Here at the eBay Stories blog, we love reading about writers and are often on the lookout for cool auctions related to talented, up-and-coming novelists. Last year, in the post entitled Become a character in a novel, we talked about some very interesting auctions in which the winning bidder could have a character in a young adult novel named after him or herself. As we mentioned in the original post, imagine having the hero (or villain) of one of the massively popular Young Adult books of the last few decades – such as the Harry Potter or the Hunger Game series – named after you. Just three letters to describe that experience: F-U-N!
In fact, the designation young adult seems part of the recipe to create a blockbuster hit. This got us speculating over what exactly a young adult novel is. At first, the name of the genre just seems like a clever marketing ploy, another way to slice and dice the American population for commercial purposes. YALSA, or the Young Adult Library Service, which is part of the American Library Association, noted that young adult literature was “once dismissed as a genre consisting of little more than problem novels and romances,” but that it has come of age (no pun intended) since the mid-1990s. Wikipedia posits that young adult stories focus on an adolescent character, rather than an adult or child, as the protagonist but, aside from that, this type of literature can run the gamut of literary styles.
We found a number of auctions from authors of young adult and middle grade literature on eBay to benefit the victims of Hurricane Sandy. Items up for auction include autographed hardcovers and autographed ARCs (aka advanced copy books), autographed collections, school visits by some of the authors, virtual Skype chats, and much more. If you’d like to see the entire list, and it is worth a look, take a peek here.
It was hard to choose amongst the plethora of cool items up for sale, but I did find two items that jumped out at me. First up is this ONE-OF-A-KIND ARC of SLOPPY FIRSTS W/ AUTHOR MEGAN MCCAFFERTY’S PERSONAL NOTES:
The author, Megan McCafferty, describes what is on offer:
“(T)he last Advanced Readers Copy of SLOPPY FIRSTS the author has in her possession. It could quite possibly be the last ARC of SLOPPY FIRSTS in existence. This uncorrected proof (spot the errors!) dates waaay back to late 2000, before all the Backstreet Boys became men. AN AUTOGRAPH IS NOT ENOUGH FOR HURRICANE SANDY RELIEF. Megan will personally annotate all over this ARC in her very own handwriting. THAT’S RIGHT. She’ll separate fact from fiction by scribbling insider information about growing up on the Jersey Shore and providing backstories for all the characters. YES. INCLUDING THE TRUE ORIGINS OF MARCUS FLUTIE. Even if you’re read (and re-read) SLOPPY FIRSTS, you’ve never experienced it like this before. A truly unique gift for the ultimate Jessica Darling fan!”
This is truly a unique item, and has already been bid up to $500. It will be interesting to see where the bidding ends up.
There are various auctions for budding young adult authors out there as well. If you have written something, or have a great idea for the “next big thing,” you can bid to have authors or editors critique your manuscripts, synopsis, or queries. Consider it a leg up on the competition. You’ll have to look through the entire auction list to find the one for you, but our favorite is CRITIQUE of 25 MANUSCRIPT PAGES by SIMON PULSE EXECUTIVE EDITOR LIESA ABRAMS
The bidding on this item is at over $200 already, so you’ll need to pony up to get your manuscript reviewed. But it could be worth it, given Liesa’s track record. The listing gives some information about Liesa’s biography:
“Liesa Abrams is Executive Editor at Simon Pulse, where she edits Brandon Mull’s #1 New York Times bestselling BEYONDERS series, the blockbuster bestselling DORK DIARIES series, as well as a number of teen and tween properties from authors such as Lisa McMann, Christopher Pike, James Riley, Shannon Messenger, Alan Silberberg, and Mindi Scott.”
The reason I chose to highlight this editor over the others is simple: my 9-year-old child is a fan of the Dork series, while I will be a character in a future Brandon Mull novel.
Yes, I won that auction last year!
This is just wonderful to know! I’m very intrested in the Young Adult unite for Sandy Relief program and since I volunteer at ebay I know I can be a big help to all of you! Thank you for sharing!