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Last month, I wrote about a serious lack of motivation after a very crazy and busy September (due to Hurricane Irma and a 2-week vacation). I had recently updated my writing goals for 2017 and was hoping that November would go much better… And guess what, it did!

One of my BIG goals for the end of the year was to finish my memoir book proposal, which I did with one month to spare! That’s right, the Moscow Chica: How Growing Up in Russia and Cuba Made Me an American book proposal has been written and is now safely in the hands of some trusted editor friends. It feels absolutely incredible to have gotten this far with the book, even though I know there is still a ways to go. Right now, my big goal is to get the proposal back from friends and edit it again, before I can get it ready to actually seek agents and a publisher. So stay tuned!

What was published: 

• Holiday Gift Ideas for the Gal Who Can’t Get Enough Rose Gold [Brit+Co]
• 12 Romantic couples-only getaways in Mexico, South America & the Caribbean [MamásLatinas]
• Lose weight while indulging during the holidays with these 9 tips [MamásLatinas]
• How to work out once a week & still lose weight [MamásLatinas]
• 10 Dance moves to try if you want to lose weight [MamásLatinas]
• 10 Latinized dishes for a perfect Thanksgiving Day menu! (RECIPES) [MamásLatinas]
• 5 Latin cranberry cocktails perfect for Thanksgiving (RECIPES) [MamásLatinas]
• 9 Genius tips for preventing a hangover [MamásLatinas]
• How to talk dirty without sounding ridiculous [MamásLatinas]

HipLatina, specifically: 

• Miss Peru Beauty Pageant Contestants Stand Against Femicide at a Time When We Need It Most
• An Epic Evening: Astros Star Carlos Correa Proposes to Girlfriend After World Series Win
• Lin-Manuel Miranda Is Bringing ‘Hamilton’ to Puerto Rico—and Starring In It!
• Univision Introduces Their First Afro-Latina Co-Anchor of a Primetime Newscast— and Twitter Celebrates!
• 15 Gift Ideas for the Men in Your Life
• 10 Things Latinos Who Grew Up in Miami Can Relate To
• It’s “Thanks, Birth Control” Day and Latinas Are Sharing Their Stories
• 16 Gifts That Donate Partial Proceeds to Worthy Causes
• Stop Fetishizing My Anger By Calling Me a “Spicy Latina”
• Selena Gomez Rocks a New Look in First Performance Since Kidney Transplant
• Thousands Joined Lin-Manuel Miranda at the Unity March for Puerto Rico
• 12 Wedding Traditions Feminists Struggle With
• Thank You, Ellen DeGeneres, For Standing up With DREAMers!
• 15 Reasons Latino Millennials Want to Visit Cuba
• I’m Caught in the Middle Between My Immigrant Parents and My Americanized Brother
• Marvel’s ‘Black Panther’ Actor Reveals He Is a DACA Recipient — And Support Pours In!
• Mom Defends Breastfeeding in Public: “Boobs Are Not Sexual”

The other big goal I had for the end of 2017 was to make $2,000 in freelance income a month. Although I didn’t quite get there in October (which I figured I wouldn’t due to the previously mentioned motivation issues), I was pleasantly surprised that I just made it in November. I honestly had no idea I was so close! So to see me back to my earning potential felt GREAT.

How much I wrote: 32,603 words

How much I made: $2025

In terms of my writing, I not only made my financial goals but I also wrote quite a bit. Most of that was for work, of course, but I also spent time working on the memoir. In fact, for my memoir, I wrote 10,341 words. That’s basically 1/3 of my writing productivity for the month of November and that feels SO good. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I can’t even begin to describe how good it feels to get this far on something I have been dreaming about for over six years.

Pitches sent out in November: 6
Pitch rejections: 2
Pitch non-replies: 4
Pitch acceptances: 0
Pitch reply with question: 0

Follow-ups with previous pitches: 3
Pitch rejections: 3

When it came time for pitches for November, I didn’t get very far. But then again, I didn’t really intend to. I basically took a “meh, if I have something really good” approach. Since I was confident that I would fulfill my financial goals just on my current regular work at HipLatina and  MamásLatinas , I only pitched when I *really* wanted to. It’s a strategy that served me well, in term of the time I spent, but I didn’t actually get any acceptances (yet) so I may changed my thinking for the last month of the year.

All in all, I think this has been a great month. I am truly excited to see what the last month of the year will bring. Having my writing goals for the year, along with writing these blog posts, has really taken my career to the next level. That’s not the only thing that’s done it, of course, but I  feel like I am slowly figuring out more and more about my work style, preferences, talents, etc. There’s a long road to go (I hope!) but, well… so far, so good!

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