Sara Domville has worked on some of the world's most recognizable books—from The Hobbit and Thomas the Tank Engine to bestselling cookbooks—but ask her what makes a book memorable, and she won't start with the recipes.

She'll start with the story.

"I've always been a publisher," she says. "I'm a storyteller."

That philosophy inspired Salty Days Media — no connection to the Salty Days Fish restaurant, apart from being one of Sara’s favorite local haunts — the publishing company she launched after an international career spanning decades, multiple countries, and leadership roles at some of publishing’s biggest names. 

Her first title, Our American Dream, was created in partnership with Samuel Adams’ Brewing the American Dream program and celebrates food and beverage entrepreneurs from across the country. More than a cookbook, it tells the stories of the people behind the recipes — small-business owners who turned an idea, a family tradition or a much-loved dish into something bigger. For Sara, it was the perfect Salty Days project, bringing together food, entrepreneurship and the kind of personal storytelling that has always been at the heart of her work.

This fall has been an especially exciting one for Sara, with the September release of HelloFresh Unboxed: 100+ Recipes for Real Life, a cookbook that brings the meal-kit brand’s approachable recipes from the familiar HelloFresh box to the bookshelf.

The September 15 publication was surrounded by a full slate of launch activities. Authors Kristin Bryan and Michelle Doll Olson kicked things off with a TalkShopLive event featuring special signed copies, followed by a publication-day HelloFresh and Hearst pop-up where 100 cookbooks were included in attendee goody bags.

The celebration continued at the HelloFresh Test Kitchen in New York, bringing together food media, the HelloFresh culinary team, Simon & Schuster and other friends and partners around the book. The festivities also came closer to home, with a Cohasset event on October 17 at Teodora's in collaboration with Buttonwood Books.

And the campaign is continuing well beyond publication. On November 3, Bryan and Olson are scheduled to appear on the TODAY Show with Courtney Laga Roker, cooking the Apple Cider Doughnut recipe from the book. National publicity, podcasts, bookstore appearances and additional events are also part of the fall campaign.

For Sara, who has built a career around finding compelling ways to tell stories about food, HelloFresh Unboxed represents another opportunity to translate a beloved food brand into something people can hold, cook from and return to—bringing together many of the things that have defined her career: food, storytelling and the pleasure of sharing both with others.

For Sara, that's what readers remember.

She recalls visiting OXO headquarters, where an artful display of hundreds of gloves lined the wall. There, she learned that founder Sam Farber was inspired to create OXO after seeing his wife struggle with a vegetable peeler because of arthritis. His solution became Good Grips — kitchen tools designed to be easier and more comfortable for everyone.

"That's the story I want to tell," Sara says. "It gives you an emotional connection."

Growing up in England, Sara began her career in publishing at Penguin, then quickly rose through some of the United Kingdom's most respected publishing houses, working on everything from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings to Thomas the Tank Engine, Winnie the Pooh, and countless other beloved titles.

Her career eventually brought her to the United States, where she became president of F+W Media before joining America's Test Kitchen as Chief Revenue Officer. There, she helped grow the company's publishing business and launched America's Test Kitchen Kids, including The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs, which has sold more than a million copies.

When it came time to relocate to Massachusetts, Sara didn't know much about Cohasset. But after seeing the ocean from Black Rock Beach and strolling through the village, she knew she had found home.

"It feels a little bit like England," she says. "I missed the ocean."

Today, she's embraced life in town. She sings with the South Shore Choral Society, has volunteered with the Cohasset Public Schools Art Boosters, and enjoys meeting neighbors on the beach and around town. She is still proudly parenting her four, now-grown, sons. 

"I'm a very community-centric kind of person," she says. "I love meeting people."

While Sara's publishing career has taken her around the world, her newest chapter is being written right here in Cohasset.

That chapter is also extending beyond books. Alongside Salty Days Media, Sara serves as Brand Director for Pepper, a fast-growing social cooking platform connecting more than three million home cooks. In the role, she works with food and kitchen brands on partnerships, campaigns and new ways to connect with Pepper's highly engaged cooking community.

Even closer to home, Sara has recently begun working with Rosangela Teodoro at Teodora's Boucherie Gourmande in Cohasset, helping develop new customer-facing ideas for the business. One of the first will be Teodora's Supper Club, a new offering designed to make planning and cooking great meals at home easier while creating an even stronger connection between the shop and the local community.

And there is another new chapter ahead. In 2027, Salty Days will move into children’s publishing with Seven Hills Meadow, a new series of picture books centered around a charming community of woodland animals, beginning with Skip’s Surprise. 

The project has a particularly personal connection for Sara: the stories are rooted in Cincinnati, where she first lived after moving to the United States from the UK — bringing her publishing journey, in some ways, full circle.

Through Salty Days, she’s doing what she has always loved most: finding great stories and bringing people together around them.

After all, recipes may bring us to the table—but it’s the stories behind them that keep us coming back.