Manuscript Critique with Melissa Manlove of Chronicle Children's Group #KidLitForHaiti

Kid Lit for Haiti

This auction item has closed. Thank you for participating!

Kid Lit for Haiti:  Flexible critique from Melissa Manlove

Melissa (Editor at Chronicle Children's Group) is offering a critique of up to 2000 words—and here are the exciting details—2000 words according to Melissa means she will read the first 2000 words of a novel, OR she will read up to five (5) separate picture book manuscripts!!!! (but no more than 5 manuscripts, therefore if your manuscripts are all 40-word board book manuscripts, she will not read 50 of them). 

Manuscripts for critique must be received by Melissa by June 1 2015. You can expect about a one-month turn-around time (all critiques will be given via email).

How do I bid?

Place your bid in the comment section of this blog post by increasing the previous bid by a minimum of $10 increments. Please include information about how I may contact you if you are the winning bidder; If I haven't contacted you immediately following the auction, please reach out to me at ktomsic@gmail.com . Questions can also be posted in the comment section below.

When does this particular auction item close?

**This Auction will close on December 14, 2014** at 11:59pm Mountain Time Now closed. Thank you!

What happens next?

I will contact the winning bidder (as long as you remembered to provide your contact information!). You will make your donation at this donation link and then you will email a copy of your receipt to me at ktomsic@gmail.com Then I will put you in touch with Melissa J

This is a truly unique offering! Happy bidding!

How do I know when new auction items are posted to this blog:

You can receive emails when new auction items are listed. Simply enter your email address in the upper left corner of this blog where it says "Follow by email". You will only receive an email when a new post is created on this blog.

What are other items are currently on the Kid Lit for Hait (#KidLitForHaiti) Auction?

To Visit a full list of all the auction items featured on Kid Lit for Haiti: PLEASE CLICK HERE

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Melissa Manlove is an editor at Chronicle Books in San Francisco, and she is my editor for THE ELEPHANTS CAME (Spring, 2017). Melissa is amazing, smart, thoughtful, knowledgeable, kind, and she possesses that keen ability to get to the heart of a story. I first met Melissa at an SCBWI conference in California when I won an unofficial scavenger hunt (crazy shenanigans go down at these conferences)—martinis with Melissa was my prize. In a half-hour conversation with Melissa, she was able to tell me what was working in my story, and where I was going wrong. In a few sentences she unveiled more secrets about writing than I had learned in years of study. I used her advice and edited my work—a year and a half later I got it right and landed my first sale. When I tell people Melissa Manlove is my editor, the response is usually, “She’s my dream editor!” Melissa has a true passion for children’s literature. She can often be found at her local bookstore where she’s giving a story-time reading to the gathered children.

BIO: Melissa has been with Chronicle for 10 years. Her acquisitions tend to be all ages in nonfiction; ages 0-8 for fiction. When acquiring, she looks for fresh takes on familiar topics as well as the new and unusual. An effective approach and strong, graceful writing are important to her. She has 16 years of children’s bookselling experience.

 (Want to know more about Melissa? Here’s a great interview – click here)

Critique with Agent Jen Rofe of Andrea Brown Literary Agency #KidLitForHaiti

 

KID LIT FOR HAITI: Jen is offering a critique of the first five pages of a manuscript (PB, MG or YA).

Jennifer Rofé is my agent (I love saying that!), and I can tell you first hand—her editorial suggestions will make your story sparkle! I attended SCBWI conferences for years and years. After attending Jen’s workshops, having a handful of face-to-face meetings and spending a lot of time stalking researching Jen’s style and sales, my BIG goal was to score Jen as my agent—Dreams come true! It took five years of learning, trying and honing my craft until I finally got “the phone call” and landed on team-Jen (well worth the wait!) I suspect the glasses Jen wears aren’t just any old specs—they have magic—Jen can see right into your story and help guide you with what works and what doesn’t. I remember when I was researching Jen, I landed on a post by Crystal Allen (author of one of my favorite books HOW LAMAR’S BAD PRANK WON A BUBBA SIZED TROPHY.)  In Crystal’s post she talks about how Jen is an editorial agent and her editorial notes urged Crystal to dig deeper, go bigger, write stronger. In the end, Jen got Crystal a six figure deal because Crystal wrote a story that is laugh-out-loud funny, full of heart and drama and jampacked with VOICE. Another one of Jen’s big-time clients is Meg Medina, and if you haven’t yet read her 2014 Pura Belpré Award Winning book YAQUI DELGADO WANTS TO KICK YOUR ASS (Candlewick), then you need to stop reading this blog, race your bookstore and buy this book. 

Jen represents projects ranging from picture books to YA. Middle grade is her soft spot and she’s open to all genres in this category, especially the tender, hilarious, or zany. She is always looking for fresh and distinct voices; stories that simultaneously tug at her heartstrings and make her laugh out loud; and “adorkable” heroes. As for YA, Jen is drawn to contemporary works; dramatic, funny, or cringe-worthy romance; and urban fantasy/light sci-fi. She’s especially interested in smart stories that are layered, complex, and unexpected, and she appreciates big, developed worlds. In terms of picture books, she is interested in character-driven projects and smart, exceptional writing. Jennifer also represents illustrators and author-illustrators.

Critique with Jen: You are bidding on a five page critique to be received via email. If you win, please format your manuscript in Times Roman, double spaced with one inch margins.

How do I bid? This auction item has closed

Place your bid in the comment section at the bottom of this blog post by increasing the previous bid by a minimum of $10. Please include information about how I may contact you if you are the winning bidder; If I haven't contacted you immediately following the auction, please reach out to me at ktomsic@gmail.com . Questions can also be posted in the comment section below.

When does this particular auction item close?

**This Auction will close on December 13, 2014** Last bid will be accepted at 11:59PM Mountain Standard Time (MST) 11:59 PM mountain time = 10:59 PM Pacific Time= 12:59am next day Central Time=1:59am next day Eastern Time This auction item has closed

What happens next?

I will contact the winning bidder (as long as you remembered to provide your contact information!). You will make your donation at this donation link and then you will email a copy of your receipt to me at ktomsic@gmail.com Then I will put you in touch with Jen.

What are other items on the Kid Lit for Hait (#KidLitForHaiti) Auction?

To Visit a full list of all the auction items featured on Kid Lit for Haiti: PLEASE CLICK HERE

How do I know when new auction items are posted to this blog:

You can receive emails when new auction items are listed. Simply enter your email address in the upper left corner of this blog where it says "Follow by email". You will only receive an email when a new post is created on this blog.

Want to know more? Here are some of Jen's clients and their books:

Meg Medina
SUNSET COLORA (Candlewick, forthcoming)
YAQUI DELGADO WANTS TO KICK YOUR ASS (Candlewick), *Pura Belpré Award Winner 2014*
THE GIRL WHO COULD SILENCE THE WIND (Candlewick)
TIA ISA WANTS A CAR (Candlewick), Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award 2012
MILAGROS, GIRL FROM AWAY (Holt)

Eliza Wheeler - Author-Illustrator
LEFT-HANDED FATE by Kate Milford, illustrations (Holt, forthcoming)
TELL ME A TATTOO STORY by Alison McGhee, illustrations (Chronicle, forthcoming)
OUR BABY by Varsha Baja, illustrations (Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin, forthcoming)
NOT EVEN CODY and CODY AND THE MEEN KIDS by Tricia Springstubb, illustrations (Candlewick, forthcoming)
WHEREVER YOU GO by Pat Zietlow Miller, illustrations (Little, Brown Children's, forthcoming)
INCORRIGIBLE CHILDREN Books IV, V by Maryrose Wood, illustrations (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins)
THE GRUDGE KEEPER by Mara Rockliff, illustrations (Peachtree)
DOLL BONES by Holly Black, illustrations (Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster)
MISS MAPLE'S SEEDS, author-illustrator (Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin)

Mike Boldt - Author-Illustrator
I DON'T WANT TO BE A FROG by Dev Petty, illustrations (Doubleday/Random House, forthcoming)
COLORS VERSUS SHAPES (HarperCollins, forthcoming)
TIARA-SAURUS REX by Brianna Caplan Sayres, illustrations (Bloomsbury, forthcoming)
GET ME ANOTHER ONE by Robert Munsch, illustrations (Scholastic Canada)
ODE TO UNDERWEAR by Helaine Becker, illustrations (Scholastic Canada)
LITTLE JACK HORNER, LIVE FROM THE CORNER by Helaine Becker, illustrations (Scholastic Canada)
123 VERSUS ABC (HarperCollins)

Joy Preble
FINDING PARIS (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins, forthcoming)
THE SWEET DEAD LIFE series (Soho Press)
The DREAMING ANASTASIA trilogy (Sourcebooks)

Kathryn Fitzmaurice
DESTINY, REWRITTEN (HarperCollins)
A DIAMOND IN THE DESERT (Viking/Penguin)
THE YEAR THE SWALLOWS CAME EARLY (HarperCollins)

Crystal Allen
THE LAURA LINE (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins)
HOW LAMAR'S BAD PRANK WON A BUBBA SIZED TROPHY (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins)

Barry Wolverton
THE VANISHING ISLAND trilogy (Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins, forthcoming)
NEVERSINK (Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins)

Bob Boyle
ROSIE & REX (HarperCollins)

Lauren Strasnick
THEN YOU WERE GONE (Simon Pulse/S&S)
HER AND ME AND YOU (Simon Pulse/S&S)
NOTHING LIKE YOU (Simon Pulse/S&S)

Denise Doyen
ONCE UPON A TWICE (Random House), *E.B. White Read Aloud Honor*

Samantha Vamos
ALPHABET TRAINS (Charlesbridge, forthcoming)
ALPHABET TRUCKS (Charlesbridge)
THE CAZUELA THAT THE FARM MAIDEN STIRRED (Charlesbridge), *Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor*
BEFORE YOU WERE HERE, MI AMOR (Viking/Penguin)

Brandi Dougherty
RECIPE FOR ADVENTURE Books 5-8 with celebrity chef Giada de Laurentiis (Grosset & Dunlap/Penguin, forthcoming)
THE LITTLEST ELF (Scholastic)
THE LITTLEST CHRISTMAS STAR (Scholastic)
MISS FORTUNE (Scholastic)

Nick James
SKYSHIP ACADEMY trilogy (Flux)

Kim Tomsic

THE ELEPHANTS CAME (Chronicle 2017)

Picture Book Critique with author/teacher/mentor Denise Vega #KidLitForHaiti

KID LIT FOR HAITI: Denise is giving a picture book manuscript critique

Denise Vega

Denise Vega earned her undergraduate degree at UCLA and graduate degree at Harvard (I love bragging on behalf of Denise, since she never brags herself). She served as the RMC SCBWI Co-Regional Advisor for a decade where she not only organized our group of writers and illustrators (and avoided cheese at all costs), but she also taught many writing workshops.

I first purchased a Denise Vega book out of sheer love for Denise; now I purchase Denise Vega books out of sheer love for her writing! Her debut novel  CLICK HERE (To Find Out How I SurvivedSeventh Grade)  was a bestselling title in the Scholastic Book Club and won the Colorado book award for YA literature—but of course it did—she is a master of creating compelling characters—real and flawed people whom you want to follow—and she knows the art of creating the page turn.  

ATTENTION PICTURE BOOK PEOPLE: Denise teaches picture book writing workshops at LighthouseWriters Workshop. I had the privilege of attending one of Denise’s eight-week picture book workshops. At these classes, she coaches writers into making every single word and movement matter. She teaches the art of listening for the melody of language, how to allow room for the illustrations to carry meaning in the story, how to book end a tale, how to use the rule of threes, how to write so possibilities explode in a child’s mind, how to write character-driven stories (if that’s your intent), how to use meter and rhythm for those who want to rhyme, how to write the various types of picture books (a three-act picture book, a concept book, etc.) Can you say magic? Yep—Denise teaches all that and much much more! Denise also serves on the faculty for Big Sur in the Rockies Children’s Book Writers Workshop where she critiques and guides critique groups. My point—a critique from Denise Vega can help your story come to life!

Books by Denise Vega include: 

Grandmother,Have the Angels Come (Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2009)

Build a Burrito A Counting Book in English and Spanish (Cartwheel Books, 2008)

CLICK HERE (To Find Out How I Survived Seventh Grade) Little Brown & Co 2006)

Fact of Life#31 (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2008)

Access Denied (Little Brown & Co.2010)

RockOn  (Little Brown & Co.2012) 

And coming soon:

If Your Monster Won’t Go to Bed (Knopf/Random House, Spring, 2017)

And…(we’ll let you know!)

Want to know more about Denise? Visit her FAQ link  click here  

Details on critique:  You’re bidding on a Picture Book Manuscript critique from Denise Vega up to 1000 words. Please format your manuscript in Times Roman, double spaced, one inch margins. This critique will happen via email.

How do I bid?

Place your bid in the comment section below this post by increasing the previous bid by a minimum of $10 increments. Please include information about how I may contact you if you are the winning bidder; you can ask me question at  ktomsic@gmail.com . 

When does this particular auction item close?

**This Auction will close on December 15**11:59 PM mountain time = 10:59 PM Pacific Time= 12:59am next day Central Time=1:59am next day Eastern Time This auction item is now closed. Thank you!

What are other items on the Kid Lit for Hait (#KidLitForHaiti) Auction?

To Visit a full list of all the auction items featured on Kid Lit for Haiti: PLEASE CLICK HERE

How do I know when new auction items are posted to this blog:

You can receive emails when new auction items are listed. Simply enter your email address in the upper left corner of this blog where it says "Follow by email". You will only receive an email when a new post is created on this blog.

What happens if I win?

I will contact the winning bidder (as long as you remembered to provide your contact information!). You will make your donation at this donation link and then you will email a copy of your receipt to me at ktomsic@gmail.com Then I will put you in two in touch J

Want to know more about Denise? Visit her FAQ link  click here 

Signed Advanced Reader Copies from Kate Messner #KidLitForHaiti

KATE MESSNER 

 

KID LIT FOR HAITI:  Kate is donating signed advanced reader copies (ARCs) of her two January 2015 books, ALL THE ANSWERS (Bloombery) and RANGER IN TIME (Scholastic). She will mail the books directly to highest bidder; bidder must have U.S. mailing address.

I became a huge fan of Kate Messner after I heard her speak at an SCBWI awards ceremony. Her beautiful book OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW won the Golden Kite Award for nonfiction picture book text.  Kate Messner has a colossal fan-base—she has almost a million views on her TED talk “How to Build a Fictional World.”

More about the books you’ll win in this auction:

ALL THE ANSWERS: What if your pencil had all the answers? Would you ace
every test? Would you know what your teachers were thinking? When Ava
Anderson finds a scratched up pencil she doodles like she would with any
other pencil. But when she writes a question in the margin of her math
quiz, she hears a clear answer in a voice no one else seems to hear.
With the help of her friend Sophie, Ava figures out that the pencil will
answer factual questions only – those with definite right or wrong answers
– but won't predict the future. Ava and Sophie discover all kinds of uses
for the pencil, and Ava's confidence grows with each answer. But it's
getting shorter with every sharpening, and when the pencil reveals a scary
truth about Ava's family, she realizes that sometimes the bravest people
are the ones who live without all the answers...

RANGER IN TIME: RESCUE ON THE OREGON TRAIL: Meet Ranger! He's a
time-traveling golden retriever who has a nose for trouble . . . and always
saves the day! Ranger has been trained as a search-and-rescue dog, but
can't officially pass the test because he's always getting distracted by
squirrels during exercises. One day, he finds a mysterious first aid kit in
the garden and is transported to the year 1850, where he meets a young boy
named Sam Abbott. Sam's family is migrating west on the Oregon Trail, and
soon after Ranger arrives he helps the boy save his little sister. Ranger
thinks his job is done, but the Oregon Trail can be dangerous, and the
Abbotts need Ranger's help more than they realize! 

More about Kate:

More about Kate from her publishing house bio:

“Kate Messner grew up in Medina, a small town in western New York. She received her bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism from Syracuse University and spent seven years as a television news producer and on-air reporter before returning to her family's passion of teaching. "I grew up in a family of educators, but it took me a little time to find my way to the field," Kate says. "Somehow I felt the classroom was calling me, so I went back to school to get my teaching degree."

Kate's been teaching middle school English in Plattsburgh, New York, since 1996. She says that her favorite part of teaching is reading and writing with her students. "My classroom is very workshop oriented, so we're all on this reading-writing journey together. We share books, conference about our reading, recommend titles in person and on Goodreads, and spend lots of time reading and reflecting."

Her first national book for young readers, The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z., was published in 2009; since then, she's written more than a dozen other books for young readers. "I write every night at home and I share both my successes and my struggles with my kids," says Kate. "I bring in revision letters from my editors so they get a good look at revision in the real world and know that it's not just a classroom exercise."

Kate is a National Board Certified teacher. She lives on Lake Champlain with her husband and two kids and loves spending time outside--cross-country skiing and skating in the winter, and hiking, swimming, biking, and kayaking in the summer.”

This auction item: signed advanced reader copies (ARCs) of Kate Messner’s two January 2015 books, ALL THE ANSWERS (Bloombery) and RANGER IN TIME (Scholastic). She will mail the books directly to highest bidder; bidder must have U.S. mailing address.

How do I bid?

Place your bid in the comment section by increasing the previous bid. Please include information about how I may contact you if you are the winning bidder; you can ask me question here or at  ktomsic@gmail.com . 

When does this item auction close?

**This Auction will close on December 12, 2014** at 11:59PM

Official UPDATE: Auction items close on their respective date at 11:59 PM Mountain Standard Time (MST)

here's the math time for U.S. residents (you can simply Google the time comparison if you live somewhere else in the world) :

 Pacific Time is one hour behind mountain time; central time is one hour ahead of mountain time; eastern time is two hours ahead of mountain time so:

11:59 om MST = 10:59 pm Pacific Time or 12:59 am Central Standard Time or 1:59 am Eastern Time

What are other items on the Kid Lit for Hait (#KidLitForHaiti) Auction?


To Visit a full list of all the auction items featured on Kid Lit for Haiti: PLEASE CLICK HERE

What happens if I win an auction item?

I will contact the winning bidder (remember to provide your contact information!). You will make your donation at this donationlink and then you will email a copy of your receipt to me at ktomsic@gmail.com Then I will put you in touch with Kate  

How do I know when new auction items are posted to this blog:

You can receive emails when new auction items are listed. Simply enter your email address in the upper left corner of this blog where it says "Follow by email". You will only receive an email when a new post is created on this blog.

Critique with SCBWI Co-Founder Stephen Mooser - Kid Lit for Haiti #KidLitForHaiti

 

KID LIT FOR HAITI:  Stephen Mooser is donating a critique of the first fifteen pages of a middle grade novel

Are you rubbing your eyes and wondering if you’re reading this accurately?  YES! Stephen Mooser is offering a critique !!!

If you’ve ever attended an SCBWI conference, you will know that Stephen has a big heart for Haiti. He was there shortly after the 2011 earthquake. His son, Bryn spent three years in Haiti as head of a group called Artists for Peace and Justice ( associated with St. Damiens hospital in Port Au Prince)—in the end Bryn Mooser oversaw the building of three schools in Haiti, elementary, middle and high school—Bryn also started the first little league team in Haiti and built the first movie theater following the earthquake—Sun City Picture House. A movie about the theater won awards. Furthermore Baseball InThe Time of Cholera-a short film about the team and the cholera epidemic also won awards –check out both--Bryn Mooser and Artists For Peace and Justice

Stephen Mooser

Stephen Mooser grew up in Fresno, California and later attended UCLA where he received a BA in Motion Pictures and later a Masters in Journalism. Steve even got into politics and was President of the UCLA Senior Class in 1963.  After graduating he spent some time looking for treasure. Steve searched for pirate gold hidden an Island in the Gulf of Panama, and spent nearly a year searching the Utah desert for bars of silver stolen by the Outlaw Butch Cassidy and his partner, The Sundance Kid.

Needless to say, Steve didn’t find much treasure, but many of his personal adventures have found their way into his books. Steve Mooser’s first book for children, 101 Black Cats (Scholastic) revolved around a treasure as did Orphan Jeb at the Massacree (Knopf) and Shadows on the Graveyard Trail (Dell Yearling). Among series books Steve has written are The Treasure Hounds (Troll), The Creepy Creature Club (Dell), The All-Star Meatballs (Dell) and Goofball Malone, Ace Detective (Penguin). In all Steve has written over 60 books for children. In addition to adventure stories, he has written a number of nonfiction books about the Weird and Strange. Those include Into The Unknown: Nine Astounding Stories (Lippincott) and The Man Who Ate A Car and Tons of Other Weird True Stories (Dell).

In 1971, with Lin Oliver, Stephen Mooser co-founded the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Today, the SCBWI has nearly 25,000 members around the world with chapters everywhere from Montana to Mongolia and Indiana to India. Find out more at www.scbwi.org

You might be interested to see Steve’s latest project, Class Clown Academy atwww.classclownacademy.com . The Class Clown Academy is a virtual school where you can watch funny films in the school theater, build and fly paper airplanes, have a food fight in the cafeteria, compose some whoopee cushion tunes in the music room, and shop for neat Class Clown Academy books and merchandise in the student store.

This auction: is for an up to fifteen-page critique of a picture book or middle grade novel with author and co-founder of the SCBWI Stephen Mooser (critique via email). 100% of the proceeds from this auction will support the students sponsored by the 501 c3 charity The Friends of Haiti Inc.If you are the winner, please format your pages in Times Roman, 12 pt. font, double spaced.

How do I bid?

Place your bid in the comment section by increasing the previous bid by increments of $10. Please include information about how I may contact you if you are the winning bidder; I can be reached for questions in the comment section here or at  ktomsic@gmail.com . 

When does this auction item from Stephen Mooser close?

**This Auction will close on December 12**

Official UPDATE: Auction items close on their respective date at 11:59 PM Mountain Standard Time (MST)

here's the math time for U.S. residents (you can simply Google the time comparison if you live somewhere else in the world) :

 Pacific Time is one hour behind mountain time; central time is one hour ahead of mountain time; eastern time is two hours ahead of mountain time so:

11:59 om MST = 10:59 pm Pacific Time or 12:59 am Central Standard Time or 1:59 am Eastern Time

What are other items on the Kid Lit for Hait (#KidLitForHaiti) Auction?


To Visit a full list of all the auction items featured on Kid Lit for Haiti: PLEASE CLICK HERE

What happens if I win?

I will contact the winning bidder (remember to provide your contact information!). You will make your donation at this donation link and then you will email a copy of your receipt to me at ktomsic@gmail.com and I will put you in touch with Stephen