It's really very simple. You will sell me your eternal soul and in return I shall make you fabulously rich, powerful, talented and famous for your entire Earthly life. Or maybe even eternity.

For an atheist it's a great deal, though it does suggest atheism may have a weak point. For those of faith it's a matter of jam now and purgatory tomorrow. A bargain many artists feel is something they can live with. For agnostics it's usually a question of can the afterlife really be that bad, would workplace regulations reach all parts of heaven and hell.

However, in this volume the terms are agreed and the Devil pays his fees and the character his dues, each happy to wait a few decades for the eternal payback.

For us, it's all a moot point. We would never offer up such a deal. After all just listen to the stories of those who have.

Our authors include the very talented likes of Washington Irving. Leo Tolstoy, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Robert Louis Stevenson and John Buchan.