Getting Cozy with Mysteries: Author Interview with Julia Koty

You’ve now published multiple cozy mysteries, but what inspired you to write that first one?
I had been in the children’s market for a number of years struggling to find my niche. I began to cowrite YA dystopian with a friend, and we were having the best time researching the genre, planning the outlines for the 3-book series. It was so much fun. We wrote 1.5 books about a dystopian future that was post pandemic…and then an actual pandemic hit, and we were living it. 

At that point it wasn’t fun anymore. We still keep in touch, but we wanted to write lighter topics. She decided to move to romance, and I chose to move to cozy mystery. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve enjoyed watching every version of a cozy mystery on TV. My absolute favorite is Psych, which helped me to keep my sanity during quarantine.

Are you active with any mystery writers critique groups. If so,  what would you tell others about joining one?
I’ve been writing for about 20 years now, so I now have editors that I work with. But when I first began writing I worked for years to find a critique group that worked for me. Finally, four of us got together, we were all in the same phase of our careers, we were all driven to complete a novel and publish within a year and so with that drive the 4 of us pushed each other, in loving ways, to get better. I would tell writers to keep looking for your people, and keep getting input on your writing and your career that you feel helps and supports you. If it doesn’t, keep moving until you find your people, they’re out there for you!

Do you think writing cozy mysteries are a harder genre to write in than others?
I think every genre has its challenges and its fun parts. I don’t think mysteries are any different. For me I love their episodic nature more than anything and I love coming up with new suspects and new villains for each book.

How do you go about plotting your mystery? 
This is a great question. Because I was switching genres, I had to learn how to create mysteries, so I sat down at the computer and scoured the internet, bought every craft book, and systematically read cozy novels. I wanted to create a plotting workbook for myself because I knew I wanted to create a series, which meant multiple books. Once I refined the workbook, it helped me put out books much faster than I thought I could, which was thrilling. I knew I had to share this with other writers, so I developed a workshop on writing novellas and novels using the workbook. My first step is to focus on the suspects and their relationships with each other and the victims (I like 2 body drops in my books). 

What makes a perfect murder mystery? 

One where there’s a twist and you don’t see the reveal coming! I think that’s why Knives Out was so popular.
 

What’s the best encouragement you’ve had in your writing?
The best encouragement I’ve received in writing is from my friend Heather Kelly who, rightfully so, is a book coach. She talked me down from all the fears I had about publishing and got me to commit to being an indie author. The second-best encouragement came from my first readers and reviewers. Nothing is as thrilling as when someone you don’t know buys your books…and enjoys them.
 
Marketing is the biggest key to getting sales. What is the best marketing source you've used that has produces more sales rather than just clicks?
I would stress building your newsletter list. I use Bookfunnel’s group promotions to do this and have been very successful in building my list. Every book launch I can easily email my list and get the word out which leads to sales. The only cost is the time I spend nurturing my list by emailing them weekly to keep them up to date and sharing free novellas from time to time (before I put the novella for sale).
 
What do you know now about writing you wished you had known sooner?
 Being an author is a long road with many pit-stops. But you are always a writer, always. You’ll eventually come back to it again, maybe in another iteration like I did when I moved from children’s fiction to mystery. Just keep working forward and do things that make you happy and joyful.

What is the best writing advice you’ve received or could give?
 Make your primary job to be HAPPY doing what you do. Have joy in what you are doing, everything else in the business is secondary. The ups and downs of sales and reviews won’t affect you in the same way if you are working to be happy in your life and with your writing.

Are there any other points about writing you would like to add?
The one thing I’ve learned about being a writer is that you really need to know yourself and how your brain processes and creates information. Every single writer is different, it’s your job to find out what works the best for you. No other writer can do that for you, although they can give you tools to try. 

Try writing sprints to discover if you work best early in the morning or late afternoon, that you enjoy binge writing as opposed to daily writing, or you need to hyper focus instead of working multiple projects or tasks. I’ve been doing this a long time and I’m still fine-tuning my process and trying new things to see if they help me work better and enjoy my process more. 

Tell me about your latest book.
My latest book is actually my first nonfiction book: How to Write a Cozy Mystery Step-by-Step: A proven system to create reader-favorite cozies FAST.

Ready to write a cozy mystery but aren’t sure where to start? Are you already writing cozy mysteries but need to streamline your process? This book will walk you step-by-step through writing a cozy mystery, including developing your sleuth, building a cast of supporting characters and identifying a solid suspect list that will keep your readers guessing until the very end.

There’s no guesswork for you, the writer. Inside you’ll discover a solid four-act structure and how it applies to cozies. Natasha breaks down the story into chapters and scenes that will keep the pace and tension high enough to keep readers turning the page.

That's all for today's interview. I've thought about writing a cozy mystery (it's one of my favorite genres to read) and have put together a cast of characters, but that's as far as I've gotten. So that might be a book for me. If you want to learn more about Julia's writing or learn more about writing cozy mysteries, here are some links to get you started.

Author Website: https://www.juliakoty.com/  
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Julia-Koty/e/B08XZX9WMS
Writing workshops: https://www.natashacsass.com/
How to Write Cozy Mysteries book: https://amazon.com/dp/B0BLQF3PK3
Facebook Group for Cozy Mystery Authors:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/cozymysteryclubhouse

And here's a bonus for my readers, leave a comment on this post and we'll pick one reader who'll receive an eBook copy of either How to Write Cozies or her first book in the Mira Michaels Mysteries series, Cats and Catnapping. So do that now. It can be as simple as I want to be in the giveaway. We'll chose a winner next Friday!