Brenda Novak auction almost at an end

The fantastic auction run by writer Brenda Novak ends today, and there are still plenty of items you can get for reasonable prices, and she somehow managed to run a raffle without running afoul of gambling laws, so you can buy raffle tickets ($20) for the next couple of days. The raffle for writers includes an edit of 30 pages, a proposal read by an agent, AND a proposal read by an editor, so theoretically it’s a publication package! Or at least a good few steps down the publication road.

I already picked up a couple of things – a proposal review by an author, and another by an agent – at less than I expected to pay for them, which means that I’m still well under budget for tonight’s finale. Alas, I will not be bidding on either the Donald Maass proposal read (currently at $1014) or the Evil Editor full manuscript read (currently at $3900), nor did I have a shot at the Kristin Nelson proposal read (closed at $1050). But I do have my eye on a few auctions.

In one sense, it’s a bit scary how much money people will pay, but if you look at this as an investment in your career, then $1000+ isn’t all that much. A professional editor who isn’t in the publishing business is going to charge a couple hundred bucks to review part of a manuscript, and that’s not going to include industry knowledge.

Of course, it’s not always clear how much feedback one will receive. Kristin Nelson said over on her blog that her read-and-response will be as in-depth as anything she does for her clients. I don’t know if that holds true across the board (or, more specifically, for the agent whose response I won), but even a decent general response would be a huge help to me.

Or make me dump the project in a fit of pique, whatever.

If you haven’t taken a look yet, please head on over. At the very least, you could buy a raffle ticket!