S. J. (Sam) Taylor

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
3/20

Congrats to all!!!

So. Relatable! My poor characters. 😂😅

There's a meme going round that begins: "Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you..." My challenge to you now, is to imagine how different your life might be if you'd never read them, and share _that_. These are the futures we're robbing from kids every time a book is banned.

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
2/20

'Tis a wonderful time of year to help kids having a rough time feel the love. You can buy gifts for:

Children of incarcerated people: vat.angeltreetool.org/cc0893aa-581...

Foster kids: www.onesimplewish.org

Kids living on Pine Ridge Reservation: www.onespiritokini.org/okini-page/h...

I stand with Authors Against Book Bans and the group’s Open Letter to Our Publishers, about the steps creatives must to see from members of the Publishing industry to protect our freedom to write and readers’ freedom to find the stories and representation they need.

In short, authors need to know that our publishers have our backs. We DO NOT need to be wondering whether publishing executives support the banning of our books or even view us as sex offenders for simply telling our stories.

Authors need concrete assurance (with consistent follow-through!) that our publishers stand in solidarity with us, even and especially if there are government-driven book bans which attempt to silence voices that must be heard.

Authors need to see our publishers taking proactive measures against book banning and even the criminalization of our stories.

In an industry that already operates on a significant power imbalance, authors need to see, from our publishers, acknowledgement of the challenges to get our books into the hands of young readers who yearn for characters like themselves to be represented on the page.

Regardless of the political beliefs of the VP in question, and whether she does in fact support such policies… Marginalized authors are experiencing an increase in book banning and school visit cancellations, as well as online and in-person harassment that reflects Project 2025 ideologies.

It is deeply alarming for authors, editorial staff, educators, and librarians to witness a publishing executive celebrate such an administration.

It calls for those who produce or distribute such books to be imprisoned (including authors and editors). Project 2025 calls for teachers and librarians who stock such books to be prosecuted and registered as sex offenders.

According to Project 2025, such books would automatically be classified as “pornographic.” Project 2025 calls for books featuring queer representation to be outlawed.

Among its policies are calls for an increase in book banning, particularly for books that feature any queer representation.

Trump’s presidency is unequivocally tied to Project 2025, a 900+ page policy playbook whose authors include members of Trump’s previous administration as well as nominees and appointments for his upcoming one.

Given the ties of Project 2025 policies to Trump’s upcoming presidency, Dawson’s response has caused significant and understandable concern among authors, particularly those among the children’s book community.

Muriel Dawson, VP of Marketing at MacKids (the children’s division of Macmillan Publishers, one of the five major traditional publishers in the United States) recently celebrated online the election of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States.

Cont’d letter…

Text to follow…

Posted this to my Instagram yesterday; sharing here now: My open letter in response to the rising concerns of authors as we face the next US presidential administration and the Project 2025 policies tied to it.

I’ll copy the text of the letter below.

Oh no!! Me too 😭 Hope you feel better soon.

It’s time for my ever-growing thread of tax write-offs for authors & illustrators to keep in mind as we head into year-end.
✨ Book-related travel
✨ New computer/equipment
✨ Internet / office space
✨ Paper, office stuff, packaging items, stamps
✨ Software like Word, Scrivener, Canva Pro etc.

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
1/20

Book haul from #NCTE2024!

MG:
- Library Girl by Polly Horvath
- A Song for You & I by K. O’Neill
- Vanya and the Wild Hunt by Sangu Mandanna
- The Storm Singer by Sawat Chadda
- Family Week by Sarah Moon (queer MG!)

YA:
- Giddy Barber Explodes in 11 by Dina Havranek
- Nahia by Emily Jones

25% of kids in the US are Latinx, so here’s your Latinx KidLit starter pack and make sure to read, boost, and support Latinx stories all year long!

go.bsky.app/CGXLiaz

Might actually watch this! 😂😈

Thank you!

I’d love to be added, too!

Fun so far at #ncte2024!

Yesterday I got to sign copies of MADSI THE TRUE. Brought my author copies—this seemed a great opportunity to get them into the hands of teachers and librarians (along with the educators’ guide I’ve created). Brought 20 copies of each; they were gone in 24 minutes.🤯