As part of the deal wherein I mooched the web hosting and support for this online project, I offered to make preparations for publishing it as a book, bound on paper and all that.

That project is now a reality, and you can own The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect in regular book form if you want to.

Note as of October 2005: The offer for autographed copies detailed below is still very much open.

Back in January 2003 when I made this promise, I anticipated using Book-On-Demand publisher Xlibris.com, but it turned out that their default formatting options were much too restrictive to produce an attractive copy of this book, with its occasional "computer dialogue" passages and simple but important cover art.

The goal for publication (100 people promising to buy a copy) was made around the beginning of March 2003, but even after some exhaustive research I was unable to find a publisher which would allow me to format the book appropriately without spending over a thousand dollars in "setup fees."

I finally decided to approach a couple of agents in a last ditch attempt to get it published "normally." Alas, even the novel's web popularity was not enough to get it over the threshold, and the process was dragging and I wasn't fulfilling a promise I had made to get the thing done.

Meanwhile, Cafepress moved into publishing but perfect binding is still a future option. The Writer's Collective offered very attractive pricing and an interesting guerrilla philosophy, but I would have had to handle orders and shipping myself. Finally, after I had committed to the ultimately wasted months-long stab at getting an agent, I became aware of new startup Lulu.com.

Lulu was started by Red Hat co-founder Rob Young, and it could almost have been created as a response to the original rant about vanity presses that lived at this URL. Lulu allows free formatting; you upload the bulk of the book as a .pdf, the covers as .jpeg, and setup cost is a very appropriate zero. While they fulfill the function of a vanity press they are into other venues like music, art, and teaching materials, and they seem to pursue an aggressive philosophy of not making money unless their content creators do. Their pricing is more attractive than any alternative except the Writer's Collective, and they have a fully functional storefront to handle orders and do shipping.

So if you want a copy of The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect perfect-bound as a trade paperback, you can get it right here.

Note that Lulu has a content rating system, and I have rated Prime Intellect "Mature" for reasons that should be obvious. If you go to Lulu.com and browse anonymously, you will be surfing at the "Teen" rating level, and you won't see Prime Intellect; but the direct link above should take you to the book no matter what.

Note as of October 2005: At Lulu's suggestion I have changed the rating to "teen" so it is now possible to search for and buy Prime Intellect when you are logged in at the default settings. I'm not sure whether it's the zombie sex or the incest scene which is most teen-oriented, but people have complained about the rating so if the publisher doesn't think it needs the shrink wrap, who am I to argue?

A copy costs US$11.95 plus shipping; the default Fedex Ground shipping runs that up to about $18, but USPS Regular Media (aka "book rate") only runs it up to about $14. I receive just over US$3.00 from each purchase. The book also has ISBN # 1-4116-0219-6, so you can theoretically order it from any bookseller; you should check their policy toward Print On Demand publishers, though, before trying. Some booksellers (notably including Barnes and Noble) will not order books from POD publishers because they do not accept returns. If you have a small local shop you're trying to keep in business, though, and they trust you to pick up your order they will probably order it for you.

As I write this I've ordered almost a hundred copies for myself and autographed-copy purchasers, and I am favorably impressed with Lulu's order handling. Most orders shipped within four business days and all were well packed in solid boxes with appropriate padding. There was one period when a glitch in their computers caused some shipments to be delayed, but they promptly fixed the problem once they were notified.

Author Services

I have decided to provide a few services for people who might want more than a basic copy of the book.

If you would like an autographed copy, I will send you one for US$25.00, including shipping within the USA. You need to let me know if you'd like a personalized message and whether you'd prefer it on the outside or inside front cover. Unlike Lulu I can only accept payment via PayPal or check, and you should remember that I might need to buy your copy from Lulu before I can sign it and ship it to you, so you could be looking at ten days or more to receive your copy. You will probably receive your copy via Priority Mail in a small corrugated cardboard box.

Autographed copies are numbered, for whatever that's worth. As of October 2005, the next copy out will be #32.

If you live in a place where Lulu doesn't ship or you consider their shipping rates exorbitant, I'll also provide a quote for shipping your autographed copy to you. This will be around US$21 plus my actual costs to ship to your location. Note that I can't guarantee delivery; if your mail service is unreliable you will have to decide how much of a crap shoot it is to try sending you a package.

I have found that I can fit a single copy in a USPS Global Priority Mail shipping envelope and get it to most parts of the world in a timely fashion for US$30. It isn't quite as well protected as in the box I use for domestic shipping, but it's much cheaper.

Important: E-mail Me First. Even if you just want an autographed copy you need to let me know if you'd like any personalized message, and I can give you an idea of when it will ship (whether I have any copies in stock, or will need to order more from Lulu). I will also have to provide a quote if you want unusual shipping. I would also like to have the shipping address via e-mail, because I can't read everybody's handwriting ;-)

So the process should go like this:

1. E-mail me telling me what you want, whether you want to pay by PayPal or check, and where you want it shipped.
2. I'll reply with an estimate if needed, the address to send the check if you need that, and an estimate of how long it'll take to fill your order.
3. If that's agreeable send me the money and when I get it, I'll fill your order ASAP.