Author Brenda Novak's Diabetes Auction

Two of my grandparents died of complications of diabetes. That fact alone makes me care about research on diabetes prevention and cure. But I have also spent much of my professional writing life writing about diabetes, publishing hundreds of articles for patients, caregivers, and professionals. So I also care about diabetes research because I know diabetes affects 23.6 million people in the United States, and the numbers are growing each year here and around the world. I care about diabetes research because it can help prevent complications such as blindness, amputations, and heart attack. I care about diabetes research because it will one day allow many children predisposed to type 1 diabetes to have a normal childhood.

Because I care about diabetes research, I urge you to visit author Brenda Novak's auction at http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com/ this May and bid on some items or donate money outright. (Donations are tax deductible according to IRS rules.)

All money raised by the auction goes to The Diabetes Research Institute at the University of Miami, a research institute that focuses on finding a cure for type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes often starts during childhood, and affected people must take insulin shots every day for life. Last year, sale of items donated by authors and others to the auction resulted in nearly $280,000 going to diabetes research.

This year, many items of interest to authors are up for auction—chapter reads by agents and editors; critiques; mentoring sessions; publicity services; writing of your query letter; lunches with agents and editors; copyediting of your manuscript; even writing convention fees.

If you're not an author, there's still plenty of things to intrigue you. You can bid on signed books, ARCs of books that have not been released yet, gift baskets, jewelry, vacations, an iPad, and many other Very Cool Things.

If you visit the auction, please check out my own donation, the Gilgamesh Gift Basket, item 1773940. You might win a copy of Like Mayflies in a Stream and related swag, including jewelry of carnelian and lapis lazuli, two gemstones favored by the ancient Mesopotamians.




Those of you who stopped by today to read my promised post about creating personas for your public appearances, please come back Monday, May 24, when that post will appear. Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you again on the 24th.

—Shauna Roberts