Although National Giving Day has already passed, there are still a bunch of very needy organizations out there trying to punch into the black for 2017. One of them is The Common, a literary magazine based out of Amherst College. It’s biannual and features a mix of great fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, particularly from new and emerging writers.

They also have a really, really, really exceptionally designed website. Just sayin’.

Anyhow, until December 10, The Common is holding its annual author postcard auction. Forty-two authors have agreed this year to write a personalized note to the highest bidder. From Junot Díaz to Jennifer Egan to Jacqueline Woodson, there are many different authors to choose from and get a really great note to yourself or a loved one. Kerri Jarema writes at Bustle, “Not only is this a wonderful keepsake for your or a friend, just in the time for the holidays, it is a great way to celebrate just how much books and their authors have meant to readers this year.”

Since there are only three days left, it’s worth pointing out that some authors are not getting the high-bid love they deserve. At the time of writing this:

• Jonathan Safron Foer is at the base bid of $40. Is there no one that wants a message from him in the translator’s voice from Everything Is Illuminated?
• Hannah Tinti is also at the base bid of $40. She is a PEN award winner for founding and editing One Story magazine. I guarantee that whatever she writes for her postcard will be extraordinary.
• Marie Helene Bertino is also worth checking out. I bought her fiction collection Safe as Houses at my very first Brooklyn Book Festival. It was so fun, and she’s so great. I want you to have that feeling of reading something fun and great, so, maybe bid on her postcard!
• George Saunders is at $70. He won the Man Booker this year. Did you forget? Did you also forget that he is generally fantastic and specifically wonderful?

I’m not sure why you’re still here. You could go place your bid right now. RELEVANT LINK FOR BIDDING