The Books for Palestine fundraising campaign, which included an auction held earlier this month, has raised more than $86,000 for the aid organizations Middle East Children's Alliance and the Palestine Children's Relief Fund.
Of the total funds raised, more than $51,000 will go to the PCRF, while MECA will receive around $32,000. Some 692 items were auctioned June 1-4, and 1,508 people participated. Individual donations came from authors Aisha Saeed, Erin Entrada Kelly, Sabaa Tahir and Veronica Roth, as well as people from around the globe.
The auction's highest bid item was a package consisting of a 100-page book critique, a query critique and a call with literary agent and author Eric Smith, which went for $6,150. Other high bid items included a query and 20-page critique with literary agent Joanna Volpe; a three-night retreat at the Highlights Foundation; and a signed special edition of S.A. Chakraborty's The Daevabad Trilogy.