Auction #30:Manuscript Critique & Phone Call with Agent Michelle Witte
Welcome to KidLit Cares, an online talent auction to benefit the Red Cross relief effort to help communities recover from Superstorm Sandy. Agents, editors, authors, and illustrators have donated various services to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, with donations being made directly to the Red Cross disaster relief fund. You can read more about KidLit Cares here. Now, on to the auction!
Michelle Witte, an agent with Mansion Street Literary Management, is offering a 10-page manuscript critique along with a 20-minute follow-up phone call to talk about the critique and answer your questions about writing & publishing!
From Michelle, an added incentive to bid:
Once bidding hits $250, I’ll up the critique to 30 pages, plus query and synopsis. At $500, I’ll read the full manuscript and give notes on what did/didn’t work. This is all in addition to what’s already listed above.
Sound good? Then get to the bidding.
Opening Bid: $30
Auction Ends: Tuesday, November 13, 2012 at 10pm EST. (Any bids submitted in comments after that time will be void.)
A note about last-minute bidding: If you are used to computerized Ebay auctions that end at an exact, given second, please know that the KidLit Cares auctions don’t work quite that way. Each auction ends when I post the “Auction closed” comment. I do that when my computer turns to 10pm, but because I have multiple auctions to close at that time (also because I am human) it will not be a totally exact thing. (I have been working for years to try and clone myself, but to no avail, and I am particularly bummed about that at the moment. Those cloned Kates would have been great at closing auctions all at once.) At any rate, the winning bid is the high bid before the Auction Closed comment, even if the time on your computer reads slightly after 10:00. Thanks for understanding!
If you’d like to bid on this auction, check the current high bid and place a higher bid by leaving your name and bid amount in the comments, along with some way to contact you (email, FB or Twitter…I’m not fussy.) Winners will be notified when the auction ends and should be prepared to make an online donation to the Red Cross Disaster Relief fund in the amount of the high bid at that time. After you’ve made your donation, you’ll forward your receipt to me, and I’ll put you in touch with the person who donated the service you won so that the two of you can work out the details about how and when. All services will be provided at the convenience of both the person making the donation and the auction winner, but this should happen within three months of the auction’s end unless something else is agreed upon by both parties.
Good luck and thanks for bidding!
I’d like to bid $50.00. This is a great idea! Thanks for giving us a way to help! 🙂
$60 I agree. Great idea! 🙂
Oh, let’s raise it to $100.00! 🙂
$125.00
$130 Thanks
$135 wonderful way to help out those impacted by Sandy! AND a super exciting chance to grow as a writer….Thank you!
$140.00
$150
$165.00
$175
It looks like all the other agents and editors are trying to outdo me, so I’ll toss a few more things in.
Once bidding hits $250, I’ll up the critique to 30 pages, plus query and synopsis. At $500, I’ll read the full manuscript and give notes on what did/didn’t work. This is all in addition to what’s already listed above.
Sound good? Then get to the bidding. 😉
$500.00
$510!
520.00!
$530 🙂
$600
You’re a good opponent, Donna. 🙂 I bid $625
Thanks! You are too! $650
This is a wonderful opportunity. $850.00
$1000
This auction is now closed. The winner is the high bidder whose comment and high bid are posted directly above this “end of auction” notice. If that’s you, please make sure your contact information on that comment is current so that I can touch base in a few minutes to confirm that you won. Then, you’ll use the Red Cross link below to make a donation in the amount of your high bid to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. Please don’t do that until I contact you, just to be sure. If your bid is listed after this notice, you are not the high bidder, as your bid came in after the auction closed. (We still appreciate your support, though!) Here’s the donation link:
https://www.redcross.org/donate/index.jsp?donateStep=2&itemId=prod10002
After you have made your donation, please email me at the following address: k m e s s n e r at kate messner dot com (all lower case, no spaces) with your Red Cross receipt attached. On Monday, I’ll provide you with the information you’ll need to get in touch with the donor of your item and carry out the terms of the auction.
Thank you – again – for your support in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. Your generosity will be a huge help to the Red Cross as the serve the people hurting the most in the storm’s path.
~Kate
Kate sorry but just a question. The description said the auction was over at 10 PM tonight and that last “winning” bid was submitted at 10:56 PM. I think that was after the deadline.
Pete
The time stamp on WordPress is off by an hour – that bid came in at 9:56 EST.
That’s too bad. I wish that was in the rules at the top of the page. I would have stayed around to bid again if I thought it wasn’t over. Thanks for the response.
Pete
The rules (see note on last-minute bidding on the auction page) were as clear as I could make them – but I’m sorry it’s left you feeling frustrated. Auctions do tend to run more smoothly when they’re run by Ebay computers than when imperfect human volunteers are involved. Thanks for participating anyway.