Before the Split Charity Auction

 As you can see on your left, I donated to Swati Avasthi's Before The Split Blog Tour and Charity auction.  I made two donations, actually.  One is a signed ARC of my new YA novel Jumpstart the World, and the other might be of particular interest to newer writers:  a critique of a synopsis, query letter and the first 30 pages of your manuscript.

To honor National Domestic Violence Awareness month, Swati Avasthi (YA author of Split, a terrific debut novel) has combined a blog tour with a charity auction. Over 40 authors, agents and editors have donated manuscript critiques, personalized books, and more to an online auction that anyone--reader, writer, book lover--can bid on and buy.  All proceeds go to the Family Violence Prevention Fund. In addition to the auction, Avasthi is donating $1/comment on her 26-stop, month-long blog tour, coordinated by Kari Olson at Teen Book Scene. If we reach the goal and cap of $250, Swati will double the donation to the Family Violence Prevention Fund.  The CDC estimates that one in four women will experience intimate partner abuse during her life and UC Davis estimates that a child who grew up witnessing abuse is four times as likely to perpetrate abuse, 25 times more likely to commit rape and 6 times more likely to commit suicide. Family Violence Prevention Fund has some great initiatives, including Coaching Boys Into Men and Start Strong, that are about breaking the intergenerational cycle and preventing abuse.  So, follow the tour, get stuff you want, and make a difference.

Both of these buttons are links to everything you'll need to know about the tour.  So check it out, and bid high, knowing your money is going to a great cause as well as getting you some great stuff.  

We really can make a difference.