Chabon and Grisham and King, Oh My!
Lots of attention pertaining to our upcoming auction. The fundraising auction – inspired to support FAP by Pulitzer Prize winning author and Advisory Board member, Michael Chabon, (who has been incredibly generous and instrumental in lining up such a talented array of writers) is a pretty awesome series of what we are certain will be most fortunate events. (The idea of holding a group auction came from Neil Gaiman, who recently auctioned off the name of a cruise liner in his upcoming novel, Anansi Boys, for 3.5k on eBay).
Michael Chabon and 16 of America's most prominent authors, including John Grisham, Rick Moody, Nora Roberts, Stephen King and Amy Tan have banded together to raise money for the First Amendment Project(FAP) through eBay Giving Works, the dedicated program for charity listings, starting on September 1st and running through September 25th, 2005. The authors will auction off the chance to name a character in their upcoming books, and donate the proceeds tothe FAP, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to protecting and promoting freedom of information, expression, and petition. After 12 years of assisting activists, journalists and artists, FAP is struggling financially and in serious danger of closing. Michael Chabon, a member of FAP’s Advisory Board, turned to his colleagues in the literary world and enlisted them to rally to FAP's defense.
Additional writers include: Dorothy Allison, Dave Eggers, Karen Joy Fowler, Neil Gaiman, Andrew Sean Greer, Jonathan Lethem, ZZ Packer, Chuck Palahniuk, Lemony Snicket, Peter Straub, and Ayelet Waldman
To date, these are the details:
September 1-10: Michael Chabon, Amy Tan, Peter Straub, Andrew Sean Greer, Karen Joy FowlerStay tuned. I will keep you updated as things develop. In the meanwhile, further details are available at www.ebay.com/fap.
September 8-18: Stephen King, Lemony Snicket, Dorothy Allison, Jonathan Lethem, Ayelet Waldman
September 15-25: John Grisham, Nora Roberts, Neil Gaiman, Dave Eggers, Rick Moody, ZZ Packer
3 Comments:
Neat idea. If I can afford it, I'll bid.
Off topic: Can you create some buttons and banners to link to this page? I would be happy to link to it from my blog and give it a shout out.
11:57 AM
Even though the idea is quite original, I don't think that this auction is really a good thing for your organisation.
In a way, it says : "let's protect the right to say wath we want by selling this right".
Authors that give the names to auction are in fact giving this opportunity to the person who can afford more than other people.
Isn't it exactly the kind of morale your organisation does (with very good reasons) fight ?
8:26 AM
Thanks for your interest Scott. There is now a poster (copies of which we will be auctioning as well) that can be used, and we will create a couple more of varying sizes this week.
Vince, I wouldn't say we, or anyone involved, claim to be "selling" the right for anyone to say what they want. These authors have generously provided this opportunity to raise funds for FAP so we can continue to provide vital information and representation to artists, writers, journalist, activists or anyone that is threatened with violations of the First Amendment.
Even the highest bidders in this instance, do not obtain the "right" to "say what they want" but rather are given an opportunity to participate within specific parameters laid out by specific authors. (see the details at http://www.ebay.com/fap)
It's simply a fun and somewhat novel (no pun intended) way to raise funds we need rather urgently.
Many not-for-profit organizations use auctions as a method to raise funds. We are very appreciative of the authors that have contributed to this endeavor and are proud to associate our organization with their names.
11:39 PM
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