Auction
“Okay, I’m a little, teeny bit jealous of a few writers,” I admitted to another debut author via the anonymity of Facebook Messenger.
“I am SOOOO jealous,” she typed back.
Behind the confessional curtain of social media, we could whisper that ugly truth. We even conceded we’d been jealous of each other from time to time. Once I began opening up to more of my writer friends, many revealed mild annoyances, burning secret resentments, and even crippling envy. Still, everyone stressed they were extremely happy, thrilled, and overjoyed (substitute other convincing superlatives) for the success of other authors.
One of the most insidious sources of this madness has to be the list, which is lauded as the holy grail of success by enough writers for it to be stressful. Well, all the lists. This time of year, almost every publication from O, The Oprah Magazine to The New York Times and PopSugar releases its list of the most anticipated books for the new year. The timing couldn’t be worse because those lists come on the heels of year-end wraps of the best books from the previous year. Every time a new list emerges, a collective, congratulatory whoop rises in my author communities and I believe it’s genuine. Still, amid all the fanfare, I know authors scan those lists, starry-eyed, looking for their own names.
Lists are not an immediate consideration for me right now. I’m in the early stages of the publication process completing a second round of structural edits for my novel, which doesn’t release until early 2021. But anticipatory angst is real, if a bit irrational, and I sometimes envy authors who make lists I’m not even eligible for, wondering if my own trajectory will be on par with theirs.
One winter afternoon I spent hours poring over a website called Edelweiss (totally unrelated to The Sound of Music), where you can request advance reader copies of books and browse publishers’ catalogs. It’s still early so my book doesn’t appear in the database yet. Still, Edelweiss offers a preview of what’s happening for other authors. I try to manage my expectations.
Be cool. Just be cool.
Still, I couldn’t help but notice the publicity and marketing plans for the most buzzed about authors, which include branded influencer packages, national author tours, New York media lunches, and pre-pub cocktail parties. Some authors whose publishers are committing few if any resources to boost their books often look at those plans with envy. For me, there’s this bubble of hope, cautious optimism coursing through my veins, as I imagine all that hoopla for my novel someday.
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It’s all about Goal, Motivation, Conflict (GMC) for storytellers, yes? Here’s ours:
Our search for a single UnConference Scholarship winner was unsuccessful. The talent pool was extraordinary this year, and the stories of perseverance were truly moving. We want to award more than one scholarship, but have a cash stipend that is sufficient for only one person.
This is where you come in, WU’ers. Please consider donating (see Donation Options below) or bidding on one of four auctions started today. All proceeds go toward scholarship stipends, and your name will be listed in the UnCon program with our thanks.
Auction Rules:
Below are links to four auctions; click through to read all about them. If you’d like to bid, please do so in comments for that item’s post before 8 p.m. EST on May 11th. Serious bidders only, please. Payments over PayPal or Venmo are required within 48 hours of the auction’s close. If payment isn’t made within the 48-hour window, we’ll offer the item to the next highest bidder.
Auction Links:
AUCTION 1: A beautiful art textile handcrafted by Deb Lacativa (our 2016 UnCon scholarship winner)
AUCTION 2: A bundle of whimsical prints made by Marta Pelrine-Bacon
AUCTION 3: A set of story-inspired Dragonbelly mugs crafted by Lisa Janice Cohen
AUCTION 4: An ad and ad post bundle for your novel or writing-related product on Writer Unboxed
Donation Options:
1. Donate via our Eventbrite page. At the top of our Eventbrite page, you’ll see Registration Information/Registration Type. The fourth option is Donation to Scholarship. Note that Eventbrite will charge a fee for this transaction.
2. Donate via the Writer Unboxed PayPal account. Clearly note that your contribution is for the Scholarship. (We’ll send you a confirmation note after receiving. Know that a regular payment on PayPal will result in a fee, but a friend-to-friend transfer will not.)
Anyone who makes a donation to the scholarship account or ultimately wins one of these four auctions will be named in the WU UnConference Program, with our thanks.
Please bid and/or promote our auctions often and enthusiastically over social media. We truly appreciate your support and know the scholarship winners — who have yet to be named or informed — will also be grateful.
Good luck, and thank you!
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Deb Lacativa is both a generous person and a gifted artist, in word and in physical forms. In fact, it was Deb who won the 2016 “Writer Bob” perseverance scholarship to attend that year’s UnCon, with her fluid prose and compelling story of perseverance. The idea for an auction to raise money to benefit this year’s scholarship fund? That came from Deb, as did this beautiful, handcrafted textile that Deb herself has been working on since 2012, which she wanted to offer here as a way to pay it forward. The now finished work, called “Revisions,” is 44″ x 30″. You can practically feel the storytelling magic from there, can’t you? We know that someone’s home or office will be brightened by its presence.
Read on for additional information, and for a detailed look at this singular work of textile art.
Revisions
Revisions
2012 to 2019
44″x29″
Contemporary textile constructed with vintage cottons, damasks, linens, and other natural fabrics that have been dyed and discharged.
The cloth is layered and stitched using traditional quilt-making techniques.
Some history
If you have any questions, please contact Deb at deborah@lacativa.com.
And if you’d like to learn more about textile art, please visit this link for an explainer and a review of Deb’s work.
In Deb’s own words:
My work with textiles has much in common with contemporary painting – the come and go of colors, lines, and textures – but carved into the surface of cloth by threads under tension instead of paint on canvas.
I combine my love of color and abstraction in a continuing exploration into the possibilities of fiber as art. Although the viewers are discouraged from handling the art, I want them to ache to touch it.
Everything I make is about exciting the eye and engaging the viewer with the tactile draw of cloth and the drama of colors and shapes that hint at mystery, magic, and sometimes the sly grin.
Deb Lacativa May 5, 2019
Detailed images:
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Each of these adorable prints is 8″x8″, and ready for framing.
Artist and author, Marta Pelrine-Bacon, has been telling tales and making art since she landed here on earth (according to family lore anyway). A member of the WU community since 2011, she has attended the first two UnConferences and wishes everyone could experience the magic of writing in Salem. When not working on her art, she writes fairytales, short stories, and novels. Her first novel, The Blue Jar, was published in 2013.
In Marta’s own words:
My mom claimed I knew my color wheel before my alphabet, but my mom was also an artist, and because she was a brilliant artist, I decided not to pursue art. I didn’t wish to be compared in spite of her encouragement.
Fortunately, my other love, equal in measure, was storytelling. I wrote poems at the age of eight and short stories at ten. My father filled my head with fairytales and wild stories.
Now after years of doubt, I write and make art. The strange and unreal in books and images inspire me, and I want my work to feel not quite of this world. I am always trying to capture magic in paper.
The Prints:
Each of these adorable prints is 8″x8″, and ready for framing.
In the Twilight (print)
Two bunnies in the twilight. One finds comfort in the arms of the tree with its bright blooms. The other looks up. “Is everything okay up there?” Asleep, the other bunny above makes no reply. “Sweet dreams,” says the bunny in the dark grass. “Sweet dreams.”
In the original artwork, the black earth was cut from black paper. The grass and the tree were hand-drawn in ink. The flowers were letters punched out of my novel. The bunnies were drawn and shaded with pencil and ink. For the print, the twilight sky was created with digital effects.
The Cat & the Moon (print)
The cat watches the full moon rise and listens to the stories in the trees. Disturbed by your footsteps, the cat turns to look. Your presence may or may not be tolerated. Time will tell.
First, I cut the tree from a page from my novel. Then I drew the leaves in ink. The earth was cut from black paper. The cat was drawn in ink. In the original, the moon was made of pencil. For the print, the black sky and pale purple starlight were digitally added.
Magic in the Moonlight (print)
She dreamed of traveling the universe and gathered up all manner of magic. They warned her she was going too far.
The original piece was much larger and in pencil and ink. Her wings and hat were cut from black paper, and she was hand-drawn on watercolor paper, cut out, and glued into place. The moon effect and the fading of her dress into starlight were digitally added.
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Lisa (LJ) Cohen is a poet, novelist, and ceramics artist who has long been a valued part of the Writer Unboxed community. If you follow Lisa on social media (Facebook, Twitter), then you may already know that when her imaginary friends don’t want to come out to play, she spends time in an artist’s studio space with her hands in clay.
Read on for additional information, and for a detailed look at Lisa’s unique Dragonbelly mugs.
Dragonbelly Ceramics
Lisa’s works, ranging from beautifully glazed plates to fantastical Dragonbelly mugs, are crafted to last, and always with care and with attention to detail. Dragonbelly ceramics are highly textured, creating daily use items that are also unique works of art that have both a visual and tactile appeal.
All of Lisa’s work is informed by her love of science fiction and fantasy.
In Lisa’s own words:
As a child, I was convinced I had no artistic talent and so I avoided drawing, painting, and sculpture for the rest of my schooling and into my adult life.
I came to ceramics under protest: My then twelve-year-old son wanted to take a parent/teen class and needed a parent. He volunteered me. More than a decade later, I am still exploring the joy of self-expression through hand building and wheel throwing with clay.
After a long career as a physical therapist, I have learned to trust the wisdom in my hands and let it guide me in creating ware at the intersection of imagination and function.
The work is made from stoneware, fired at cone 6. It is dishwasher and microwave safe and all glazes are food safe.
Detailed Images:
While Lisa is not a production potter, she is available for commissions and often sells her work at local art and craft shows. Learn more about her process at https://www.dragonbellyceramics.com, and learn more about her novels on her author site at https://www.ljcohen.net.
Lisa, thank you for donating some of your dragon treasure for the cause!
Even though Lisa isn’t a huge GoT fan, we’re going to suggest here that Dragonbelly mugs would make a GoT fan very happy. And don’t GoT fans deserve some happiness? We think so, too.
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Have a novel or writing-related service you’d like to promote on Writer Unboxed? Bid on this package and receive a traditional two-week ad run at Writer Unboxed, along with our more experimental “ad post,” to be pushed out to our feed and email readers.
More about the ad
Writer Unboxed receives thousands of hits daily. This means thousands of potential eyes on your ad—the eyes of serious writers who are also avid readers.
More about the ad post
In addition to our site’s traffic, WU has over 7,000 subscribers on Feedly and reaches over 5,000 email subscribers. We’ve recently begun experimenting with ad posts and have learned that they may be our most powerful offering. We’ll rejigger our ad menu in the coming months to offer more ad posts, but in the meantime you can win this perk for yourself.
Here are a few examples of recent ad posts that have done well by our advertisers, to give you a sense of what this may look like for you:
Terms
Read MoreBack in December we received a note from author Kim Boykin, whose debut novel The Wisdom of Hair was set to release in March. We book WU guest slots far in advance, and had to let her know that we would’t be able to offer anything in March, however something Kim said to us sparked another idea. She spent a good deal of her own money on promotional opportunities offered through the Brenda Novak Auction last year–opportunities that have and will help her to market The Wisdom of Hair. The Brenda Novak auction, which raises money for diabetes research and has become very popular among all in the writing community, was kicking off again in May. Maybe there would be an opportunity to talk about it then?
Absolutely.
Said Kim:
I believe writers make a difference just by telling stories. Winning the right item for your writing on Brenda Novak’s Auction For Diabetes Research can go a long way toward advancing your publishing career AND go a long way towards saving lives.
Last year, Kim came away with many useful wins, including an AUTHORBUZZ Package from Author M.J. Rose and more. (She’ll tell you more about them below.) Wonderful buys, and it’s a win-win-win for Kim as the cause hits close to home. She said:
Both of my husbands parents are diabetic and my grandmother was too. Brenda Novak’s son is 15 and insulin dependent, it’s a cause close to many hearts.”
You can learn more about Kim and The Wisdom of Hair on her website and blog, and by following her on Facebook and Twitter. Enjoy, and bid, WU’ers; this is a great cause.
Doubling Down
Recently, I told a group of aspiring authors that there’s never been a better time to be a writer, and it’s true. Even with traditional publishers still trying to figure out the industry and Amazon’s continued march toward domination, I believe this is the best time in the history of storytelling to get your story out.
As a novelist, I thought nabbing a publishing contract would be the hardest part of the process. I was wrong. Whether it’s your first or your fifty-first, getting your book noticed today is like meeting a blind date at a massive cocktail party in the middle of Times Square and telling him to look for the girl in the little black dress.
So, what’s a traditionally published or self-published author to do? Coming from a marketing background, I looked for ways to maximize the advertising and promotions budget I set for myself and found bestselling author Brenda Novak’s Annual Online Auction For Diabetes Research.
Read MoreAs promised, our second annual Writer Unboxed auction begins today.
We are excited to offer you opportunities to gain valuable attention in exchange for funds. Money earned during this auction will provide for WU’s needs–web hosting upgrades, server space to accommodate our growing traffic, our newsletter expenses, and seed money for future projects. We hope you agree that this auction can be a win-win for all of us.
The Auctions. We want to keep this simple. Three auctions, described in three separate posts below. If you’d like to bid, please do so in comments for that particular auction. Please don’t bid unless you are serious. Payments over PayPal are required within 48 hours of the close of the auction, and all auctions will close at 8 p.m. EST on January 30th. If payment isn’t made within the 48-hour window, we’ll offer to the next highest bidder.
Scroll down to view all three of our auctions, and thank you in advance for your bids! Write on.
Read MoreProfile your book–or even your business or blog–with a Take 8 Q&A.
Writer Unboxed’s Take 5’s are our popular Q&As that get at the heart of an author’s writing process, inspirations, and storytelling. We want to offer the same opportunity to the winning bidder. To make the opportunity even more enticing, we’ll offer our first-ever Take 8 interview. EIGHT incisive questions designed to let readers know everything they need to know about your book–and/OR your blog or business.
[pullquote]We’d even be open to a little spin here: you and friend bid on this together, and interview one another here at WU.[/pullquote]
Winning bidder’s interview will go live within the calendar year, on a mutually agreeable date.
Why do we think you can gain attention on our site?
Our Traffic. And our audience.
Writer Unboxed currently receives between 3k-4k hits daily, and has over 6,500 subscribers on Feedburner. This means thousands of potential eyes on your interview—the eyes of serious writers who are also avid readers, many of whom have their own websites and blogs, and who have developed a hearty presence on Facebook and Twitter. Our readers will help to spread the word when they happen upon good info; they do it for us every day. And they’ll do it for you too.
Have we mentioned lately that we love the WU community? We do, we really do.
If you’ve donated to us in the past, please know that we are more grateful than words can express. Your support enables us to continue and expand projects in ways you know about–and ways we are in the process of developing. Thank you!
BID FOR A TAKE 8 Q&A WITH WRITER UNBOXED BELOW IN COMMENTS. AUCTION CLOSES AT 8 P.M. EST, JANUARY 30TH. HIGH BID WINS. SERIOUS BIDDERS ONLY PLEASE. Good luck!
Photo courtesy Flickr’s WarmSleepy
Read MoreBid to win the first ever customized banner ad in Writer Unboxed’s popular bi-monthly newsletter, Writer Inboxed, and reach 2,000 engaged readers.
This auction is for a horizontal banner ad, similarly proportioned as the one shown below, that will appear in the WU newsletter, Writer Inboxed. You choose which issue you wish your ad to appear.
Writer Inboxed has tremendous community support, and continues to grow in audience by the month. Edited by the inimitable Jan O’Hara, it’s stuffed with exclusive content–interviews, Q&As, tips, articles, even book reviews–and boasts a circulation of over 2,000 highly engaged readers. (Sign up HERE if you’ve been missing out.)
As mentioned, this will be the first ad ever created for the newsletter–aside from the ad-for-ads you see below! It will run without competition from other ads. [pullquote]This will be the first ad ever created for the newsletter.[/pullquote]
If you win this, our design expert will work with you to create something truly unique. All you’d need to do is provide us with the art (a high-quality jpg of your book cover or the logo for your business), some pertinent copy (like a selling quote for your book or a client’s recommendation) and a hyperlink to the web portal of your choice. You will also be given the final jpg to use for future marketing purposes if you so desire.
If you’ve donated to us in the past, please know that we are more grateful than words can express. Your support enables us to continue and expand projects in ways you know about–and ways we are in the process of developing. Thank you!
BID FOR A SKYSCRAPER AD TO APPEAR IN ONE ISSUE OF WRITER INBOXED BELOW IN COMMENTS. AUCTION CLOSES AT 8 P.M. EST ON JANUARY 30TH. HIGH BID WINS. SERIOUS BIDDERS ONLY PLEASE. Good luck!
Photo courtesy Flickr’s qthomasbower
Read MoreBid to win Writer Unboxed’s skyscraper ad space. Your ad will run at the top of our sidebar for two weeks, anytime within the next year. You tell us when.
Last year’s popular skyscraper ad auction item is back with a twist. This year’s auctioned ad will be twice the height of any ad run on WU to date. (Note the ad we’re currently running on the left sidebar, and double its vertical range; that’s what we’re offering.) What does that mean?
More room for graphics. More room for copy. A bigger bang for your buck. [pullquote]This year’s auctioned ad will be twice the height of any ad run on WU to date.[/pullquote]
And this ad is the cheese. It will stand alone, without any competing ads.
If you win this, our ad guru will work with you to create something truly unique. All you’d need to do is provide us with the art (a high-quality jpg of your book cover or the logo for your business), some pertinent copy (like a selling quote for your book or a client’s recommendation) and a hyperlink to the web portal of your choice. OR you can provide us with an already created web ad sized to our specs, if you prefer.
Why do we think you can gain attention on our site?
Our Traffic. And our audience.
Writer Unboxed currently receives between 3k-4k hits daily. This means thousands of potential eyes on your ad—the eyes of serious writers who are also avid readers.
If you’ve donated to us in the past, please know that we are more grateful than words can express. Your support enables us to continue and expand projects in ways you know about–and ways we are in the process of developing. Thank you!
BID ON WRITER UNBOXED’S SKYSCRAPER AD BELOW IN COMMENTS. AUCTION CLOSES AT 8 P.M. EST ON JANUARY 30TH. HIGH BID WINS. SERIOUS BIDDERS ONLY PLEASE. Good luck!
Photo courtesy Flickr’s hokkey
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