty lucky right now.

The publishing industry, like any business that deals with media, may be having a tough time evolving to meet the demands of the web, but unlike the record companies, book publishers aren’t turning their customers into enemies. A number of large and small publishers are experimenting with ways to use the web to reach readers, and it’ll be fun to see what technologies and opportunities arise out of this experimentation.

Outside of Dirty Cookbook, what other books and projects are you working on?

Papi’s Bodega, a children’s book I co-wrote with my wife, is being published by Hyperion next fall, and we’re also working on a series for young adults. I also write and edit travel stories at my wonderful day job as online editor of Frommers.com.

Are you surprised to be on Media Predict? We doubt six months ago you were planning to be a heavy-weight on a “fantasy-money prediction market for media content.” What made you decide to get on board?

My agent brought the idea to me. I didn’t need much convincing: I work online and I think it’s a great way to spread the word, get feedback, and bring people together who have similar interests.