As much as Hermes might be proud of me for doing so, I cannot simply take the money given by my gracious Kickstarter backers and run.

I have to, at some point, produce a product. And though my updates on that matter have been scarce, that is exactly what I have been doing.

The current print edition of Mister Mercury is ruinously expensive. The only justification for its price is that it doubles as a billy club in tight circumstances.

That's why I had the idea for a Kickstarter. By putting money up front to buy my own ISBN and list it with Ingram myself, I will be able to sell it at an affordable price. I will even do some formatting magic and reduce its page count while increasing its font size. You won't be able to use it as a billy club anymore, but you could probably stun your attackers long enough to make a break for it.

And with the new edition, there comes a new cover!

Kind of.

It's the same as the old cover, but slightly easier on the eyes. The yellow outline around the text is gone, as is the yellow text entirely. I have removed the drop shadows and other unnecessary effects, making it cleaner, crisper, and, most importantly, not as awful when shrunk down to thumbnail size. I've also changed the colors on the back cover.  So now when your eyes scream for relief after staring at it for longer than is mentally healthy, they will scream with marginally less intensity. 

I've included the spine and the back cover as well. It even features the new ISBN, which turned out to be significantly more expensive than I had anticipated. Note to self: Next time, when determining the asking amount for a Kickstarter, make sure that the price you have for ISBNs is the one from ISBNs in the United States, not the ones for Australia.

Apparently, Australian dollars are worth more.