Hello, all though i cant offer any help on the novel i'd figure i would share a little of my experience here.
When asking for help on these forums i think you should be very picky if anyone does contact you. I know it's exciting at first to have someone interested in the idea but when i asked nearly two years ago for help on mine, i got nearly 10 replies but unfortunately every single one of them quit/gave up/stop responding and i had to finish it by myself. (which im in the process of putting the final touches on it btw) but what im saying is that without a budget it might be best to just spend time learning whatever skills you need to instead of having people waste your time by joining just to quit the team a month or so later. Plus you have that experience with you for life.
Its how i learned basic anatomy for drawing. Cause everyone kept quitting and i researched it myself. Was difficult though. Anyways hope this all goes well. seems like a great idea for a novel.