Here’s how:

When we first published Eimear McBride’s A Girl is a Half-formed Thing she was an unheard of debut author – and because of that, and the difficulty of judging the novel’s reception, our first run was conservative: just 1,000 copies were printed (rather wonderfully, the same number of copies as Sylvia Beach’s first edition of Ulysses). Since then, of course, Eimear has gone on to conquer the world; she’s been lauded as a major, lasting writer – quite right too. Copies from that first run, which sold out in weeks, have become coveted items. Barely one year after publication, they already change hands for hundreds of pounds; they look set to become a piece of literary history; and every week we receive tens of emails asking if it might be possible to get hold of one. And the answer always is:

– SORRY! No!

Until now, that is…

Because we did buy seven of those original copies for ourselves. And while six of those copies will be remaining exactly where they are (i.e. in prize position on our dining room bookshelves, waiting to fund our dotage) – we’ve decided that we can be generous with one copy.

So! Here’s the thing:

Every single customer who buys a Galley Beggar paperback, digital classic or ebook (excluding £1 Singles and Singles Club subscriptions) from our store in our seven-day 50% flash sale (ends 1 October) will have their name printed out and popped into a hat. The draw will take place next Wednesday – a scrap piece of paper drawn out – and the lucky winner will be sent, along with their other goods, a first edition A Girl is a Half-formed Thing.

This is especially exciting for us, because the sale will also be running during the launch week of Francis Plug - How to be a Public Author, our next history-making novel, written by Paul Ewen. And we're also selling our new range of Pocket Shorts for the first time. This is a new range celebrating the best in classic short fiction. Our first quartet will both chill and warm you with a selection of ghost stories from four of the English language’s finest writers: Robert Louis Stevenson, Edith Wharton, A.L. Barker and P.G. Wodehouse.

What are you waiting for?! Dive in!