Tag Archives: manuscript critique

KidLit Cares

Auction #78 – Manuscript Critique from Editor Molly Kempf Hodgin

Welcome to KidLit Cares, an online talent auction to benefit the Red Cross relief effort to help communities recover from Superstorm Sandy. KidLit Cares was started by the very awesome Kate Messner, but I’m taking over Round 2. Agents, editors, authors, illustrators and other generous people 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!

Molly Kempf Hodgin is currently the Director of New Media/Editorial Director for Thomas Nelson’s children’s division. They publish inspirational fiction and non-fiction for kids up to age 12 and non-fiction for teens from a Christian worldview. Molly specializes in middle grade fiction, but also works on picture books and Bible storybooks. She has been at Thomas Nelson for over two years, but lived in New York for years, where she worked at Penguin’s Grosset & Dunlap/PSS! and Scholastic.

This auction is for a two round manuscript critique. Molly will read a first draft, provide feedback, and then read the revision and provide feedback.

Opening Bid: $30

This auction closes at 10pm Eastern Standard Time on November 28. Any bids placed after that time will be void.

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!

Tip: if you’re bidding, you may want to subscribe to the follow-up comments, so you can get notice of future bids. Subscribe via RSS on the right. —>

KidLit Cares

Auction #76 – Three Month Rhyming Picture Book Mentorship from Author Corey Rosen Schwartz

Welcome to KidLit Cares, an online talent auction to benefit the Red Cross relief effort to help communities recover from Superstorm Sandy. KidLit Cares was started by the very awesome Kate Messner, but I’m taking over Round 2. Agents, editors, authors, illustrators and other generous people 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!

Corey Rosen Schwartz is the author of HOP! PLOP! (Walker, 2006), THE THREE NINJA PIGS (Putnam, 2012) GOLDI ROCKS AND THE THREE BEARS (Putnam, forthcoming) and NINJA RED (Putnam, forthcoming). Corey has no formal ninja training, but she sure can kick butt in Scrabble. She lives with three Knuckleheads in Warren, NJ. Website: coreyrosenschwartz.com Twitter: @CoreyPBNinja Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CoreyPBNinja

The winner of this auction will receive a Three Month Rhyming Picture Book Mentorship. From Corey: I will mentor an aspiring picture book author for three months (preferably Jan-March, but somewhat flexible) I will answer all of your questions by phone or email about my road to publication (i.e. how I got an agent) I’ll look at your PiBoIdMo list if you participated and let you know which ideas seem the most marketable to me. And, I will give you feedback on up to 6 PB manuscripts, plus review any revisions on those manuscripts. Please note: I will comment on all aspects of your story (character, story arc, etc) but my real strength is rhythm and rhyme. It is okay if not all six manuscripts are in rhyme, but if you write exclusively in prose, I am probably not the best choice for you.

Opening Bid: $30

This auction closes at 10pm Eastern Standard Time on November 28. Any bids placed after that time will be void.

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!

Tip: if you’re bidding, you may want to subscribe to the follow-up comments, so you can get notice of future bids. Subscribe via RSS on the right. —>

KidLit Cares

Auction #75 – Picture Book or 3 Chapter MG or YA Novel Critique from Agent and Author Ammi-Joan Paquette

22 Comments

Welcome to KidLit Cares, an online talent auction to benefit the Red Cross relief effort to help communities recover from Superstorm Sandy. KidLit Cares was started by the very awesome Kate Messner, but I’m taking over Round 2. Agents, editors, authors, illustrators and other generous people 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!

Ammi-Joan Paquette is an agent with Erin Murphy Literary Agency, representing all types of children’s and YA literature. She is also the author of the recent picture book The Tiptoe Guide to Tracking Mermaids (Tanglewood, 2012) and the middle-grade novel Nowhere Girl (Walker, 2011). She is particularly drawn to richly-rendered, unforgettable characters and settings, as well as tightly-paced, well-plotted stories with twists and turns that keep you guessing right until the end. Visit her on the web at: ajpaquette.com

This auction is for a full picture book or first 3 chapters of an MG or YA novel manuscript critique.

Opening Bid: $50

This auction closes at 10pm Eastern Standard Time on November 28. Any bids placed after that time will be void.

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!

Tip: if you’re bidding, you may want to subscribe to the follow-up comments, so you can get notice of future bids. Subscribe via RSS on the right. —>

KidLit Cares

Auction #73 – KidLit Cares: Tag-team Picture Book Critique from Editor Namrata Tripathi and Author-illustrator Lita Judge

Welcome to KidLit Cares, an online talent auction to benefit the Red Cross relief effort to help communities recover from Superstorm Sandy. KidLit Cares was started by the very awesome Kate Messner, but I’m taking over Round 2. Agents, editors, authors, illustrators and other generous people 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!

Namrata Tripathi is Executive Editor at Atheneum Books for Young Readers. She edits fiction and nonfiction picture books, middle grade, and YA (and the occasional extraordinary graphic novel). She has the pleasure of working with Ian Falconer, James Howe, Christopher Myers, Lane Smith, and Judith Viorst among others and has launched several award-winning author-illustrators and novelists such as John Corey Whaley, Lita Judge, and John Rocco. She is interested in finding young, bold picture books and MG and YA fiction with unique voices and unexpected characters. She strives to create a diverse and literary list with broad appeal, and to publish authors and illustrators with fresh eyes who will tell stories that are honest, humorous, and heartbreaking. Books she has acquired and edited have received a Printz Medal, a Morris Award, a National Book Foundation’s “5 Under 35” citation, a New York Times best illustrated citation, a Jane Addams Peace Award, Eisner Awards, and have been New York Times bestsellers.

Lita Judge was born in Alaska and spent much of her childhood in the north woods of Wisconsin and other wintry places. Lita is the award-winning author and illustrator of several children’s books, including Red Hat, Red Sled, One Thousand Tracings, and Pennies for Elephants. She lives with her husband in New Hampshire. http://litajudge.com/biography.html

For this auction, author-illustrator Lita Judge and editor Namrata Tripathi will do a tag-team critique of a picture book manuscript or dummy (preferably). They will provide detailed written notes on the text and art (characterization/layout/pacing etc.) The dummy can contain final art or sketches. You will receive both an editor’s perspective and award-winning picture book author-illustrator’s perspective in this critique.

Opening Bid: $30

This auction closes at 10pm Eastern Standard Time on November 28. Any bids placed after that time will be void.

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!

Tip: if you’re bidding, you may want to subscribe to the follow-up comments, so you can get notice of future bids. Subscribe via RSS on the right. —>

KidLit Cares

Auction #72 – KidLit Cares: 3 Chapter Copy Edit from Editor Lori Goldstein

Welcome to KidLit Cares, an online talent auction to benefit the Red Cross relief effort to help communities recover from Superstorm Sandy. KidLit Cares was started by the very awesome Kate Messner, but I’m taking over Round 2. Agents, editors, authors, illustrators and other generous people 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!

With a degree in journalism from Lehigh University, Lori A. Goldstein has spent the past 17 years as a freelance editor and writer. Having edited publications on everything from high-tech to finance to knitting, some of Lori’s present and past clients include the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the Radcliffe Institute, Cutter Consortium, and IDG. Transitioning into the world of fiction, Lori has completed her first novel, the upmarket JUMPING ANTS, which she is currently querying. Lori is hard at work on her next project, a YA urban fantasy. Lori is available for manuscript critiques and copy editing. She can be reached on Twitter at @_lagold or lorigold(at)hotmail(dot).com.

This auction is for a copy edit of your first three chapters, up to 6,500 words. Make sure you dot those i’s and cross those t’s before sending your first pages to literary agents! Most agents ask that you submit your first five or ten pages, sometimes even your first three chapters, along with your query letter. Ensure they are in tip-top shape by having them copy-editing by an industry professional.

Opening Bid: $30

This auction closes at 10pm Eastern Standard Time on November 27. Any bids placed after that time will be void.

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!

Tip: if you’re bidding, you may want to subscribe to the follow-up comments, so you can get notice of future bids. Subscribe via RSS on the right. —>

KidLit Cares

Auction #69 – KidLit Cares: Picture Book Critique from Editor Summer Dawn Laurie

39 Comments

Welcome to KidLit Cares, an online talent auction to benefit the Red Cross relief effort to help communities recover from Superstorm Sandy. KidLit Cares was started by the very awesome Kate Messner, but I’m taking over Round 2. Agents, editors, authors, illustrators and other generous people 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!

Summer Laurie spent 10 years working at children’s book publishers, the last seven as senior editor at Tricycle Press, the children’s division of Ten Speed Press, and the previous three years at Chronicle Books for Children. Over these years she edited more than 50 published books ranging from board books to picture books, middle-grade novels to non-fiction. Summer now works as an independent editor, helping authors one-on-one to develop their manuscripts. When not editing, she produces the kids and teen programming for the Litquake Literary Festival and is a children’s specialist at indie bookstore Books Inc. where she started the “Wild Girls Mother-Daughter Book Club”.

Summer is offering to critique a picture book submission. She will provide line edits to the manuscript as well as a developmental letter outlining overarching concerns, strengths, competition, etc.

Opening Bid: $30

This auction closes at 10pm Eastern Standard Time on November 27. Any bids placed after that time will be void.

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!

Tip: if you’re bidding, you may want to subscribe to the follow-up comments, so you can get notice of future bids. Subscribe via RSS on the right. —>

KidLit Cares

Auction #66 – KidLit Cares: Children’s or YA Manuscript Critique from Agent Jennifer Flannery

23 Comments

Welcome to KidLit Cares, an online talent auction to benefit the Red Cross relief effort to help communities recover from Superstorm Sandy. KidLit Cares was started by the very awesome Kate Messner, but I’m taking over Round 2. Agents, editors, authors, illustrators and other generous people 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!

Jennifer Flannery is a literary agent in the Chicago area. Flannery Literary was 20 years old this fall and has represented two National Book Award winners and two Newbery honor authors.

Jennifer will read and give detailed feedback on a manuscript for a novel written for children or young adults.

Opening Bid: $30

This auction closes at 10pm Eastern Standard Time on November 27. Any bids placed after that time will be void.

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!

Tip: if you’re bidding, you may want to subscribe to the follow-up comments, so you can get notice of future bids. Subscribe via RSS on the right. —>

KidLit Cares

Auction #64 – KidLit Cares: Children’s or YA Manuscript Critique from Editor Shannon Barefield

39 Comments

Welcome to KidLit Cares, an online talent auction to benefit the Red Cross relief effort to help communities recover from Superstorm Sandy. KidLit Cares was started by the very awesome Kate Messner, but I’m taking over Round 2. Agents, editors, authors, illustrators and other generous people 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!

Shannon Barefield is a freelance editor who hosts KidLitopia, a haven of encouragement and support for kidlit authors. Formerly editorial director of Carolrhoda Books, Shannon has had the privilege of editing winners of the Sibert Medal, the Coretta Scott King Award (author), the Benjamin Franklin Award, the Carter G. Woodson Award, and many others. Her editorial philosophy is one of utmost respect for authorial vision; within that framework, she sees her mission as one of offering honest, compassionate, and insightful feedback to help every book become what its author dreams of.

Help make your book the best it can with feedback from an award-winning editor! Up for auction is one compassionate, honest evaluation/critique of a YA or middle grade manuscript (up to 300 pages), including an editorial letter describing big-picture issues and comments on the manuscript. The critique will address characterization, plot, pacing, setting, voice–the works! Depending on manuscript length, this is a $400-$800 value.

Opening Bid: $30

This auction closes at 10pm Eastern Standard Time on November 27. Any bids placed after that time will be void.

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!

Tip: if you’re bidding, you may want to subscribe to the follow-up comments, so you can get notice of future bids. Subscribe via RSS on the right. —>

KidLit Cares

Auction #62 – KidLit Cares: 100 Page Manuscript Critique and Signed Books from Author Nova Ren Suma

30 Comments

Welcome to KidLit Cares, an online talent auction to benefit the Red Cross relief effort to help communities recover from Superstorm Sandy. KidLit Cares was started by the very awesome Kate Messner, but I’m taking over Round 2. Agents, editors, authors, illustrators and other generous people 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!

Nova Ren Suma is the author of the YA novel IMAGINARY GIRLS (Dutton, 2011) and the middle-grade novel DANI NOIR (Aladdin, 2009), recently reissued for the YA shelves as FADE OUT (Simon Pulse, 2012). She has an MFA in fiction from Columbia University and has been awarded fiction fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, and the Millay Colony. Her new YA novel, 17 & GONE, will come out March 2013 from Dutton. She lives in New York City and teaches YA writing with Mediabistro. Visit her online at http://novaren.com or at her blog http://distraction99.com.

For this auction, Nova is offering a manuscript critique of up to 100 pages of a YA or middle-grade novel, plus signed copies of IMAGINARY GIRLS, FADE OUT, and 17 & GONE (once books are available in 2013).

Opening Bid: $30

This auction closes at 10pm Eastern Standard Time on November 27. Any bids placed after that time will be void.

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!

Tip: if you’re bidding, you may want to subscribe to the follow-up comments, so you can get notice of future bids. Subscribe via RSS on the right. —>

KidLit Cares

Auction #60 – KidLit Cares: Picture Book Critique from Author Tara Lazar

14 Comments

Welcome to KidLit Cares, an online talent auction to benefit the Red Cross relief effort to help communities recover from Superstorm Sandy. KidLit Cares was started by the very awesome Kate Messner, but I’m taking over Round 2. Agents, editors, authors, illustrators and other generous people 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!

Tara Lazar is a children’s book author, mother, foodie and boogeyman assassin (currently booked at 3am nightly). Her debut picture book, THE MONSTORE, will be opening in your town June 2013 from Aladdin/Simon & Schuster. I THOUGHT THIS WAS A BEAR BOOK follows from Aladdin in 2014, with LITTLE RED GLIDING HOOD skating your way via Random House Children’s in Fall 2014. She runs November’s Picture Book Idea Month (PiBoIdMo) event at taralazar.com.

This auction consists of one picture book critique to be claimed at any time. Tara has three books under contract with two of the Big 6 publishers and teaches picture book writing for The Writer’s Circle Workshops. You’ll receive a thorough review of everything from concept to execution, and Tara will even critique revisions of the same manuscript until it’s submission-ready.

Opening Bid: $30

This auction closes at 10pm Eastern Standard Time on November 26. Any bids placed after that time will be void.

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!

Tip: if you’re bidding, you may want to subscribe to the follow-up comments, so you can get notice of future bids. Subscribe via RSS on the right. —>