Auction #23: “Free Pass” to Chronicle Books Editorial Meeting & Picture Book Critique with Editor Melissa Manlove
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!


Chronicle Books editor Melissa Manlove is offering what is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for an aspiring picture book author — a FREE PASS to the Chronicle Books Editorial Meeting, along with a 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 Melissa. After you’ve had a chance to revise based on her comments, she 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 and submit the project elsewhere.
Note from Kate: Melissa is my editor at Chronicle and worked with me on SEA MONSTER’S FIRST DAY and OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW. She is kind, funny, and smart as the day is long. This is a truly amazing opportunity.
Note from Melissa:
I am moved again and again by the generosity of the children’s lit community! As we have passed the $1,000 mark, I am going to sweeten the deal.
As of now, this prize also includes advance copies of four of my books releasing in 2013 (as they become available). You will have Steam Train Dream Train, On a Beam of Light, Little Red Writing, and Lifetime ahead of everyone else.
If the bids reach $2,000 I will include $300 worth of Chronicle books (you choose the books).
If the bids reach $3,000 I will include a one-on-one lunch with me whenever we’re next in the same area (my treat, of course)–at which you will feel free to pepper me with publishing questions. (Assuming you’re in the US. I’ll find a conference near you or some other excuse to be in your area.)
Opening Bid: $30
Auction Ends: Monday, November 12, 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 your help!







Award-winning author
Author
An incredible opportunity for one lucky school, library, or book club! The amazing
Deborah Underwood