Author Holly Tucker was in touch with me several months back. She wrote:

I’m pairing up with the Red Cross for a book-focused online fundraiser during Red Cross Month in March. I’d love it if the Writer Unboxed gang jumped in with a few great donations for the cause!

And so it began.

Kath and I put out the call to our contributors, and the call was answered until we had a whole array of offerings: books and services and cool opportunities (oh, my!). We’re happy to announce that the WU gang has donated 15 items to be auctioned off over the course of five weeks. More good news: Bidding on week-one items starts today.

We sincerely hope that you’ll support this endeavor and bid on items of interest–not just items put up by WUers, but those put up by the many authors, editors, agents, publicists, booksellers, designers, marketers, and bloggers contributing to the auction. Every cent earned goes to The Red Cross.

So what is WU donating, exactly? I’ll link to everything here, but only some of these items are available to bid on today (auction week noted at the end of the item’s description).

*4* Blog Mama Auctions:

1. Kathleen Bolton and Therese Walsh will contribute a day to guest blog on Writer Unboxed. Yep. You write the post, we’ll intro you in WU style, and one entire day will be yours on this well-traveled platform. (Fine-print details on the RC website.) WEEK FOUR (March 21-27).
1. Kathleen Bolton will contribute signed copies of the First Daughter series, along with a tote bag. WEEK ONE (March 1-6)
1. Therese Walsh will contribute a “The Last Will of Moira Leahy Book Club in a Box” for your club (up to ten copies of the book), a panettone, to enjoy a taste of Rome, and a fascinating book about twins called Twin Stories. Therese is also happy to have a discussion of the TLWoML with your book club by phone. WEEK ONE (March 1-6)
1. Therese Walsh will offer a 50-page critique of your work-in-progress. WEEK THREE (March 14-20)

*11* Monthly Contributor Auctions:

1. Ann Aguirre will offer a 100-page critique of your work-in-progress. WEEK TWO (March 7-13)
1. Jane Friedman will offer a 30-minute consultation with an aspiring writer. WEEK ONE (March 1-6)
1. Agent Donald Maass will contribute a signed copy of his newest book (not-yet released), The Breakout Novelist. WEEK TWO (March 7-13)
1. Jael McHenry will contribute a “Kitchen Daughter Book Club in a Box”: signed copies of The Kitchen Daughter for your members (up to 10), a box of sweet treats baked from the recipes in the book (like Grandma Damson’s Shortbread and Midnight Cry Brownies) and a discussion of the book with the author — in person if your club meets in the NYC area, otherwise by Skype or phone. WEEK TWO (March 7-13)
1. Barbara O’Neal will contribute a “Baking a Perfect Life in a Box”: 5 signed copies of How to Bake a Perfect Life, a celebratory signed apron, a sourdough crock and starter yeast, a collection of colorful spatulas and a handwritten collection of the author’s favorite bread recipes. WEEK THREE (March 14-20)
1. Debbie Ridpath Ohi will contribute a selection of greeting cards with her writer comics and a hand-illustrated & handwritten instapoem about the winner. WEEK THREE (March 14-20)
1. Ray Rhamey will donate a critique and line edit of the first 30 pages of a novel. The value is $100, based on his rate for the 1-chapter deal I offer on Flogging the Quill. WEEK THREE (March 14-20)
1. Jan O’Hara will contribute a Writer’s Hope Basket comprised of 1 copy of Betsy Lerner’s Forest for the Trees, 1 copy of Ralph Keyes’ Writer’s Book of Hope, 1 copy of Seven Steps on the Writer’s Path by Lott and Pickard, and 1 copy of Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird. WEEK THREE (March 14-20)
1. Sophie Masson will contribute a critique of a query letter to a YA/children’s book editor. WEEK THREE (March 14-20)
1. Anna Elliott will contribute signed copies of her Avalon series. WEEK TWO (March 7-13)
1. Author John Vorhaus will contribute signed copy of his Killer Poker series. WEEK FIVE (March 28-31)

Will you help us spread the word? Tweet about it, FB about it, blog about it. And bid high (and often) at the Writers for the Red Cross auction site.

Thanks from all of us here at WU, from Holly Tucker, and from the Red Cross. Write on!

Therese Walsh

Therese Walsh (she/her) co-founded Writer Unboxed in 2006 and is the site’s editorial director. She was the editor of WU’s only book, Author in Progress, and runs the Writer Unboxed UnConference.

Her second novel, The Moon Sisters, received starred reviews and was named one of the best books of the year by Library Journal and Book Riot.

Learn more about Therese on her website, and sign up for her newsletter to be among the first to hear about any new projects.

www.theresewalsh.com/