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!

Susan Spann is a practicing California attorney with over ten years’ experience in intellectual property, publishing and contract law. Her publishing clients include book and magazine publishers, independent and agented authors (both traditionally and self-published), and developers of e-books and digital apps. Susan is also a writer, her Claws of the Cat, the first book in Susan’s Shiobi mystery series featuring ninja detective Hiro Hattori, debuts in July 2013 from St.Martin’s / Minotaur.

The winner of this auction will receive publishing contract review and consultation (up to 2 hours*) with Susan Spann, transactional publishing attorney. Winner will have up to 24 months to claim the review and consultation, and may elect a 1-hour consultation about general contract terms and issues instead of the contract review option (at the winner’s option). Winner will need to e-mail the contract to Susan Spann for review. Comments and consultation can take place by telephone and/or email, at the winner’s preference. Due to potential licensing issues, only California residents may bid on or win this auction.

 (*This is the standard time for review and comment on a publishing contract, so this auction is for a full, standard-length publishing contract review and commentary, not an abbreviated or truncated service.) The winner will also be able to ask follow-up questions by telephone or email. Contract review and comment includes (1) publishing attorney Susan Spann’s review of your standard-length publishing contract, (b) comments and proposed revisions to the contract language, if appropriate, (3) the opportunity to ask questions and have difficult or confusing terms explained, and (4) if appropriate, preparation of a response to the publisher requesting modifications or revisions to the contract language. Approximate retail value: $800-1,000

Opening Bid: $50 Please confirm in your bid that you are a California resident.

This auction closes at 10pm Eastern Standard Time on November 25. 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. —>