Biracial Thriller Author
Debut The Serpent Trilogy 2025
Content Ninja | Social Media Maven | Literary & TV Agency Experience | Certification Queen |
Multi-Genre Reader | Mother of 2 | Wife of 1
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I am very excited to announce that my debut novel came out August 6th, 2024. I would love your support if you enjoy thrillers with substance.
About the Book:
In a city shadowed by fear, a ruthless serial killer targets undocumented immigrants, exploiting their invisibility to evade justice. Detective Anaya Nazario faces a daunting challenge: solving a seemingly unsolvable case while battling bureaucratic obstacles and a relentless ticking clock. As she delves deeper into the investigation, Nazario discovers that the recent immigrant deaths may be connected to a haunting cold case: her own father's unsolved murder from 24 years ago.
For those interested in signing up for ARCs for The Serpent Series, feel free to sign up via my Google ARC signup.
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PROFESSIONAL CONTENT DIRECTOR, CREATOR, SENIOR WRITER, & BIPOC THRILLER AUTHOR
Hi, and welcome to my portfolio. My legal name is Sonyo Zofia Gray, but S.Z. Estavillo is my author’s pen name. I’m a professional content director, creator, and writer. My specialty is directing content from concept through completion. I have extensive professional writing experience that marries well with content direction, management, strategy, and social media marketing. The content creation, production process, and utilizing social media for marketing are what I absolutely love to do. I not only direct, write, and create multimedia + social content for companies but also in my free time because it is my passion.
Leadership and communication are my strengths, in addition to working collaboratively with marketing, creative, PR, and sales teams for brand building. I’ve authored hundreds of articles for a wide variety of businesses (news articles, a community magazine, lifestyle & fitness products, baby & feminine hygiene products.) Most recently, I was in charge of all content for a women’s health product that was #1 in the country and a national brand in major retail stores such as Target, Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, Costco, Sam’s Club, BJ’s, and more. I’ve written news articles, blogs, social media posts, programmatic ads, marketing copy, press releases, white papers, LinkedIn business pages, Amazon product business pages, Amazon ads, product packaging inserts, and packaging copy. My digital marketing, branding, and content leadership helped a company boost sales by 25-30%, prompted a lift in email signups by 65%, increased brand awareness by an astonishing 80%, and facilitated in the successful sale of my company for a $110 million.
Aside from being a lover of storytelling and words, I’ve created video content as well, having directed, produced, and edited (via Adobe Premiere) short-form docu-series and marketing reels for companies. My professional volunteer work also includes critiquing long-form manuscripts (novels) for aspiring as well as published authors for a literary agency to improve the story and its salability. I’m proud to have also been a former part-time editor for the Writing Day Workshop, a hub that manages nationwide virtual and in-person writing conferences. The experience has enabled me to participate as an editor at numerous writing conferences. I have critiqued and edited manuscripts from aspiring authors throughout the United States and worked in conjunction with Director Brian Klems, former columnist and editor of Writer’s Digest. I also taught a class on how writers can leverage social media to build their author platform at the Los Angeles Writers Conference this past May 13th, 2023. I also taught the same class to the North Texas Romance Writers (NTRW) July 2024.
Honing my craft as a professional writer and an editor enabled me to use these same copywriting, proofreading, and editing transferrable skills within the marketing digital space, as good content always hinges on a well-crafted story that sells products. One valuable experience I learned when editing aspiring authors’ first chapters of their manuscripts was that compelling storytelling that hooks readers is necessary for all writing, whether it be long-form fiction books or short-form marketing copywriting.
I’m always creating, writing, and, yes, posting on social. As a creative professional and one who has been hired to manage social, I have my own successful personal social media accounts with more than 90,000 authentic followers across multiple platforms to reflect my social media expertise. When I’m not creating multimedia or short-form content for companies, I’m writing long-form manuscripts. As a thriller author, I’ve completed six novels, two of which are getting published and a third in the series is currently being written.
Some of my guilty pleasures are watching true crime shows, eating tons of sushi, and reading a wide variety of genres as a multi-genre reader. I can never get enough of all three.
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PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
As a biracial woman of color, I proudly hold a master’s degree in television, radio, and film, plus the following writing and filmmaking awards: David Twohy award for writing, Carl Foreman award for directing, Best Short Film at the Latina Independent Film Extravaganza, and an honorable mention at the California State University Media Arts Festival for best dramatic screenplay. My publishing credits include numerous news articles, blogs visited by close to 3 million readers, and a robust social media platform with more than 90,000 followers across all platforms.
EDUCATION
Master’s Degree in TV, Radio, & Film
S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University
Bachelor’s of Arts in Film Production
California State University Long Beach
Project Management Certification
Villanova University
Novel Writing Mentorship
UCLA Extension: Mentored by NY Times & USA Today bestselling Author Caroline Leavitt
Udemy Online Learning Certification
• Adobe Experience Manager CMS Basics
LinkedIn Certification(s): Social Media Adverting Professional
• Advertising on LinkedIn
• Advertising on Facebook
• The Most Important Content KPIs For Creators
• Programmatic Advertising Foundations
• Become a Social Media Advertising Specialist
• DevOps Foundations: Lean and Agile
• Marketing With Snapchat
• Advertising on Instagram
• Advertising on Pinterest
• Advertising on YouTube
• Twitter Marketing: Advertising
• Facebook Marketing: Advertising
• Marketing Foundations: Social Media
• SEO Foundations
Meta (Facebook) Blueprint, Certifications of Completion:
Creative Strategy
Creative Strategy
• Build A Conversation with Consumers on Messenger
• Ads, Policies for Content, and Targeting
• Create for the Mobile World
• Creative Planning for For Formats and Placement
• From Business Goal to Creative Strategy
• Reach Audience on Facebook Platforms
• Targeting Lookalike Audiences
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