Prospective authors, have you ever wanted to get your manuscript in front of a top-notch literary agent? Well, you could send your manuscripts in over the transom and risk the slush pile, or you could try agent Irene Goodman’s latest charity eBay auctions and do some good if you get your manuscript read.
Every month, Goodman, founder of the Irene Goodman Literary Agency, puts her services up on eBay to benefit three foundations that fund research to cure deafness and blindness: the Deafness Research Foundation, Hope for Vision and Foundation Fighting Blindness. Bidding starts at $500 for each of the three monthly auctions, and the winners get to have the first 50 pages of their manuscripts read and critiqued by Goodman.
Goodman’s agency represents dozens of bestsellers like Sharyn McCrumb, Stephanie Tyler and Larissa Ione, so if you’re going to get your manuscript read by someone, you can’t do much better.
By now, you’re probably wondering what the real story is behind these auctions. It’s no mystery: Goodman’s son Rob (with his mother above) suffers from Usher Syndrome, a rare genetic condition that causes progressive loss of both vision and hearing. It’s her hope that the research being funded by these foundations will find a cure for blindness and deafness, maybe in time to save her own son from losing those critical senses.
This month’s auctions run through the end of the day on June 4, so if you’re and writer and you’re interested, start bidding!
Photo courtesy of the Irene Goodman Literary Agency.