Terry Jones first Unbound author

Former Monty Python star Terry Jones will become the first author to have his project published by the Unbound crowdfunded publishing project.

His book, Evil Machines, comprises 13 tales parodying man's relationship with technology. It received the minimum number of pledges required through the Unbound website. First editions of the book will be available from the Unbound site and any trade editions will be published by Faber.

Unbound was created by "QI" writers John Mitchinson and Dan Kieran and Crap Towns author Justin Pollard and launched at the Hay Festival. Writers pitch their project directly to the public, who can then donate between £10 and £250 to fund the project in return for special rewards.

The project originally launched with a 50-day deadline for a project to achieve the required funding. However, the Unbound team has decided to extend this indefinitely.

Other launch projects included titles by authors Jonathan Meades, Tibor Fischer, Amy Jenkins and Elliot Rose.

Dan Kieran said: "We have been overwhelmed by the positive reception Unbound has had so far. We never expected things to be easy, but people have been very enthusiastic with their support for the project. This is new ground though, and we are still learning.

"Part of this process has been realising that the original 50-day limit we started with will not apply to all projects. Our strategy is to continue support a book as long as pledges
keep coming in for it."

Since its launch in May, the site has 10,000 new visitors per week and the projects have received more than 3,000 new pledges.