Kevin's Watch

I was wondering if we have any book collectors on the Watch, because if so they might be interested in this auction.

It's for a signed copy of John Scalzi's The Last Colony, a book that won't be published until May 2007. The copy on auction was printed by the author through Lulu.com, and there are only four of its kind in existence, three of which will remain in the hands of John Scalzi and his family. It's a rare thing, I gather--a bound copy of the uncorrected manuscript for a novel, made available seven months before the novel's release.



All the money from the auction is to go to the John M Ford Book Endowment, a fund set up by the Friends of the Minneapolis Public Library to acquire books for public enjoyment, named in honour of the author John M Ford, who passed away last week.

I collect books only in so far as I like to own them to read whenever I want. Rarity, condition, all that are pretty unimportant. A book that is not meant to be read and re-read is worthless as far as I'm concerned.

That said, it does seem an unusual thing to sell...I wonder why he's doing it...

--A

Avatar wrote:That said, it does seem an unusual thing to sell...I wonder why he's doing it...

--A

Well, he explains a little on the blog. He had just received these prints of his book, intending to keep them to himself, when he heard about the endowment. Since drives to get more books into libraries is something he would like to support, he decided he had an opportunity to help in an interesting way. So, he auctions one copy of this very exclusive book, and donates the money to the fund. Whoever wins the auction gets something unique, and the book endowment gets (as of this post) over $500 to buy books.
Apparently other authors are taking up the idea--Scalzi has posted about one author, Jo Walton, who is now offering stories and such to people who send her their donation receipt, and they are encouraging others to join in.
It's for a good cause.

I suppose if I'd followed the link...

No, that's pretty good. I'm all for making more books accessible to more people.

More power to him in that case.

--A

Wow. Publisher Bill Schafer just contacted Scalzi and put in a special bid for $5000. The bid increments have been pushed up to $250 a time.