KidLit Cares: Full Manuscript Critique & Phone Call with Author Jen Cervantes

Welcome to KidLit Cares, an online talent auction to benefit the Red Cross relief effort to help communities recover from Hurricane Harvey and related flooding. 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!

Full manuscript critique from author Jen Cervantes, with 30-minute phone consult.

Jen Cervantes is the award winning MG author of TORTILLA SUN, and the forthcoming STORM RUNNER with Disney-Hyperion/ Rick Riordan Presents. In her previous life she taught children’s literature, and served as executive director for a community foundation. Jen’s an avid reader of ALL books, a champion of the underdog, an advocate of more POC in fiction, and a believer in magic. But only if you’re willing to listen to the universe.

Opening bid: $50

Auction ends: Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at 8pm EST.

Any bids submitted in comments after that time will be void. (Please note: bidding at the last second isn’t a good idea. Websites get overloaded & there’s always a chance that your bid might not post on time. So please bid your best offer with plenty of time to spare.)

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 Hurricane Harvey 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!

KidLit Cares: Skype visit & Signed Books from Author Coert Voorhees

Welcome to KidLit Cares, an online talent auction to benefit the Red Cross relief effort to help communities recover from Hurricane Harvey and related flooding. 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!

Coert Voorhees, Houston-based author of YA novels including THE BROTHERS TORRES, is offering a 30-minute Skype visit for your school, library, or book club, along with 5 signed copies of his soon-to-be-released novel ON THE FREE. Date & time to be mutually agreed upon when the auction ends.

Coert is the author of the novels ON THE FREE (Forthcoming 2017), IN TOO DEEP (2013 Junior Library Guild Selection), LUCKY FOOLS (2012 Junior Library Guild Selection), and THE BROTHERS TORRES (2009 ALA Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults). He holds an MFA in Fiction from the University of Houston, and he lives with his family in Houston. www.coertvoorhees.com.

Opening bid: $30

Auction ends: Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at 8pm EST.

Any bids submitted in comments after that time will be void. (Please note: bidding at the last second isn’t a good idea. Websites get overloaded & there’s always a chance that your bid might not post on time. So please bid your best offer with plenty of time to spare.)

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 Hurricane Harvey 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!

KidLit Cares: Skype Visit & Signed Book from Author Crissa-Jean Chappell

Welcome to KidLit Cares, an online talent auction to benefit the Red Cross relief effort to help communities recover from Hurricane Harvey and related flooding. 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!

YA author Crissa-Jean Chappell is offering a signed hardcover of her new YA novel, Snowbirds (Simon Pulse, 2017, along with a 30-minute Skype visit.

Crissa-Jean was born in Miami and now lives in Brooklyn, New York. Her debut young adult novel, TOTAL CONSTANT ORDER (HarperTeen) is a NYPL Book For The Teen Age and a VOYA Perfect Ten. Chappell’s second novel, NARC (Flux Books) is currently optioned for film. MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH (Flux Books) is a Florida Book Awards medalist, which Kirkus calls, “compelling and emotionally nuanced.” Chappell’s newest YA novel is SNOWBIRDS (Simon Pulse, 2017).

Opening bid: $30

Auction ends: Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at 8pm EST.

Any bids submitted in comments after that time will be void. (Please note: bidding at the last second isn’t a good idea. Websites get overloaded & there’s always a chance that your bid might not post on time. So please bid your best offer with plenty of time to spare.)

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 Hurricane Harvey 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!

KidLit Cares: Free Pass to the Chronicle Books Editorial Meeting & Tag-team Picture Book Critique

Welcome to KidLit Cares, an online talent auction to benefit the Red Cross relief effort to help communities recover from Hurricane Harvey and related flooding. 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!

Chronicle Books editor Melissa Manlove & author Kate Messner are offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for an aspiring picture book author — a FREE PASS to the Chronicle Books Editorial Meeting, along with a tag-team picture book critique before your book goes to the meeting. Here’s how it will work…

The winner of this auction will receive a picture book critique with author Kate Messner. After you’ve had a chance to revise based on her comments, you’ll send it along to Chronicle Books editor Melissa Manlove, who will offer further guidance. After you’ve had a chance to revise again, Melissa will take your manuscript to the Chronicle Books Children’s Editorial Meeting, where potential acquisitions are discussed. If one of the editors is excited about it, great! If not, Melissa will share the group’s thoughts and feedback with you so that you can revise again if you’d like, and submit the project elsewhere.

Note from Kate: Melissa is my editor at Chronicle. She is kind, funny, and smart as the day is long. This is a truly amazing opportunity.

Opening bid: $50

Auction ends: Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at 8pm EST.

Any bids submitted in comments after that time will be void. (Please note: bidding at the last second isn’t a good idea. Websites get overloaded & there’s always a chance that your bid might not post on time. So please bid your best offer with plenty of time to spare.)

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 Hurricane Harvey 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!

KidLit Cares: Skype Gift Package from Author Brooks Benjamin

Welcome to KidLit Cares, an online talent auction to benefit the Red Cross relief effort to help communities recover from Hurricane Harvey and related flooding. 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!

 

Author Brooks Benjamin is offering a school Skype gift package which includes a 30-minute Skype visit with the winning class, a set of five signed copies of My Seventh-Grade Life in Tights, plus a character in his next book named after one lucky student!

Brooks Benjamin lives in Tennessee where he teaches, writes, reads, and continues his search for the most perfect slice of veggie pizza.

 

Opening bid: $30

Auction ends: Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at 8pm EST.

Any bids submitted in comments after that time will be void. (Please note: bidding at the last second isn’t a good idea. Websites get overloaded & there’s always a chance that your bid might not post on time. So please bid your best offer with plenty of time to spare.)

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 Hurricane Harvey 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!

KidLit Cares: 50-page Manuscript Critique from Author Nova Ren Suma

Welcome to KidLit Cares, an online talent auction to benefit the Red Cross relief effort to help communities recover from Hurricane Harvey and related flooding. 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!

Author Nova Ren SumaNova is offering a detailed critique of the opening chapters (up to 50 pages, double-spaced) of your YA or MG novel.

Nova is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling YA novel The Walls Around Us as well as the YA novels Imaginary Girls and 17 & Gone and the middle-grade novel Dani Noir. She is on faculty in the Writing for Children & Young Adults MFA program at Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Opening bid: $50

Auction ends: Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at 8pm EST.

Any bids submitted in comments after that time will be void. (Please note: bidding at the last second isn’t a good idea. Websites get overloaded & there’s always a chance that your bid might not post on time. So please bid your best offer with plenty of time to spare.)

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 Hurricane Harvey 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!

KidLit Cares: Hurricane Harvey Relief Effort

Watching the heartbreaking news out of Texas the morning and thinking of friends & readers in the path of Hurricane Harvey. I’m also thinking that it’s time to bring back KidLit Cares to help raise much-needed funds for the relief effort.
Photo credit: Houston Chronicle: http://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/explainer/article/The-trouble-with-living-in-a-swamp-Houston-7954514.php

Five years ago, our children’s literature community raised over $35,000 for Superstorm Sandy relief efforts. Today and in the weeks to come, the Red Cross will be serving thousands of families displaced by Hurricane Harvey and related flooding. Those families include so many kids who read our books. Let’s do what we can to help out, okay?Author-publisher-editor-agent and other bookish friends… If you’d like to donate a manuscript critique and/or skip-the-slush-pile pass, an author visit, a Skype visit with a collection of signed books, or another relatively big-ticket item for an online auction fundraiser for the Red Cross, please email kidlitcaresharvey at gmail  dot  com with the following information:

1. Your name and a very brief bio.

2. A jpg of you OR your most recent book

3. A detailed description of your donation (see examples of how to write it here: http://www.katemessner.com/kid-lit-cares-superstorm-sandy-relief-effort/) Full manuscript critiques, special access to agents/editors, special consultation packages, and in-person or Skype author visits with signed books brought our largest donations last time. In the interest of keeping the auction manageable, I’d like to stick to those kinds of items, rather than single signed book donations. Thanks!

4. A minimum opening bid, if you feel strongly about it – if not, I’ll set this based on past experience for similar items.

UPDATE:  Donations have come in faster than I can even read the emails. I need to wind down with accepting them at this point so that we can actually get the 100+ auction items listed. If you still want to donate a full manuscript critique, agent-editor crit or access, original art, or other high ticket item, please email by 3pm EST on Monday 8/28. Thanks!

The auction will run over the next week or so – after it ends, I’ll send an email connecting you with the person who won your item, and you’ll take it from there. Feel free to email with any questions!

Dear Grace: Climbing Dix Mountain on August 14, 2017

Dear Grace,*

While lots of people hike the Dix Range in a day, my hiking partner and I decided we’d rather split it up into a few different hikes. Grace Peak was one of our last hikes of 2015 – and one of our toughest when it came to following a herd path covered in leaves and a bit of fresh show. Last year, we climbed Macomb, South Dix, and Hough from the Elk Lake trailhead, but we left the tallest of the range, Dix, for another day. So last Monday, we set out from the Round Pond trailhead off Route 73 to tackle our final climb in the Dix Mountain Wilderness.

The first part of the hike was an uphill but fairly gentle hike to Round Pond, which was stunning in the morning light.

After Round Pond, things leveled out for a long time, and while it was really nice to be hiking on soft, level ground for miles, it was tough not to think about how much we’d pay for that when we finally started the part of the hike with real elevation gain. Most of it happens in the last mile and a half, right after this slide.

After ascending the slide just a bit – maybe a couple hundred feet – you’ll spot a cairn that shows the trail back into the woods.

And this is where the real climbing begins.

The last mile and a half of this hike is steep, but it was comparable to other tough miles we’ve done – the col between Giant and Rocky Peak Ridge, the col between Colvin and Blake, the last miles of Allen and Colden, from Avalanche Lake. Also, there are two kinds of steep in the Adirondacks. There’s “Holy Moses, how are we going to climb up that cliff without dying” steep and “Wow, this is making me super tired” steep. This last mile of Dix was the latter, so it wasn’t all that bad, and about an hour later, we arrived huffing and puffing at the summit, where we were greeted by a circling raven and spectacular 360-degree views.

Elk Lake from the summit of Dix…

Hiking the ridge line on our way down felt like climbing along the edge of the world.

On the hike down, there were more lovely views – a view from the slide, a look back at the mountain in the afternoon sun, and a friendly frog in a pool not far from the slide.

By the time we made it back to our car in the parking area near the trailhead, we’d put in 14.4 miles in just about nine hours, including an hour-long lunch and photography break on the summit. This is for sure a hike I’d do again once my 46 are complete, if not before. I’ll bet that view from the summit is even more spectacular in autumn.

Good climbing,

~Kate

 

* The Grace of “Dear Grace” is Grace Hudowalski, the first woman to climb all 46 high peaks. She was a founding member of the Adirondack 46ers, the group’s 1st president, and later on, its secretary and historian, roles she filled until she died in 2004. It used to be that if you wanted to be a 46er, you had to log each climb by writing a handwritten letter to Grace. And Grace would write back. She answered thousands and thousands of letters, with encouraging words and sometimes, her own reflections on a climb, too.  Today, the 46er application process is simplified; one only needs to keep simple climb records on a club form that can be downloaded. There’s an online correspondent program now, too, and while I like my correspondent a whole lot, I still wish I’d had the chance to climb these mountains and write paper letters about them when Grace was around to read them. I love her story and her strength and the way she urged others to get outside and explore and tell their stories. So I’ve decided to write the letters anyway. I think Grace would have liked that.

Dear Grace: Climbing Colvin & Blake on 8.1.17

Dear Grace,*

This wasn’t technically our first climb of the 2017-2018 hiking season, but it was the first that added to my list of High Peaks. Last week, we hiked Esther as a warm-up mountain (side note: Kate of just a few years ago would have had a good laugh at someone who called an almost ten-mile hike a “warm-up” but life is funny that way.) Anyway, we felt ready for the 14.7 miles it would take to add these two peaks to the list of those we’d climbed, so we parked at St. Huberts and set off down the road a little after 7am. The Ausable Club property is always so pretty, no matter the season.

We took the Gill Brook Trail, keeping an eye (and ear) out for bears, since there have been reports of a couple unusually bold ones in the area. Apparently, someone threw food at them, so they’ve taken to following hikers in the hopes of getting tossed a granola bar. We didn’t see any and didn’t hear reports of anyone else encountering them either. All we saw were pretty waterfalls, cool mushrooms, and a chia-pet boulder.

The trail up to Colvin was great – a bit challenging in places but not too demanding, and we reached the summit by 10:30ish, happy to drop our packs for a little while and enjoy the views.

We decided to eat half our lunch and then start making our way to Blake, which we could see from Colvin’s summit.

The trail between Colvin and Blake involves a steep descent into the col, followed by a tough climb back up Blake. It was a whole lot of effort to put forth for a mountain that has no view from the summit. But it’s one of the 46 High Peaks, so…

No matter how far we descended, Blake never seemed to get any closer.

But finally, we made it to the top. It was…uneventful. And then we started back down Blake and up  Colvin again. The ladders helped.

The trip to Black and back to Colvin took us 90 minutes each way. By the time we got back to Colvin, I needed a little nap.

We had our second lunch on this lookout spot near Colvin’s summit and then started the climb back down to the Lake Road. I was thankful when we met up with the Gill Brook Trail again because I was super low on water and took the opportunity to filter some in the brook. It felt pretty great to wash our hands & faces in the cold water, too. We made it back to the car just after 5pm for a ten-hour round-trip hike. Colvin was a beautiful climb and one that I’d happily do again. Blake…not so much.

 

* The Grace of “Dear Grace” is Grace Hudowalski, the first woman to climb all 46 high peaks. She was a founding member of the Adirondack 46ers, the group’s 1st president, and later on, its secretary and historian, roles she filled until she died in 2004. It used to be that if you wanted to be a 46er, you had to log each climb by writing a handwritten letter to Grace. And Grace would write back. She answered thousands and thousands of letters, with encouraging words and sometimes, her own reflections on a climb, too.  Today, the 46er application process is simplified; one only needs to keep simple climb records on a club form that can be downloaded. There’s an online correspondent program now, too, and while I like my correspondent a whole lot, I still wish I’d had the chance to climb these mountains and write paper letters about them when Grace was around to read them. I love her story and her strength and the way she urged others to get outside and explore and tell their stories. So I’ve decided to write the letters anyway. I think Grace would have liked that.

Teachers Write 8.4.17 A Friday Farewell

It’s hard to believe that our four weeks of writing together are winding down already, but please know that even though we’re not blogging every day, this community doesn’t go away when it’s time to sharpen pencils again. Being a teacher-writer isn’t a one-time professional development goal, so we hope your writing habit lasts far beyond September. Gae has one more Friday Feedback for you today. And Gae, Jo, Jennifer, and I – and most of your guest authors – are always around on social media. We’ll keep cheering for you (and your students!) throughout the school year.

Today’s writing prompt is one that I’ve included before, but I can’t say it any better for this year’s group of brave writers, so I’m sharing it once more…

You all showed up here in early July – some of you veterans, some of you brand new to Teachers Write and even new to the idea of putting words on paper and sharing them. It’s been an amazing summer of learning and writing. You’ve written bravely and shared with joy and fear and courage and all the other emotions that go along with opening up a bit of yourself to friends and strangers who are being brave, too. You’ve made me smile and laugh and cry sometimes, too, in all the best ways, and I am so proud of you.

So here’s one last assignment…

(You are being granted special time-travel abilities for this one.)

Write a letter to yourself of 4 weeks ago.  It will be sent back through time and delivered to you on July 9th, 2017…right before you begin Teachers Write.  What advice would you give yourself?  What can you tell yourself about what the experience will be like and how it might change your writing or teaching?

Here’s the letter I wrote to my back-in-time self after our first summer of Teachers Write, back in 2012…

Dear Kate,

Today, you are going to notice some of your Twitter teacher-friends talking about their goals to write this summer, and it will occur to you that it might be fun to set up a virtual writing camp.  Go ahead and do it, even though it’s not going to go the way you’re imagining.  You’re probably picturing a dozen people, right? Maybe twenty? Multiply that by 100 and you’ll be a little closer. It’ll freak you out at first when you see all those people signing up, but don’t worry — they are amazing people who will be happy to be here and patient with your summer schedule. Besides, tons of generous and talented authors are going to show up to pitch in. This probably doesn’t surprise you, does it? The children’s and YA writer community is amazing like that.

What will surprise you is just how much you are moved when you sit down to read the comments every day. These teachers and librarians will be so smart, so brave. They will try new things. Some will be afraid at first, but they will be so good to one another, so supportive, that new voices will emerge every week.  And these voices will be full of passion and beauty, humor and joy and poignancy.  They will be amazing, and they will make you cry sometimes, in the best possible way.

So go on… Write that introductory blog post, even though you’re biting off way more than you know. It will be worth every second, and when August comes, you will not be ready to let go. Not even close.

Warmly,   Kate

Your turn now…  Put today’s date on the paper, and then write your message to be sent to yourself, back through time. We’d love it if you’d all share this one in the comments.

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your summer and have an amazing school year with your student writers. Be sure to tell them about your writing this summer. They’ll be so proud of you.

xo

~Kate