Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Leigha Huggins. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Leigha, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start big picture – what are some of biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?
I love that more and more creatives are taking the opportunity to self-publish, with the knowledge and accessibility the self-publishing industry now offers. More and more creatives are stepping outside of the standard publishing box, and learning what it takes to climb from the bottom up, rather than just waiting for someone, somewhere to think your story is in their standards “good enough to publish”, I love that the world is changing, creating more opportunities for the underdog (of course if you are willing to learn, and put the work in). Information, knowledge, and examples of others are just one search key away … Making it that much easier to walk into the path of the unknown.
I started this path in 2020 knowing pretty much nothing about the publishing world, except it was near impossible to get picked up by a publisher. It actually was a bit daunting to even want to press forward, but I knew that my heart was connected to my passion, so I decided to dive in head first and just take one small step at a time and learn how to self-publish, rather than submitting blindly with the hope of being noticed, and so far the payoff has been nothing short of incredible. I have achieved more opportunity in the past three years and have published a total of 5 books and 2 journals in that short time, all because I believed in myself, and put in the work to know how to put one foot in front of the other, based off the knowledge of what others have done before me, and with the connection of social media and Kickstarter. So thankful for the self-publishing trend that has allowed this underdog to have a tail wag in the big wide world of publishing.
Leigha, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Honestly, I refer to myself as an accidental author, but that was just a knock of a deeper opportunity calling. I found healing, comfort, a creative outlet, and a passion to cheer others along on the self-publishing journey, as I embarked on my own. I really wanted to create a keepsake for my kiddos, and what I found out was when you go in the direction of dreams there is always a bigger calling waiting for you. I unlocked not only a passion, but a voice that I now love sharing. I believe the messages I bring through authoring my stories helps others give words to emotions maybe they don’t know how to express, or even see a glimpse of a different way of speaking love into and over the world, especially to and through the hearts of our children. It has given me a deeper meaning to life and a purpose to my sensitive nature. I just hope that whomever opens a book of mine is touched, or motivated in some way. I think the world always benefits from love, and I’m blessed to have the opportunity to share my love with far more than my personal reach. I’m just so thankful that I opened the door to possibility, and I’m excited to see where my next 40 years will take me.
How’d you meet your business partner?
I started out solo on my journey of publishing, and through networking and joining an all in author group, I closely became connected to now one of my favorite business partners of all time! Heather Lean and I became fast friends as we were on the same journey all while raising tiny humans of our own. We connected in 2020 during a very unconnected time, and found comfort, motivation and compassion through helping each other with our own solo projects … Until we got the wild idea to not only create a book together but to include as many other creatives as we could as well. It was our way of connecting people during a disconnected time, giving back to the freelance creatives that live off their talents, while creating a timeless piece for as many to enjoy as possible. We truly made the dream team, and I believe I wouldn’t be where I am now without the support and encouragement that we offered each other, life is just better when you have someone to do life with that is on the same page, or in this case in the same book :) Fun fact …We co-authored our book before we even met! But, in 2022 I was finally able to hop on a plane to go meet Heather in person, as we fulfilled our Kickstarter orders. It’s just amazing the connections we can make when we go into action and connect with the right people, even if they live states apart. So thankful for all the working relationships I have made, but of course Heather being my most favorite of all! Looking forward to all the many creative projects we will continue to bring to the world, as we are both getting started, and our littles are becoming bigs, so more time for us motivated mamas to dive into our passions, that truly doesn’t even feel like work … most of the time.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
So, in short it was a lot of work, learning, and self-motivation with the help from an amazing creative launching platform – Kickstarter! I knew self-publishing and printing our first copies of our books was not a cheap task, but after running a successful Kickstarter on my first book: Love Lottery, Heather and I knew it was a great way to rally. We worked hard upfront and raise the funds through the belief in our book, and luckily others agreed and supported us early on our mission allowing us to raise the funds to order our bulk print run. But of course, we spoiled our Kickstarter supporters with all that we could create, and afford, making it a worthwhile support and giveback, creating an ultimate win-win scenario. I’m not sure my self-publishing – which has now opened the doors to bigger possibilities would have happened if it wasn’t for Kickstarter! Thank you, Kickstarter, and thank you for supporting everyday creatives like ourselves that allowed us to put our dreams out there before making a commitment on a huge business expense. I believe we will continue to see more and more incredible success stories from this amazing platform alone! I tip my hat to my fellow creatives, and encourage anyone to follow their dreams. And Kickstarter is an all or nothing platform, so if you don’t make your set goal to reach your amount to create what you are offering then your Kickstarter backers are out nothing, but if you reach your goal, then you just live up to the task of creating and producing what you set out to make, giving your backers a true keepsake and the most amount of gratitude along the way.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.leighahuggins.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leighahugginsauthor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovelotterybook/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leigha-huggins-92b29811/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/LoveLotteryBook
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/Imagine-World-Wonder-Heather-Lean/dp/1737965283/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2UQAV84VHJMMI&keywords=imagine+a+world&qid=1690521693&sprefix=imagine+a+wor%2Caps%2C201&sr=8-3
Image Credits
Kelly Reed photography Amanda maria photography branding by bre