And the winning cover for the new Silverville Saga book is ...

... by overwhelming popular acclaim the "Out of the Woods" design.

We hear you, and publisher Raspberry Creek Books has agreed to use that cover for the release of Little Greed Men early this spring.

Here's the premise from the back cover blurb:
What happens when a town's local resident spots a UFO?

Silverville sees nothing but dollar signs.

First an amusement park and museum, then a celestial motif for the whole town. Con artists and embezzlers, tourists and kooks, all get caught up in the frenzy, some hoping to make a quick buck, others seeking a spiritual message from beyond the stars.

Ride along on this irreverent adventure that reveals Colorado mountain culture at its most outrageous, and where just about everybody shares in the madness of money, murder, and mayhem.

Publication back story:
This is a re-release in affordable paperback as well as e-reader format of a book that first came out several years ago under the title of The Silverville Swindle. But at the time we thought of the novel as a one-off, not Book One of a paranormal adventure-comedy series that now includes a planned four books -- the second, All Plucked Up (released this past December); the third, The Magicke Outhouse (forthcoming at the end of the year); and an untitled fourth in development for the following year.

Recognition:
Soon after publication, the original edition garnered several nods, including a nomination for the Colorado Blue Spruce Award for Young Adult Fiction as well as a following among high school students and YA readers spanning many borders. (This always puzzled us -- although delighted by this reception, we didn't particularly write the novel for that audience, and our story breaks many of the "rules of engagement" with that readership.)

Next, the Washington Center for the Book placed the title on the recommended reading list at the Library of Congress.

Praise:

I loved this book. It's trite to say I couldn't put it down, but that's the truth. Even more, I'm looking forward to the next book by the Todds. Great plot development, and they nailed the characters and the setting. It's hard to believe this is a first novel. This is a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining book filled with humor, intrigue, and likeable, memorable characters. It starts at an attention-snagging pace and grows throughout. A delicious romp through a tight adventure.

–  W.C. Jameson, History Channel commentator and author of over sixty books about the West, more recently the novel Beating the Devil and the biography Billy the Kid: Beyond the Grave

Any reader in the West will recognize Silverville with a knowing grin – and often enough, a knowing shudder. The Todds have written a funny book about a townful of people we’d just as soon know from a literary distance but suspect we might live next door to – or maybe even closer…. This book about close encounters of every kind is further evidence that any search for intelligent life in the universe might not stop very long at our planet.

– George Sibley, New York Times best-selling author of Part of a Winter,  Dragons in Paradise and, most recently, the historical nonfiction Water Wranglers

How far will a mountain town go to get more tourists? Clear to Arcturus, maybe, and along the way to the stars, there are con men, scam artists, hustlers, perhaps even a few honest citizens -- a howling funny ride all the way.

– Ed Quillen, syndicated columnist for The Denver Post and former co-publisher of Colorado Central magazine.