Being a proud independent publisher here at Soho Press, we’re always delighted to hear about people finding new ways to reinvent the wheel that is getting published. Particularly when it’s one of our own. We already knew Andromeda Romano-Lax, author of THE DETOUR (Feb 2012) is brilliant, and if you’re the skeptical type and need some proof, read an excerpt of this excellently wrought and researched WWII novel (not what you think), read an excerpt here.

For her next novel, THE EXPERT, about the 19-year-old graduate student who assisted the research of one of the most famous psychologists of the early 20th century—and within a year, found her own career derailed when their steamy affair made front-page news in the East Coast newspapers, Andromeda is shaking things up a bit.

Using USA Projects, a sort of Kickstarter specifically for the arts, Andromeda is funding her novel writing right from her research phase–which, as THE DETOUR demonstrates is amazingly meticulous–rather than waiting for an advance from a publisher to (hopefully) offset costs already incurred. Here’s what she has to say:

“As a novelist, I’m drawn to the stories of both real and imagined people who live at important cultural, political, or ideological crossroads. My first two novels, The Spanish Bow and The Detour, explored the intersection of art and politics in 20th century Europe. This new novel, The Expert, examines the life of an intelligent woman whose life was both enriched and complicated by the new science of psychology, especially as it related to child-rearing and social engineering.”

Donate (and watch her book trailer!) here.