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13/12/2018

Updates and Back from the Computerless Purgatory

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I have been gone for way too long, but not totally removed from writing related activities. I had two physical book sales, the second one spontaneous, where someone wanted copies of my books.  One buyer promised to do reviews.

Between these sales, I had a giveaway in November for Thanksgiving and Black Friday, where The Long Walk and Wolf Trek were downloaded over 35 times.  I got one favorable review, but I think that reader had purchased the book.  Maybe the giveaway reminded him to review it.  LOL.   I'm not sure that giveaways are the best way to get reviews, so I think it's back to the drawing board.

I have gotten suggestions to submit stories to journals and do interviews, and I think I am going to go that route. 

I also decided to donate all of my Amazon book sales to the HWC chapter strike fund.  I am separating the print sales because I can keep track of the digital sales and am using the book sales for exposure.  Besides, I mostly recover the cost of shipping.  The Amazon sales aren't amazing, but a contribution is a contribution. 

So, I finally got my computer back a little over a week and half ago.  That separation along with the union activism have thrown off my writing schedule.  Last week I was organizing the strike authorization vote for both Faculty and Professionals, and that took most of my free time.  Now, it's final grading time, and I hope to be finished by this Sunday, so I can get back to my projects, some small some large.  Here they are in order:
  • Write an original story for my newsletter subscribers and produce a newsletter.
  • Finish Not Your Abuelita's Folktales.
  • Print and start revising The Harvest.
  • Look for presses to submit my finished manuscript and set a hard deadline to submit query letters.
  • Read new authors and new works.

That is a lot to do in a few weeks, but some of the smaller goals, I hope to accomplish while I am on the road, and my kids are trapped in their seat belts.  I won't be grading on the trip this time, but will finish final grades from home, which will be a different rhythm for me.  I am always trying to maximize my writing time during breaks.

I am wishing all of you a new spirit of writing this holiday season!  I hope you get a lot of work done.


Rest and enjoy this holiday break, but keep writing!  #barrioblues


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    Dr. Jesú Estrada,
    Pen Name: 
    María J. Estrada
    Chicago, IL

    You can also follow me on Twitter @drmariajestrada. I give away a book to celebrate every 1,000 followers.

    Subscribe to my YouTube channel, Radical Books and Politics, where I gift original work to my subscribers, every 50 to 100 subscribers. 

    *********************
    MARIA J. ESTRADA is an English college professor of Composition, Literature, and her favorite, Creative Writing. She grew up in the desert outside of Yuma, Arizona in the real Barrio de Los Locos, a barrio comprised of new Mexican immigrants and first-generation Chicanos. Drawing from this setting and experiences, she writes like a loca every minute she can—all while magically balancing her work and family obligations. She lives in Chicago’s south side with her wonderfully supportive husband, two remarkable children, and two mischievous cats.

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  • Home
  • Mi Biografía
  • Books
  • Un Blog de Writing Musings
  • Author Interviews
    • Eric Allen Yankee
    • Mehreen Ahmed
    • Steve Carr
    • Martin Eastland
    • P.S. Malcolm
    • P.C. Darkcliff
  • Announcements
  • The Harvested Draft
  • Poetry
  • Barrio Blues Press
  • Useful Bits
  • Contact