Finding the Balance Between Writing and Marketing: Author Interview with Heather Huffman

Heather Huffman writes cozy mysteries, romance, and women's fiction. She is not afraid to include the topics  of poverty, empowering women, and fighting human trafficking in her stories. She also walks the talk and supports charities that fight poverty and human trafficking.  Read on to learn her writing journey.

What inspired you to write your first novel?
I’ve always loved to write, ever since I was a child. At one time, my closet was filled with notebooks that were my early books. My first published novel was Throwaway. Like so many of my books, that one came to me in a dream. I dreamed a scene–it was like watching a scene from a movie. In it, a prostitute and a cop were sitting in a greasy spoon diner having a conversation. I woke up and instantly knew I wanted to write their story. I spent weeks thinking about them, who they were, what their backstory was, and how they came to be in that diner. The more I researched, the more things fell into place.

You write contemporary romance, romantic suspense, women's fiction, and cozy mysteries. What storyline is easiest to write for you? 
Each genre has something that’s easier about it and each comes with its own set of challenges. With my romances and women’s fiction, I was always a “pantser” –I’d fly by the seat of my pants as I wrote. My mysteries have to be plotted out a bit more than that; there are too many loose ends to lose track of otherwise. With my straight-up romances, I think the hardest thing is to put believable conflict in that isn’t just drama for the sake of drama, if that makes sense. I hate reading a book and thinking “Oh, just grow up and talk to each other already!” When I write romance, I tend to fly through the first half, get bogged down in the murky middle, and then things fall into place in my mind and the end moves quickly for me.

For the mysteries, they move slowly while I’m still puzzling things out. I tend to creep through those first five chapters, getting to know the story and who my lineup of suspects is. I spend so much time researching and thinking about those books. Once I have the puzzle pieces in place, it moves much faster. I also know about how many chapters I want them to be. I know what needs to happen in the first couple and last couple of chapters. I know what side stories I have going on. So, before I write, I create an outline of what needs to be addressed in each chapter. That helps me stand back and look at the pacing and side stories and whatnot to be sure it all works.

Your books are independently published. Did you do the formatting and cover design, or did you hire others? What’s the hardest part for you in publishing and marketing your own books?
I started out wanting to be published by one of the big houses. For about six months, I submitted my books and met with agents and had a lot of promising leads that never quite went anywhere. Finally, an agent from a respected agency told me “I love your writing, but I can’t sell this book.” She went on to say that my books were too much of a paradox for her to be able to market them well – awful things happened to my main character in Jailbird, but the story is actually warm and funny. So, I independently published the first four books that I had written (through Smashwords, at the time.)

Then I was picked up by a mid-sized publisher out of Seattle. They republished those first four books under their banner and went on to publish the next seven or eight books that I wrote. There was a lot I loved about that publisher, but I found the benefits didn’t outweigh the cost: my freedom.

I reclaimed the rights to my first twelve novels in 2016. My career took a bit of a hiatus after that because life pulled me in so many other directions. When I got serious about my writing again in 2021, there was no question for me that I wanted to stay indie. I love the pacing and the creative control. I enjoy the process of publishing a book every bit as much as the writing of it.

I do have a team I work with. Shari at Madhat Studios does my covers (and I adore her). I work with Wing Family Editing to edit most of my books, though I am lucky to have a lot of great editors and proofreaders in my friends and family circle, so sometimes I ask them for help if my usual editor is booked. A friend of mine runs a small publishing company and helps lay out the book interiors for me, though I’m looking to bring that in-house this year.

I worked for a publisher for a while as well, so I live and breathe books. I love them. I suppose the hardest part of the process for me is not always having a second opinion—or perhaps balancing things. I feel like I could spend 40 hours a week writing and not keep up with the stories in my mind. I could also spend 40 hours a week marketing. Finding a balance between the two—while still having a semblance of a life—is tough.

What is the hardest part of writing for you? 
I think the hardest part depends on the genre, but universally it would have to be starting. Once I get that first sentence out, I’m usually pretty good to go. If I get stuck beyond that, it’s always in the middle. That’s about when I start to question everything I’ve ever written.

What’s the best encouragement you’ve had in your writing?
There have been so many wonderful moments along this journey. Seeing Jailbird, the book I was told would never sell, at the top of the Amazon charts in between Hunger Games and Mockingjay was a particular highlight. Watching the Nora Jones Mysteries take off has been incredibly gratifying. (When my sister called me to compliment that series, I knew I was on to something—she’s never done that before!) But more often than not, the best encouragement comes from my readers. It never fails that about the time I think I’m crazy to do this for a living, I get an email from a reader telling me what one of my books meant to them and it keeps me going.

You have a book series about human trafficking. What made you decide to delve into this topic? How have the books been received?
When I was doing my research for that first novel, Throwaway, I stumbled across human trafficking. That was more than a decade ago, before people were really aware it was going on. The more I learned, the more appalled I was. I knew I wanted to do something about it. I went to a conference in mid-Missouri to learn more and the keynote speaker said something about “Maybe one of you sitting here in the audience will be the voice for those who have no voice,” and I knew I wanted to use the books I was writing to give these people a voice.

Throwaway wound up becoming a 12-novel series, The Throwaways. Most of the books can stand alone, all of the stories intertwine in a shared universe, though. Some deal with human trafficking and some don’t. So much of what touched on trafficking in Throwaway I found through my own research. But after those first four were released, a reader contacted me to say her grandmother ran a nonprofit that was at the front lines of the fight. She put us in touch, and I began working with Project Liberty to raise money and awareness. In turn, she put me in touch with their lead investigator, who shared with me stories of children and women they’d recovered through the years. Those stories were woven into my books to raise awareness, especially Devil in Disguise.

There are some people who can’t stand The Throwaways because they aren’t dark and gritty. I’ve been dinged on reviews saying Throwaway is too unrealistic and could never happen. But I’ve also received emails from trafficking victims who said my books made them feel seen. I was told that Devil in Disguise was sitting on the desks of one of our country’s first human trafficking units to remind the officers there were people behind the statistics. Grandmothers and parents have said they watch their children more closely now.

I’m honestly humbled and grateful for the reception those books got. They changed my life.

What do you know now about writing you wished you had known sooner?
Oh, gosh. That’s a good question. I mean, I do believe I’ve gotten better at my craft through the years. But so much of that growth there is no shortcut for—just lots of words on page. I suppose the hardest thing for me to learn was to balance the feedback with being true to my stories. 

The agent all those years ago wasn’t wrong: There are rules to genres, toss them out at your peril. But if I’d worried too much about the rules, I wouldn’t have written the books I know I was meant to write. That said… there are rules to genres, toss them out at your peril. It’s a balancing act, giving readers what they expect without getting so hung up on those rules that you lose all the magic in the creating.

What is the best writing advice you’ve received or could give?
Write—and keep writing. The book won’t manifest itself; you have to put the work in to write, even if you don’t feel like it. Make yourself sit down, turn the wifi off on your laptop, and put words on a page for a set amount of time every day. (I do give myself Sundays off.) Even if they’re terrible words. Editing is easier than starting from scratch.

If you don’t take your writing seriously and prioritize it, nobody else will. I spent too many years letting everything else take priority and my books kept getting pushed back to “someday”. It took getting a serious case of Covid to make me reevaluate those priorities.

Are there any other points about writing you would like to add?
Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed by all of the advice. Just keep chipping away at the marketing stuff and getting ever-better at the craft of writing. And don’t forget to enjoy it!

Tell me about your latest release. Can you give me a short synopsis?
My most recent release is Gator in the Gallery, the third installment of the Nora Jones Mysteries. These books are lighthearted, fun escapes set in St. Augustine, Florida. They’re full of endearing characters, intriguing mysteries, and a dash of romance. In this third book, one of Nora’s friends finds a live alligator in her art gallery! Fortunately, she’s got a group of friends who love sticking their noses where they don’t belong, and the crew sets out to help her solve the mystery.

I have a handful of books planned for this year—a sequel to my women’s fiction novel, the next two books in my Lakeport Romance series, more Nora Jones, and a spinoff or two from Nora Jones’ world!

That's all for today's interview. If you'd like to learn more about Heather's books, here are some links to get you started. 
Website: https://www.heatherhuffman.com/
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/heather-huffman
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathers_mark/
Body in the Books (free!): https://dl.bookfunnel.com/wcasr8b18u