Ok, the votes are in and they have been calculated, tabulated, added up, jotted down, and set aside. And I’ll admit it wasn’t a huge contest. At one point there I thought the winner might have a fight on its hands, but it pulled away in just a couple days of voting.

The winner? The novel that I will right next? Natural Born Cyborgs!

For those of you not familiar with what this novel will be about, here is a quick description:

Natural Born Cyborgs–
The techno-virus used by the Three hundreds of years ago has mutated and combined with BC (biochrome) to create a generation of natural born cyborgs- part biorganic metal, part human. Society decides these Splicers, as they are called, are too dangerous to let live and rounds them up for extermination. Those not found must hide their true natures and fight for their lives. And the lives of those yet born.
Set in the same universe as DEAD MECH, but hundreds of years after the events in the Apex Trilogy, Natural Born Cyborgs is the first in the Splicer Wars series of novels that introduce the world to the new MechPunk style of science fiction- raw, unrelenting, brutal, and shiny.

Sounds pretty good, eh? I think so. I can’t wait to write this puppy!

Now, since we have the decision made I better explain how the rest of this will work. And don’t worry, I’ll explain again once I put the pre-order button up.

This is how it will go:

I am going to put up a pre-order page where folks can pre-order the project package.

The project package will consist of: a limited edition, signed and numbered, hardcover of the novel. Both epub and mobi formats (signed also) of the ebook edition. The audiobook version of the novel.

Cost will be: $50 per package for US customers, $75 for international (sorry about the high international price, but have you seen shipping costs lately? Sheesh!)

Once I have enough pre-orders to fund the project I will start writing the novel. At this time it looks like I will need $2000. I know I had said $1600 in earlier posts (with disclaimers!), but I have had to come to the reality that if I want this to be a 100% professional quality project then I will have to spend the dollars on it. The money goes to formatting, editing, proofreading, hardcover cover design, ebook cover design, etc. Some of you know just how expensive that stuff is. Trust me, there is no profit margin here. All of this money goes to costs of production.

Once I have finished writing the novel, and it is back from the editor, formatter, cover designer, and ready to go then it will go to print. AS LONG AS there are at least 75 pre-orders in place. This is how many are needed to start a print run and be able to break even with printing costs, audiobook duplication costs, and shipping. Every pre-order after 75 means I will actually make a little scratch. Which would be nice.

What’s the time frame, you ask? That’s up to y’all.

What dictates the time frame of this project are the three following key components: how soon production funding is attained, how soon I get the novel written and produced, and how soon we hit 75 pre-orders. You folks control two of those three things. And as for writing, well I write fast. If everything goes smoothly then there should be a finished novel and audiobook ready to go in no more than six months. That means ready in time for the holidays! Huzzah!

What will I be doing while the pre-orders add up? I’ll be world building. This novel takes place hundreds of years after DEAD MECH. The world has evolved. Times have changed. Civilization has made a comeback, for sure. But will this new landscape be better than the wasteland? Wouldn’t you like to know!

So stay tuned, folks. In the next couple of days I’ll announce the start of the pre-order extravaganza! Pre-orderpalooza! South By SouthPre-order! Pre-orderCon! …and I’m done.

The last thing I have to do is thank each and every person that voted. Your participation made this happen. And I am blown away by the amount of support. Thank you to everyone that retweeted, posted, wrote about, stood on their roof and shouted, fed Paul E. Cooley the blood of the wicked so he wouldn’t try to eat my soul —you know, all that good stuff.

Thank you!

Oh, and writers? I’ll be doing a post later in the week with some insights into the process so far. There were some interesting patterns that I observed. It’ll be cool to talk about.

And that’s it for now. Cheers!