I had stopped adding to the blog in recent weeks for two reasons. First I was not convinced that anyone was reading it; and second, I thought I had said about as much as I could say about issues related to the book or to current events. But wait! Two people (one being my son) actually asked why I was not contributing weekly installments anymore. Two people! So people are reading it, probably lots of you. You are just quiet and shy. But fear not, the cause will continue.

My effort over the past several weeks has been to try to enlist a commercial publisher since I am aware of the challenges of getting people besides those who already know me to buy and  read the book. I thought I had landed  Waveland Press (the current publisher of Clay Street); but in the end (yesterday) they passed. Too personal, they said. Big risk in the academic market, which is their market niche. I was disappointed but not really surprised. My next–and last ditch–effort in this regard is to send out copies to various publishers who have previously published civil rights books. This time I am including self addressed, postage paid, return envelopes in hopes of getting the book back. If things with the commercial  publishing world continue along the same lines as they have been going, I will be surprised if I get any of them back. But as they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

In the meantime I am continuing to get good exposure and very positive feedback from readers. Last week I gave  an author talk at the National Women’s Democratic Club to an enthusiastic audience of 35 or 40 people and am working on a couple of more gigs. Hard stuff, this book marketing and commercial publishing.

And the blog posts will resume. For one thing I really enjoy writing. What does it really matter if no one is reading? (It turns out, a lot.) And second, I don’t have all that much to do anyway, being semi retired and what not. I will continue to stick to  social justice themes and also begin to include  some of my (famous) stories; and those of you who know me will know what I am talking about. Transforming these from the oral tradition to a written version is a bit tricky. We will see how that goes. In the meantime if you do happen to read this or other blog posts, if you let me know, that will reassure me that it is worth continuing. Just one person makes a difference.