The writing of Broken Mirrors, the fifth full-length Marla Mason novel, is going really well. Crazy well. Ridiculously well. Like, I keep putting off other necessary work in favor of writing just a little more Mirrors. I've got about 17,000 words written now, the first five chapters.

Once I have eight or nine chapters done, I'll start serializing the book, one chapter at a time, in exchange for donations. It will almost certainly happen in March -- possibly on March 1, possibly March 15, depending on how well the next few chapters go. (By the time eight or nine chapters are done, I'll feel confident that I'm not going down some false trail, and that I haven't written myself into a continuity trap or failed to mention something that'll turn out to be vitally important later on.)

I am indeed going to do a donations-with-benefits funding model. I will publish one chapter per week for about 25 weeks, to be followed by print and e-book versions when the serial is done. Here's how it'll work...

What you get for what amount (people outside the US/Canada will need to pay a little more for things that require shipping). Every successive level also includes the goodies from the previous levels, so the more you give, the more you get.:

Below $10: My heartfelt thanks, because it really does add up.

$10 and up: Your name in the acknowledgments of the print version and online.

$20 and up: A Marla Mason bookmark.

$40 and up ($50 and up overseas): A signed limited edition chapbook featuring a new, never-before-published Marla Mason story, to be sent by the end of 2010.

$60 and up ($70 and up overseas): A free, signed print copy of Broken Mirrors as soon as it's available. (This is a bit more pricy than I initially planned... but the book will be coming from an actual small press, rather than being thrown together by me via Lulu.com. That means it'll be a better product, but it'll also be more expensive for me to acquire and mail copies. Details on the publisher to be announced.)

$100 and up ($110 and up overseas): A personal handwritten postcard from Marla to you. (The reason she'd be sending people postcards? Will become clear by the end of book 5.) May contain light profanity and bad doodles.

$200 and up: A single-page Marla comic, artist TBA, suitable for framing.

$300 and up: I name a character -- or spell, or aircraft, or something else in the book -- after you, or use a name we mutually agree upon. It's a great gift: immortalize your loved ones! Or yourself. (If you donate this amount right before the last chapter goes live, it should still work; there's a moment where several names of lesser-known Felport sorcerers will be listed in the final chapter. But earlier is better.)

$2000 and up: I'll write a Marla Mason short story just for you, to be produced in a signed chapbook limited edition of a single copy.

$5,000 and up: I'll dedicate Broken Mirrors to you.

$10,000 and up: I'll hand-deliver a print copy to your door and make you a nice dinner at a time of our mutual agreement, and do a reading for you and your friends. (Destinations outside the US may require additional airfare. Query if you live in Australia or Europe or something and you're interested and we'll figure it out.)

Amounts are cumulative, so if you do many small donations, you get rewards based on the total you donated during the months the book is being posted.

So there you go. Start saving your pennies. The book will almost certainly start being published within the next month, and I'll notify the mailing list a week before it begins. Heck, if you want to get the donation ball rolling in advance, feel free. Just be sure to include a shipping address if you're going for one of the levels where I mail you stuff!