Hello friends! Happy Monday! I hope your weekend was relaxing, fun, and rejuvenating and that you're ready to jump back into writing/revising/editing/querying/etc. Speaking of relaxing, fun, and rejuvenating, I have some super exciting news! Valerie Bolling and Kaitlyn Sanchez have teamed up to bring to you a virtual Kidlit Holiday DANCE PARTY!! I mean, how incredibly fun does that sound, and I haven't even shared the details with you yet! Let's start with the basic details:
What: A Virtual KidLit Holiday Dance Party
When: Saturday, December 12th, 7:00-8:00 PM Eastern Time
Who: YOU are invited as Valerie Bolling and Kaitlyn Sanchez share their favorite dances and talk inspiration in both writing and agenting.
Why: Because we could all use a little more connection! And who doesn't love to dance?
Now for some more details...
Upon the suggestion of one of Kaitlyn's clients, Valerie and Kaitlyn got to talking about how much fun it would be to connect the KidLit community through dance. Valerie's amazing book, Let's Dance! is all about that... connection through dance. Dance brings people together in a way that nothing else does. I absolutely adore this book. The simple, fun, and brief text pairs amazingly with gorgeous, bright, energetic illustrations to make a story that is truly special.
Valerie has teamed up with one of her favorite Black-owned indie bookstores to offer signed copies of Let's Dance! You can purchase a signed copy HERE.
As Valerie and Kaitlyn talked more, they came up with the fun idea of hosting a virtual KidLit Holiday dance party. The idea was to gather via zoom, dance together, and discuss their inspiration in writing and agenting. I was thrilled when they reached out to me to host the event! I love opportunities to connect as a community, and this sounded like so much fun! This is going to be a fairly relaxed event, and more about connection and fun than anything else. We'll spend a good chunk of the event dancing and having a great time. But we will also be chatting a bit about Valerie's inspiration behind Let's Dance! as well as Kaitlyn's inspiration when choosing clients in agenting. We'll also hold a Q&A at the end to answer your writing related questions. We'll try our best to keep the event to 1 hour, as we know that everyone is so busy this time of year (and always).
While this is a free event, we would love to encourage each of you to donate $5-$10+ to a favorite charity, especially at this time of year. If you need some help selecting a cause, we'd each like to share one of our favorites (though it was so hard to each choose just one):
Equal Justice Initiative:
The EJI is one of Valerie's favorites. It is committed to ending mass incarceration and challenging racial and economic injustice in the United States. Which we need now more than ever.
Danielle's Gift:
Danielle was one of Kaitlyn's best friends growing up. Danielle always wanted to help others when she grew up, but when her life was cut short, her family started a foundation to keep her dreams of helping others alive.
The Florence Immigration and Refugee Rights Project:
This project is close to my heart as immigration rights are so important to me. My husband has had opportunities to do some pro-bono legal work for them. This organization provides legal representation for detained immigrants to help them out of wrongful convictions, and is so very needed as about 86% of detained immigrants go unrepresented due to poverty.
We hope that you will take the time to consider donating to one of these extremely worthy causes, or to one that is close to your heart. Feel free to share in the comments more of your favorite nonprofits.
Space is limited, so make sure to register soon! Register here:
And now... what would an awesome event like this be without some GIVEAWAYS!!? During the event, we will be offering two amazing prizes.
One PB Manuscript Critique from Author/Agent Kaitlyn Sanchez
One Signed Copy of Let's Dance! by Valerie Bolling
Prizes will only be available to participants who attend the live event. If we're able, we will draw names during the event! But if not, we will absolutely announce the winners by Monday, December 14th on Twitter.
To enter:
Register for AND ATTEND the live KidLit Dance Party On December 12th
Like and Retweet THIS tweet for a bonus entry!
Easy as pie!
Also, make sure to be following me, Kaitlyn, and Valerie on Twitter so that you don't miss any exciting announcements about the event! You should also be following Kaitlyn's amazing clients!
So friends, we hope that you will all join us via Zoom on December 12th at 7:00 PM Eastern Time. Once you register, a confirmation window will pop up and you will receive an email within one week of registering to join the Zoom meeting. Again, please only register if you will be able to attend as space is limited and this will not be a recorded event.
Thank you all for joining us for such a fun event and for supporting our favorite charities this Holiday Season!
Register here:
Can't wait to see you all soon!