Photo:Amazon

Amazon

Major authors are assembling to auction one-of-a-kind experiences and items for a good cause.

Bidding for the online silent auction starts Tuesday, Sept. 26, at 12 p.m. ET and ends Tuesday, Oct. 3, at 9 p.m. ET.

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Last year’s auction raised $43,250 for We Need Diverse Book’s internship grants and professional program for interns and midlevel employees of color at major publishing houses. In 2020, they raised $14,497,and $23,166 in 2021.

Armstrong says they started the initiative in 2020 “when racial justice was on everyone’s minds,” and they are “determined to put in the work for the long haul and not just jump on a bandwagon.”

“While the issue of diversity in publishing has fallen off many people’s radars, the industry has a long way to go: Publishing is still overwhelmingly White, and book bans — which disproportionately affect BIPOC authors — are at an all-time high,” says Armstrong. “It’s crucial to fund efforts to fight for both diversity inside publishing and diverse books being offered in libraries and schools, and this provides a fun way for book people to do just that.”

Bartz adds that they are “grateful to the authors, literary agents and other publishing professionals who’ve signed on to donate their time, books and energy this year.”

From left: Celeste Ng, Elizabeth Gilbert, Jacqueline Woodson.David Levenson/Getty Images; Marla Aufmuth/Getty Images; JP Yim/Getty Images

David Levenson/Getty Images; Marla Aufmuth/Getty Images; JP Yim/Getty Images

“We can hardly believe how stellar the 2023 roster is. When we put together our first auction in 2020, we wouldn’t have guessed we’d later loop in so many bestselling, household-name authors,” she says. “The auction offers a simple way to support diversity in publishing while getting incredible bookish items you won’t find anywhere else.”

“The proceeds from this auction will help us to make bookshelves more equitable and to fight book bans that have been spreading at an alarming rate,” says Richmond.

source: people.com