literary silent auction 2009
Want to have drinks with a reporter and best-selling author? Have Boston's best design experts reenvision your home? Bid in Grub Street's 4th annual silent auction for unique literary gems -- all while helping Grub grow! More packages to be added very, very soon. Also check out our "From the Desk Of" Postcard Auction.packages
BIDDING IS NOW CLOSED. FINAL BIDS ARE BELOW! |
1.) Knock Your Sox Off Die-hard fans, fair-weather friends, even new recruits to the booming Red Sox Nation will delight in the chance to visit a kinder, swankier Fenway, with two game seats in the exclusive State Street Pavilion, plus a baseball signed by Kevin Youkilis. Cozy up to the Green Monster first with a press-box tour of the park, hosted by Steve Buckley, head sports writer at the Boston Herald and WEEI radio guru. Worried about rain delays? Warm yourself in the sun of some sportive knowledge, with an advance copy of Buckley's anticipated Wicked Good Year: How the Red Sox, Patriots, and Celtics Turned the Hub of the Universe into the Capital of Sports (pub. Nov '09), as well as a copy of Stephen King and Stewart O'Nan's eerily enthusiastic Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chroncle the Historic 2004 Season. Forget elbowing your way through the bleachers--with these perks, you'll hobnob with the loyal and the legendary. Final Bid: $390. |
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2.) Where Else Can You Wear Those Wire-Rimmed Beer Goggles? Talk manuscripts over mojitos with renowned agent Sorche Fairbank, of Boston's own Fairbank Literary Agency. Specializing in literary fiction and topical/narrative non-fiction, Fairbank Literary Agency is a highly selective agency located in Harvard Square. The winner of this package will receive a coveted one-on-one manuscript consultation with the agency's founder, who will read and evaluate the first one-hundred pages of your masterpiece. After a drink or two with Sorche, those plot kinks will wriggle into full-blown twists. Afterwards, you can take her recommendations with you to Wellesley Booksmith, where a $25 gift certificate will buy you just the right kind of inspiration. Final Bid: $550. |
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3.) Aural Fix-ation Bring those hard-won words to life with the professional production of your own audio book (up to 44,000 words). Myaudiobook.org will help you dust the must off that manuscript and bring it into the 21st century by preparing it for almost any media-playing platform (including iPods). Can't find your rhythm? Don't worry: this package includes full copy-editing services for up to 50 pages, from manuscript master Heather Murray. Finding your voice was never so easy! Final Bid: $225. |
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4.) Break Bread with the Godfather of Grub Get in touch with your inner Italian, courtesy of Grub darling and stellar storyteller Christopher Castellani--author of A Kiss from Maddalena and The Saint of Lost Things. The winning bidder (and guests) will feast on a six-course dinner (six courses!) that Chris himself will prepare using venerable Famiglia Castellani recipes. La dolce vita just got a little sweeter with signed hardcovers of Chris's two novels, as well as a private "sneak peek" reading of his forthcoming novel. Rest assured that you'll get the scoop behind both the cuisine and the capo, as Chris's parents--the eponymous stars of his novels--will also be in attendance. Non si vive di solo pane! Final Bid: $1000. |
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5.) One-Way Tickets to Transcendental Bliss We agree: you will never see / a poem as lovely as a tree--so spend some time outdoors this year, with four tickets to each of New England's most beautiful natural sights. Make Wordsworth proud by running through the daffodils at the New England Flower Society's "Garden in the Woods," then learn about his devotee Thoreau with a trip to the Concord Museum. Mull over your subsequent plan to sell your belongings on eBay and to set up shop in the woods while taking a stroll through the 35 acres of art at the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park in Lincoln. Get in touch with your wild side at the Franklin Park or Stone Zoo, then take the ferry for two out to Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket to commune with the surf. On today's syllabus: Emerson's "Each and All" and Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach." Final Bid: $115. |
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6.) Your Own Cabinet of Experts Get the skinny on all things stylish (and savvy) with some industry insiders. First, an annual subscription to Boston magazine and Boston Home, plus a 1-hour in-home consultation with architectural designer and Boston Home design editor Rachel Levitt. You'll also get a 2-hour shopping trip with Rachel to hunt for accessories and furniture for your home, including an optional tour of the Boston Design Center. Study up with a copy of Matthew Frederick's 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School, as well as copies of the entire upcoming series (101 Things I Learned in Film School, Fashion School, Culinary School, and Business School, respectively) will deliver the type of education that that English degree just didn't manage. Get your nose out of the books and into a custom color consultation from Michael Noel Painting, then put all that new knowledge to good use by deciding on $1000 worth of custom cabinetry from acclaimed high-end builders Thoughtforms. To swivel-cabinet, or not to swivel-cabinet: that is the question"¦ Final Bid: $500. |
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7.) Best American Short-Cut Skip the self-addressed stamped envelopes and the submissions calendar, and head straight to the source. Best American Short Stories editor Heidi Pitlor will personally read the winning bidder's original short story and offer feedback and suggestions in a discussion to be conducted via email. Want some examples of the best of the best? You'll also get a copy of the forthcoming 2009 edition of the BASS collection, signed by guest editor (and Lovely Bones author) Alice Sebold. Talk about making the shortlist! Final Bid: $500. |
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8.) Time to Press Your Smahty-Pants Escape to the country's most intelligent zip code with a $200 gift certificate to Ten Tables in Harvard Square (also valid at the Jamaica Plain location), where you'll dine on delicacies like fresh Florida shrimp, savory corn and bean succotash, and chocolate terrine with Thai basil ice-wonderness. Digest thoughtfully, with a 2009/2010 season subscription to the Actors' Shakespeare Project, where you can smile and nod over Willie's most esoteric puns. Read what the Cambridge on this side of the pond has inspired, with signed paperbacks of each of superstar Tom Perrotta's books to date. (You can actually use the word oeuvre without irony!) Finally, kick back with the legal kids at Grendel's Den, where a $25 gift certificate--and a copy of Beowulf signed by "Grendel" himself--will lend a little grrr to your gray matter. Final Bid: $250. |
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9.) Watch and Learn Join the Brookline brigade with a Coolidge Corner package sure to keep you and five friends entertained in swanky south-of-the-Charles style. Enjoy six movie passes to the historic Coolidge Corner Theatre, where you can sample films from the fusty to the funky. Also take home a DVD of American Beauty signed by Oscar-winning actor Chris Cooper, plus a poster of the film Breach, signed by Chris Cooper and Ryan Phillippe. Lusting for background info on Fellini or Food, Inc.? Head across the street to Brookline Booksmith, where a $100 gift certificate will let you focus in on some choice storylines of your very own. Final Bid: $165. |
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10.) The Inside Scoop, Some Luxury Goop, & a Tunic to Wear with That Hard-to-Pair Jupe Go behind the scenes with one of Boston's most ferocious (and lovely) news-hounds, who somehow also found time to pen the award-winning Charlotte McNally series. Boston celebrity Hank Phillippi Ryan will share an evening of drinks and discussion with the lucky winner, sharing both her love and her knowledge of books and book promotion. Look your best for the high-powered pow-wow by first enjoying $100 in spa treatments courtesy of Robin Erb Skin Care on Newbury Street--good for a chemical peel, "brow wow," facial, makeover, or lash extension--then donning your very own "Kir" tunic from the ever-stylish collection of local fashionista Ondine Salima. "Classified" never looked so classy. Final Bid: $440. |
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11.) Right Brain, Meet Left Brain Benefit from both the burr and the brilliance of Cambridge author Margot Livesey, who will personally visit your book club for a discussion of one of her many novels, including her most recent (prize-winning) The House on Fortune Street. After feeding your mind, you can address the creative rumblings of that stomach with a $75 gift certificate to celebrated Harvard Square restaurant Henrietta's Table: some Yankee pot roast or maple-smoked duck should sustain you through those late-night revisions. But considering you'll have the chance to sleep like a baby with a one-night stay in a deluxe room at the Hotel Marlowe, you might decide to put the pen down after all. Round out your north-of-the-river jaunt by considering robots and holograms, with ten passes to the MIT Museum. Final Bid: $220. |
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12.) Brahmin Bookworm Stock your shelves with something to brag about: three signed first-editions--including one by the legendary John Irving--will impress even the most bookish BPL-bigwigs. Pair these drool-worthy words with a copy of the word, courtesy of a sinfully covetable trade-edition Pennyroyal Caxton Bible signed by designer and illustrator Barry Moser. Moser's bible, the first fully illustrated bible to be produced in over a hundred years, has drawn praise from John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates, and John Ashbery for its imaginative and profound renderings. Worried all this reading will hamper your social life? Get back into the scene with a one-year family membership to the Boston Athenaeum, one of the oldest (and most vibrant) cultural institutions in the country. *And just added: two signed books by Elie Wiesel! Final Bid: $450. |
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13.) "Love That Dirty Water"¦" Explore the Boston 'burbs, with tickets to some of the area's most sumptuous surrounding attractions. Two tickets to any 2009-2010 season play at the Merrimack Theatre, four passes to the Peabody Essex Museum, and a family membership to the Fuller Craft Museum will help you earn the coveted Culture-Aficionado badge. Get in touch with some natural art next, with two round-trip ferry passes to either Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard, then bring it on home with two four-concert subscriptions to the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Final Bid: $50. |
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14.) The Founder and the Foundation Is your manuscript ready to play with the big kids? First, get some feedback from the editorial engineers at Book Architecture, with a full editorial consultation. (Check out their success stories at www.bookarchitecture.com.) Then, tell your manuscript to don its highest heels for a power-lunch with Grub Street founder and all-knowing agent Eve Bridburg, who will read and offer guidance on up to 75 pages of your work. Yeah, yeah, we know: Eve provides the best advice on everything from scene-setting to sales-pitches, but we tend to think lunch with her is worth a thousand words.Final Bid: $1100. |
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15.) Dip Your Chocolate-Chippers in Some Warm Mass MoCA Get out of town in style with a package sure to satisfy the most finicky road-tripper. Two passes to the Mass MoCA will draw you west, while the delectables of a one-time personal cookie-catering service from Darby Farms will provide the real direction. Worried about sugar comas running you off course? Luckily a portable GPS car navigation system will keep you right on track. With a TomTom, the destination is optional! Final Bid: $260. |
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16.) Downtown Date Rekindle the flames with a romantic Boston culture package sure to have you and your sweetie seeing a dreamier side of the city. You can start by nodding approvingly at the modern masterpieces of the ICA, where four passes will help you share the love with some friends or family. Then visit the Huntington Theatre Company; two tickets to any production will ensure the right kind of drama. With a $100 gift certificate to the famed Brattle Bookshop, you can meander the aisles purposefully before ending your night with a one-night stay for two at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel. At breakfast the next morning (also included), you--and your fair city--will both be aglow. Final Bid: $300. |
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17.) To the Ends of the Earth (or at Least of Our Fair City) Dip your toes in both sides of the river, with access to some of the best sites north and south of Boston. A $100 gift certificate to G'Vanni's in the North End will provide both sustenance and style, while eight discount passes to the JFK Museum will help you go south--in a good, educational way. Then compare the city's theater fare from multiple perspectives, with two tickets to any 2009-2010 show at the New Repertory Theatre and a double membership to Company One in the South End. Enjoy! Final Bid: $150. |
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18.) Market Me, Market Me Get past the Old Guard of book promotion with David Meerman Scott, author of the award-winning best-selling book The New Rules of Marketing and PR. Scott specializes in using social media, blogs, news releases, online video, and viral marketing to sell books (and other products), and he has coached Lisa Genova, New York Times-bestselling author of Still Alice, and Chris Brogan, New York Times-bestselling author of Trust Agents. Over lunch Scott will help you create a marketing and PR plan for your book. In a follow-up phone call and email communication, he will coach you to success. Final Bid: $370. |
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