How to use this Page

Every year at the June conference we run and Silent Auction and Chinese Auction to raise money for our Scholarship Fund.  We always use all the money to help members with financial problems throughout the year attend our events.  The money went fast this year with so many members finding themselves in difficult situations due to the economy. 

The Scholarship Fund helped over 16 members this past year attend events they otherwise would not have been able to afford.  It looks like the economy is starting to tick up, which is a good thing, but we still need to replenish the fund for this coming year.

Members who have helped the chapter by attending New Jersey events, donated their time or donated items to previous raffles, get top priority over other members with similar financial needs.  So your efforts to help the chapter and others does not go unnoticed and could someday end up helping you, too.

Here is what we do:

I call every editor and agent who attended one of our events to see if they can donate a critique and join us at one of our Summer Networking Dinners.  The results get listed in the Silent Auction.  Attendees bid on the things that interest them throughout the conference.  With the Silent Auction you can write down a dollar amount and then if someone wants to beat your bid, that person writes in a higher amount.  This goes back and forth until the person with the highest bid at the end of the conference wins.

We usually have a few full manuscripts critiques in addition to many partial critiques.

The Chinese Auction consist of items people have donated.  Here are some things people have donated in the past:  All-in-one color printer, Phillies baseball tickets, vacation in Maine, theatre tickets, restaurant gift certificates, wooden desk sets, office supplies, gift cards, framed art work, books, massages, exercise equipment, theme baskets, Free year SCBWI membership, Free entrance to a New Jersey event, and much more.  We sell tickets and you can place your tickets in the container that corresponds to the item you want to win.  At the end of the conference a winning ticket will be pulled for each item.  You can win more than one time.  Everyone who donates an item worth more than $25 will receive five free tickets to use.  You do not have to attend the conference to donate an item. 

Note Published Authors: - Even if you are going to attend the conference, donating a few of your books is a nice way to get your name out there to promote you and your books. 

Note Illustrators:  You can only  have one piece  of art in the Art Exhibit.  Donating another piece of your work will get a second piece seen by all the faculty.  Again even if you can’t attend, this is a great opportunity for an illustrator to get their work in front of the art directors, agents and editors.  A small price to pay to help create some buzz.

Please contact Betsy at [email protected] if you would like to donate something to help.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

One of the big events on Saturday June 5th is the raffle we hold to help raise money for the New Jersey Scholarship Fund.  Tickets for the raffle are two for $5 or ten for $20.  You can place your tickets in the containers for the things you want to win.  You can win more than one prize.  We are still working on getting donations, but I thought you might like to see a few more things you could win. 

Donated by Bettelynn McIlvain

Canon Pixma MX870 – Inkjet All-in-One Printer – Prints, Copies, Scans

Donated by Hallee Adelman – Family Four Pack Passes Please Touch Museum or April’s Storybook Ball

Donated by Jeanne Balsam – Framed original giclee print by Jeanne Balsam, titled Frenchies Apres Rousseau, plus matching note cards.

Donated by Dianne Ochiltree – Award Winning Author of 8 children’s books donates a Full Picture Book Critique, plus autographed copy of Lull-a-bye, Little One.

Donated by Valerie Crowley – $30.00 Gift Card

Donated by Jodi O’Donnell-Ames - One hour massage in Pennington, NJ

There are lots of other great donations to list in another post, so check back.  You can see the first couple by clicking here. 

If you haven’t checked out the editor and agent donations click here.  I update them frequently.  I added Patrick Collins, Creative Art Director at Henry Holt to the post conference dinner, too.  Check it out, again.

Let me know if you have something to donate.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

What Aerin made me.

<3

Running total: $2,800 and change.

You guys rock.

I wasn't going to interrupt regularly scheduled blogging buttt... I have to.

I am FLOORED by the response to the Mischief Fights Cancer raffle. Please strap your jaw to your face before you look at the stats so you don't drool on your keyboard.

Since I originally announced the raffle, there are two new lots available: a Middle Grade or YA first chapter critique, and a children's picture book manuscript critique (text only, between 400 and 1000 words). Both have been generously provided by Tracy Marchini of Curtis Brown Agency, and both are appreciated, since I know nothing about children's books and appreciate that many of you work in that genre.

Thank you to everyone who has offered donations, goods, services, and kind words. I can't really properly express on a blog how touched I am, and how proud I am to be part of this circle.

Seriously, people. Thank you so, so much.

The Mischief Fights Cancer

Dear Beloved Blogging Fellows,

Recently, a friend of mine was diagnosed with Stage IV lymphoma. She is only 28 and is fighting back hard, but her valor is frustrated by the fact that she has no insurance. Medicaid will be kicking in for her in about a month, but in the meantime there are some hurdles that nothing will help her get over but money.

Of course, there are lots of benefits and pots for me to throw money in. Alas... I work in publishing and have no money. I was bemoaning this to my darling Ello, and she thought of this fantastic idea: I should raffle off my editorial services. So that's what we're going to try here.

Raffle for editorial services!!

Prizes available:

-One winner: A full manuscript evaluation (up to 120,000 words)*
-One winner: A partial manuscript evaluation (up to 50 page)*
-One winner: A query letter and revised query letter critique*
-Five winners: A choice from select titles in Moonrat's library, which will be mailed with a love letter from Moonrat, who enjoys writing love letters
I've started this new, temporary blog to host a raffle for my friend. You can buy tickets, check the log, and see how much progress has been made on each of the raffled lots here.

*please note: these are critiques with an eye toward editorial suggestions, and will in no way be considered submissions to me or my company

General Guidelines (and my very best attempts to make the whole process honest and transparent)

-The raffle will run between now, Tuesday, September 30th, and 8 pm on Tuesday, October 7th, when lots will be drawn.

-Winners will be announced (or their anonymous IDs, if they prefer) on Editorial Ass no later than 11:59 pm on Tuesday, October 7th.

-Prizes have no expiration date--you can ask for your prize redemption anytime between now and, well, I guess 2020.

-Turnaround time for prize redemption is 2 weeks (i.e. if you send me your manuscript on the 1st of November, I'll need until the 15th to get you my comments).

-All prizes are transferable. If you do not have a query letter that needs critiquing but you have a friend who does, you can gift your winning prize on your friend.

-On top of the instant confirmation email from PayPal, you will receive a confirmation email from me by midnight on the calendar day on which you purchased your raffle ticket. My email to you will include your lot number(s).

-On my end, lot numbers will be written on highly scientific bits of paper, which will be dropped into one of four of the rally monkey's highly scientific baseball hats. Lots will be drawn from each hat at 8 pm on Tuesday, October 7.

-You will have the option to purchase raffle tickets under your real name or an anonymous ID. You may specify a code name or number upon receiving my confirmation email.

-I've opened a PayPal account, which will allow you and me both to maintain our identities. PayPal is free for you and only charges me $.30 and 3% off each transaction.

-All raffle ticket purchases will be fully and publicly disclosed for accountability purposes. At midnight each day the raffle is active, the lot numbers of all the people who purchased raffle tickets for a particular lot will be listed in separate recorded posts. When you buy a raffle ticket, please check the name roster the next day to make sure your name is up. If it's not, email me ASAP at [email protected] and we'll straighten it out.

I hope I haven't forgotten anything. If I have left any stones unturned, please drop me a note or comment and I will amend this record ASAP.

I will leave this post floating at the top of my blog for the next week. New posts will appear below it. All regularly scheduled publication will carry on as it always does!

Please, please tell your friends.

The Mischief Fights Cancer

At Book Expo America 2008 in LA, OUP held a raffle to win a free OED. Many enthusiastic attendees assured us they had sturdy a shelf that could hold the voluminous set. Let’s hope Angel Castellanos of Distant Lands, Traveler’s Bookstore & Outfitters in Pasadena, CA actually has a good sturdy bookshelf because he is this year’s winner of the free OED raffle. Congratulations Angel!

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