Hi all!
So first off, Twitter is seemingly dying but I’m staying on until they kick me out. But I’m also on Hive social at @allymalinenko so if you’re there, find me and we can be friends and you won’t miss any of my nonsense.
Also I was thinking of starting a newsletter but I can’t seem to figure out MailChimp because I’m tech-stupid. If I did, would ya’ll sign up? I’ll still blog – thought I haven’t been doing that as frequently as I wanted. Shooting for once a month going forward.
Okay anyway! Now onto the DREAM STUFF! Yesterday School Library put out their Best Books of 2022 and…..
THIS APPEARING HOUSE MADE THE LIST!!!!
First I was floored when it was a Junior Library Guild selection, then the BookPage starred review and now this! Someone pinch me.
We’re expecting a review from SLJ but that’s paused because of the Harper Collins strike which is really important. The strike not the paused review.
Harper Collins 250 union employees have been working without a contract since April. The main thing they are striking for is better wages because the starting salary is not competitive or even livable for New York City. They are also trying to diversify their staff because as you may know publishing is very white. That’s impossible to do if you cannot offer a starting salary that one can live off of.
This strike is important to me. I want the team I work with at Harper Collins to have the respect and support from the administration as they work tirelessly to make my books better.
I’m proud of This Appearing House making the Best of List but I also know it wouldn’t have without the work of my incredible editor, Sara Schonfeld, who deserves a living wage for her talent and her hard work.
Passion doesn’t pay the bills.
If you would like to help (and I would be so happy if you did) they have set up a fund. Workers are NOT paid during the strike. They are on Day 9 today. The holidays are coming up. December rents are coming up. Publishing is big big money and these workers deserve to be compensated
In the meantime….
Peace, love, and starbursts,
Ally
Ally Malinenko 