Brenda Novak's Diabetes Auction

What is Brenda Novak's Diabetes Auction? (I swear, if you said 'where she auctions off some diabetes,' I'm coming after you.) But seriously, it's this online auction--like eBay, but all for charity--where authors, agents, and editors donate time and things to be auctioned off, with all the proceeds going to fighting diabetes. One of my bestest friends has had diabetes since she was in sixth grade; my brother-in-law was recently diagnosed. So this is an issue I'm pretty close to.

I first heard about Brenda Novak's auction because it was the key plot point, if you will, in the success story of Courtney Milan. Courtney won the auction to have best-selling author Sherry Thomas read her query letter. The query letter was so bad, and attempts at revision were so unproductive, that Sherry finally told Courtney to send her the book, and she'd just write the query letter herself. While the query was terrible, the book was amazing, Sherry forwarded it to her agent, Courtney got signed, and a six-figure, three-book deal landed in her lap. (More or less. I'm neither Courtney or Sherry, so this is all paraphrasing, to say the least.)

In other words, my first impression of the Brenda Novak Diabetes Auction was that it made dreams come true. However, whenever the annual auction came around, I was never in a place where I could bid on an agent critique, or an editor review. True, there are lots (and lots and lots) of other things to buy--even trips to Africa!--but I always got outbid. Darn it!

This year, though, I'm finally in a position to donate not by buying, but by giving. So, to that end, I'm thrilled to announce that I have donated a signed copy of A Man of His Word, a pair of sterling-silver earrings, and a critique of the first three chapters of an unpublished manuscript with bonus follow-up phone call! (Although email is good, too. Either way).

Bidding opens on May 1st and closes on May 31st. In the past, bids jump up in the beginning, then tend to sit there for a few weeks before going nuts in the last few days. However, to combat this slump, I've challenged author Melissa Cutler, who's donating an ARC of her debut cowboy story, to an Author Bid Showdown--whoever gets the highest bid gets the biggest bragging rights!

In other words, I love trash-talkin', and Melissa loves trash-talkin', and we're going to hone our trash-talkin' skills on each other. For Charity, baby!

So stay tuned, and check out all the wonderful items you can bid on at Brenda Novak's Diabetes Auction!