A card with the 800-word story will be sold in June, alongside works by Nick Hornby, Tom Stoppard and others.
You haven't seen the last of Harry Potter and the gang. After wrapping
up the epic adventure series of best-selling books about the boy
wizard, author J.K. Rowling has penned a prequel to the tale that will be auctioned off for charity.
According to CNN, Rowling is working on an 800-word handwritten prequel that will be signed and auctioned off at a June 10 benefit for the Dyslexia Action charity and the English PEN writers' association. The story is being penned on a small "storycard" (5.75 by 8.25 inches), signed "JK Rowling 2008" and ending with the words, "From the prequel I am not working on — but that was fun!"
Rowling is among a group of 13 authors participating in the auction, which will also include cards written by literary stars Margaret Atwood, Sebastian Faulks, Nick Hornby and Tom Stoppard.
"We never dreamed that J.K. Rowling would donate something so precious, and we're incredibly grateful," said Gerry Johnson, managing director of Waterstone's, the bookstore that is hosting the event. "I can't begin to guess how much it will raise at auction."
The card comes a year after the final book in the "Potter" series hit shelves. Authors were told they could submit anything they wished, including sketches, doodles or ideas for a new story, but organizers were shocked when Rowling offered up the prequel to the series, which has sold more than 375 million copies worldwide.
CNN reported that a 93-word card from Rowling that referred to the "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" book sold at auction in 2002 for $53,000, and one of seven handwritten copies of a new work, "The Tales of Beedle the Bard," sold for $3.9 million in 2007.
Though the lucky auction winner will get to keep the "Potter" rarity, Waterstone's will display copies of all the cards in all its U.K. stores and online just after the auction. A printed book containing all of them will go on sale in August.
