Or fandom, in any case. Neil Gaiman announced on his blog that the following authors are auctioning “cameos,” if you will, in their forthcoming works. The proceeds will go to the First Amendment Project (which really needs a new color scheme). You can name a victim in a Stephen King novel, an utterance by Sunny in a Lemony Snicket book, a character in a Jonathan Lethem comic… and many more.
I’m sure you can write a nice little article about how postmodern a phenomenon this is, but it’s cool to see creative ways of leveraging fans for chartiable causes. It’s first amendment, internet-based, pop-culture… all we need is for some video-game designers to auction off cameos too. Then the academy would go crazy-go-nuts.
An Ergodic Walk 
I saw that on Gaiman’s blog and almost made a similar post. But now you’ve stolen my thunder, so what’s the point? 🙂
Note: In the Stephen King auction, you’ll only die in the book if you’re female.
it’s a neat idea. wouldn’t surprise me if it starts showing up in video games as well, though they tend to be more profit-oriented.
*laugh* i’ll bet Henry Jenkins mentions it in his class this term…
Even though it is for a good cause, ugh, it is so anti-bookish… What happened to the author having to go for long walks, or remembering that girl in second grade who use to sell milk in the store, when trying to name characters?
I don’t know… By the way, King could as easily donate the same amount and still name his characters. Because, if one takes this point far enough, why not offer “cameos” for our Marketing Kings, like Gap, Coke, etc… Ok, who am I to criticize author’s breadmaking? But, ah, Mishkin waking up, looking at the meadows, feeling a stream of wind in his face and drinking a Coke, does definetly destroy the classic!