As you may know, my next book Heaven and hell: A History of the Afterlife will be published on March 31.  That’s nearly three months off.  Would you like to read it *now*?     I have three copies of the galley proofs that I am willing to auction off — as a fund-raiser for the blog — to be sent directly to the highest bidders.

A “galley proof” is the book as it is sent out to reviewers and journals and editors and book stores well in advance – some months ago now – so they can decide whether to advertise and / or stock the book and at what quantities.  They are never for sale.  They are in paperback with the same kind of cover that will be on the book itself, but at a cheaper production level since they are not for display in bookstores.   The book itself – the content — is as it will be published, *except* for minor stylistic things (typos here and there etc.) that had not yet been cleared up before the final production began.

So it’s the book, beginning to end, with the endnotes.   Are you interested in getting your hands on a copy?  They go to the three highest bidders.

This is how it will work.  The bidding will be *completely* anonymous – only the bidder and I will know the bidder’s name and the amount bid (for HOW TO BID: see below).  I will take bids from now (Thursday, January 9) for four days (until the end of Sunday, January 12).   At that point I will announce the three highest amounts bid (anonymously), for a second round that will last three days.  At the end of that, I will announce that the bidding is ended, and will notify the three winners directly (again, no one else will know the names).

I will then mail out the books, signed over to the winning bidders.

IMPORTANT!  To make your bid please do this:  Simply send an email directly to me at [email protected].   The email subject line should be: Bid for Your Book.   The email itself is to start with the bid directly and simply:  I BID $XXXXX.  If there’s anything else you’d like to say, that’s fine too: but only after the bidding amount.

(Please note.  According to the IRS: “Donors who purchase items at a charity auction may claim a charitable contribution deduction for the excess of the purchase price paid for an item over its fair market value.”  For market value of the book, see its listing on Amazon).

If you have any further questions about it, please post them here on the blog as a comment, not in your email – that way others with the same question will also see the answer!