Call to Bloggers: Blogging For a Cure . . .
September 13th, 2007 by jules
By now, you have probably read the very sad news of the death of Robert Mercer, Grace Lin’s husband, at the end of last month, due to cancer.
You may remember from our May ’07 interview with Grace that she was the driving force behind the Robert’s Snow: for Cancer’s Cure fundraising effort after Robert was initially diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma and after writing Robert’s Snow (Viking Books; 2004) soon after that diagnosis. The fundraising effort entailed the auctioning off of special snowflakes, created by children’s book illustrators, whom Grace had gathered together in the name of raising money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI). The auction raised a great deal of money in its first year after the publication of this book, which features these illustrators, many of them award-winning, and their creatively and uniquely designed wood snowflakes for the cause. One hundred percent of the royalties from the book’s sale went to the DFCI to support sarcoma research. Robert’s Snow is in its third year and has already raised more than $200,000 for Dana-Farber. (You can see the 2005 snowflakes here).
This year, more than 200 well-known children’s book illustrators from around the world have been given a five-inch wooden snowflake to decorate at will. Like actual snowflakes, each design is unique. The 2007 online auctions for bidding on these hand-painted snowflakes will take place in three separate auctions, open to everyone, from November 19 to 23, November 26-30, and December 3-7. You can read here for more information (the image above is a publicity image for the upcoming auctions, used with permission from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. You may click on the image itself to launch the Robert’s Snow site).
What we in the kidlitosphere community want to do to help drive traffic to the site for this year’s auctions and help raise money for the cause is highlight at our blogs the illustrators who have created snowflakes for these upcoming ’07 auctions — as well as post the unique snowflakes they have made (one at a time at each blog, which the DFCI has graciously given us permission to do), ultimately driving as much traffic as we possibly can to the Robert’s Snow online auctions. Many bloggers have expressed a desire to do something, and we think this can be our unique contribution. If you are a blogger interested in doing so (and we need all the help we can get), here’s how it will work:
At the bottom of this post is a link to the list of the illustrators thus far (some of them have yet to complete their snowflakes, so there will be more) who will be contributing snowflakes for the 2007 auctions. If you are willing to commit to highlighting five (or less) of these illustrators in posts at your blog — starting on a day in either October or early November (the launch date will be decided after talking a bit more to the DFCI and after seeing how many bloggers are interested in participating) — contact Jules at seventhings *at* blaine *dot* org. I’ll let you know if someone else has already chosen that illustrator (it’ll have to be first-come, first-serve), and we’ll decide which illustrators you are going to commit to featuring at your blog.
You will then contact that illustrator directly (if you cannot find contact information online, we bloggers can band together and try our best to help you find that information via various and sundry publisher/publicity contacts) to ask if he or she is willing to be featured at your blog — as in, do a write-up about this illustrator, books illustrated, etc. It doesn’t have to be a terribly detailed thing, though you can go crazy if you’d like. Perhaps the illustrator will give you permission to feature some art work. Perhaps you can just show book covers. You will also have the DFCI’s permission to post an image of the illustrator’s unique snowflake created this year. The idea is to let the emphasis be on the illustrator and the fact that she or he created a snowflake for this cause and to point readers in the direction of that auction.
* * * {Note: Some bloggers might want to feature more than five illustrators. For now, to keep things relatively simple, we’ll start with five max, but we might need bloggers to take more later. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.}
* * * {Another note: Do. not. be. intimidated. by. this. Eisha and I feature illustrators every Sunday at our blog, and I can’t tell you how willing most of them are to share their art work. A lot of other bloggers could probably tell you the same thing. Of all the illustrators we’ve highlighted since we started featuring them every Sunday, only perhaps two never even returned our emails. The rest of them were as pleased to be featured as we were to feature them. Don’t be scared. It’s not as daunting as it might sound.}
Bloggers who participate must agree to certain terms. First, you must — it mostly goes without saying — link to the auction site itself. That is the whole idea here. Second, you must notify me (Jules) as soon as your post(s) featuring your illustrators goes live and send me the direct URLs for these posts (again, we won’t start this until October or November; I’m not talkin’ next week here). Why is this? Because I will keep here at 7-Imp a running Master Schedule (daily, for as long as this multi-blog, cross-posting effort lasts) of all the snowflake-making-illustrators featured at all your blogs. You can directly link your post to this (or you can even copy that day’s schedule to post at your own blog). This way we can direct readers (who want more information on all the illustrators involved in this fundraising effort) directly to the blogs that are featuring them, and all blogs will be pointing readers straight in the direction of the Robert’s Snow site. Essentially, it will all work in a multi-blog, cross-posting way, just like the recent Summer Blog Blast Tour and Under the Radar events. (And, yes, if this sounds like a Colleen Mondor master plan of action, that’s ’cause I got her expert guidance on organizing all this. I still want her to, say, run my life or something. She’s just so good at this, but I digress).
So, if you’re interested in this and it seems like something to which you can commit, please contact me. Again, right now I simply need to know how many bloggers are interested in highlighting an illustrator (or two or three or four or five!). After that point — and after talking a bit more with the DFCI — we will finalize exactly when we will launch all this.
We can do it, you all. It really won’t be that hard. And why are we doing this? Why are we honoring Robert’s memory when most of us never even met him? Because 1) we care about Grace; 2) we probably all — each and every one of us, I dare say — know someone who has been affected by cancer; 3) we as bloggers can band together and put our keyboards and minds to work toward this good, cure-seeking cause; 4) it’s just really neat to see these illustrators put their talents toward this fundraising effort, not to mention to see their beautiful and funny and creative and clever and one-of-a-kind artwork on these wood snowflakes; and 5) we can’t all afford a unique snowflake created by one of our favorite illustrators, but we can help direct those who can afford them to this site to do our part in helping raise funds to fight cancer (’cause, of course, we’ll also band together and publicize this/get the word out about this as much as we possibly can).
Click here to read the list of illustrators (thus far) who have created snowflakes for the ’07 auctions, posted with permission from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. There will be more illustrators and snowflakes, too, and we’ll get that covered once it’s all finalized. For now, if you’re interested in featuring any of these illustrators and their snowflakes, contact me.
* * * {Final and Most Important Note: None of this would be possible without the assistance of Elaine Magliaro. Thanks, Elaine.} . . .
This is fantastic, Jules! Good work!
[…] for a cure September 12, 2007 Filed under: Events — Trisha @ 11:44 pm from Jules of Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast: By now, you have probably read the very sad news of the death of Robert Mercer, Grace Lin’s […]
This is fabulous! I am copying you and linking on my blog. Sign me up for some of those illustrators!
Jules,
A million thanks to you and Eisha for organizing all of this…and thanks, in advance, to all the bloggers who will help spread word about Robert’s Snow 2007. I must also express my gratitude to all the artists who have created works of snowflake art for Robert’s Snow 2007.
I own eight snowflakes–four from the 2004 auction and four from the 2005 auction. They are beautiful unique creations that I treasure.
What a fantastic thing to do!
If you need me, I’m in. However, traffic has fallen off for my blog (since I stopped, um, posting much) so please put other bloggers before me to help bolster this event.
I’m also happy to tag-team with another blogger if they need me to do the legwork of putting together the profiles for them.
Oh, I claim Nancy for help! If she wants to…
I wanted to sign-in here with a big bravo (brava?) to you for thinking of this and putting it out there. MoReader is most certainly in for a penny, in for a pound.
Sure, MotherReader, you and Nancy can pair up — or help one another or however you want to do it. Do you have a way to get in touch with her, MoReader? I’ll leave that up to you all but make a general note that Nancy’s interested in helping or tag-teaming or just generally whatever she can. Thanks to you both.
And thanks for everyone’s interest. Lots of emails came pouring in this morning at the gmail account, but keep ’em coming. There will be OVER 200 ILLUSTRATORS. I repeat: over 200! Let’s try to get each and every one covered if we can….
Wow, what a cool idea. Brava to Jules and Elaine. Count me in. (I sent you an email, Jules.)
Jules, Eisha, Elaine, you are incredible women. Thank you so much.
You’re doing us proud, girls. This is all kinds of awesomeness…
Thank you so much for spearheading this effort, you guys are AWESOME!
A Year of Reading is IN! Thanks for organizing a way for all of us to help.
This looks great, Jules! Very well-organized. You’ve put in a lot of work already. Thanks for giving people a way to make a difference. I just posted about this, too.
I’m in. Pick an illustrator for me.
Reposted this call at Bildungsroman –
http://slayground.livejournal.com/278131.html
– and I’m about to tell the readergirlz.
This is a lovely and proactive and generous thing of you guys to do. Thank you.
I just posted about cancer and cures and this effort.
And while I’m not a good person to highlight illustrators (because I never include any pictures in my blog!?*!&!) I DO promise to help spread the word, link to you all, etc.
[…] to Jules and Eisha at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast for highlighting this fabulous fundraiser and for organizing the book-bloggers […]
As a Grace Lin fan and the friend of a Leukemia survivor, I can’t pass this up. I would love to highlight Elisa Kleven if she’s hasnt been snapped up already, I love her pictures.
Wow, J & E, what an amazing post. Good job doing good.
Thank you for all your efforts on organizing this amazing fundraiser. Can’t wait to see the lovely creations designed by the 200 talented illustrators.
Thank you for doing this, Jules, Eisha, Elaine, and all the bloggers who participate. It will be great if this year Robert’s Snow raises even more money than last….and if it does, it will be because of all of you. Thank you.
Libby
As one of the snowflake illustrators, I am alarmed to hear that we are considered by some to be scary. I think of us as a welcoming, gentle, cat-owning people. Now, authors, those are the irritable, zebra-owning recluses in their penthouse apartments with the long fingernails and so on. So I await somebody’s email or call.
Thanks, Jules and Eisha.
I’ve been writing that a lot lately.
I sent you an email too – what a wonderful and VERY worthwhile idea!!!
Becky
What a beautiful idea – in so many ways. I love art and blogging, and acts of kindness. I’ll link to this post for my blogging friends and email you. Count me in, and excited about it!
Your mail box must be full because I emailed you too. I would be so honored to help out.
Beautiful idea! Both my blogs, AmoXcalli and Cuentecitos can host illustrators. Count me in!
I’d love to help, too.
[…] Cece’s Snowflake for Robert’s Snow 7Imp is organizing a huge effort to publicize Robert’s Snow this year. I hope to take part in their plans myself and I hope you’ll visit their site and offer your help as well. […]
[…] everyone. The response to the recent post about our multi-blog effort to drive traffic to the upcoming Robert’s Snow online auctions […]
I sure hope there are still illustrators left to showcase, I would be honored to feature anyone involved in creating a snowflake.
Thanks so much for doing this.
gail
I would be honored to feature these illustrators on JacketFlap. Thank you for putting this meaningful event together.
Tracy
Another snowflake illustrator here: Thank you for doing this J & E! This event needs all the support it can get. (And I know I’ll be shouting from the mountaintops on my own blog!) Btw, I am very scary and unapproachable, so whoever interviews me, be warned – HA!
🙂
e
Elizabeth O. Dulemba
dulemba.com
my snowflake
Dear Jules and Eisha, what an awesome impossible thing to believe before breakfast, the way you are giving a hand to this project.
Hopefully there will be some spots left for some of us illustrators who have created snowflakes for this project, but whose name has not been displayed in the list yet.
With much unbelievable respect,
Yuyi Morales
Elizabeth, I’ll warn your blogger about your scariness. Heh. …..thanks for the comment!
Yuyi, I’ll email you…..
Wow this is such a wonderful idea! Thanks so much for doing this!! The whole Robert’s Snow Project is such a great thing to be participating in. It’s my first year I created a snowflake. But I will do it every time if they let me. It was soooo fun!
Thanks Again!
[…] month, people all over the country and all over the world will race, walk, ride, dance, bake, and blog for the cure, to name a just a […]
[…] may remember the Blogging for the Cure effort, begun in mid-September. Well, in the way of an update, all is going well. Over 150 illustrators […]
Thank you to everyone for whom words may come easier than pictures. Liz Burns has kindly contacted me and I will do anything I can to help her blog publicize Robert’s Snow.
I don’t own a cat but have an incredibly friendly border collie.
cheers, Ashley
[…] helping to raise money to fight cancer for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Back in September, the call to bloggers began, and over 70 bloggers responded, saying that they’d like to do what they can in this […]
[…] at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. (If you are unfamiliar with the project, learn more here and here.) […]
[…] at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. (If you are unfamiliar with the project, learn more here and here.) […]
I am a once (or twice) a week poster in my blog, but Robert’s snow is featured in a recent post there. Don’t know if get around to featuring five snowflakes and their illustrators, but I admire them all.
-wendieO
[…] to Bloggers: Blogging For a Cure . . . unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptYou may remember from our May ’07 […]
[…] literary blogosphere to support Robert’s Snow, a fundraiser for cancer research. Called Blogging for a Cure, each day for the next few weeks bloggers will be highlighting the snowflakes created by some of […]
You own a especially exciting site covering lots of topics I am interested as well.Just bookmarked your blog so I can decipher more in the next days… Just continue your marvellous artice writing
[…] Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast has a beautiful idea and AmoXcalli want to be part of it! Head on over to 7 for a look. More on that later. […]
[…] raising their profile and hopefully exposing more potential auction participants. 7-Imp organizers Jules & Eisha have explained everything you’ll need to know to get involved in showcasing a snowflake at […]