Authors do not get to pick the prices…

I was told the prices for The Strongest Fire. I still do not know how much it will be on the Kindle and Sony reader. I will be buying that package next month! I did ask about the Nook and it is not determined yet whether or not the Nook will carry iUniverse books. My assumption is they will over time and that they just need to hammer out all the details. But that is just an assumption and I know nothing of the inside deals this company is going to make.
*looks around nervously*
So, without further ado…
*drum roll*
The prices are…
*opens cyber envelope*
E-Book $6.00
Perfect Bound Softcover (aka trade paperback) $18.95
Casebound Hardcover (sleek, no dust jacket) $28.95
I wish the prices were just a few dollars lower. And if there is anyway for me to take a cut in percentage to make these books a little more inexpensive, I will. I want my books read, easily available, and affordable for everyone. Unfortunately authors do not get to set the prices.
If anyone would like any further information, please don’t hesitate to ask.
I still do not have an exact date, but I was told that it will be out before Christmas.

Waiting… waiting… waiting…

Sorry it’s been awhile since I have blogged. There has not been a lot going on with my book. I’ve just been waiting. The content edit was done on the 11th, when they thought the 14th, but I have not seen it yet because it’s been reviewed to basically make sure that I was given my moneys worth. I was told the 17th would be the soonest I would see it, but I’m still wondering if I might see it a day sooner. When I do get it back, it might take me only until the 1st to be done with it… or it might take me a couple months. Right now since I am very new at this I don’t know. I’ll keep everyone posted. While waiting I have kept very busy. I was told by my guide or middleman (whichever you wish to call him) from iUniverse, ‘DO NOT LOOK AT, OVER, OR EVEN THINK ABOUT YOUR MANUSCRIPT until you have it back in your hands. Keep busy with other things.’ So I have been writing some of the third in the series, doing stuff with my kids. We did my youngest daughter’s birthday party early; it was at Build-A-Bear. We had 9 kids there and they each spent $33. My mother-in-law paid for it for her. She did my oldest daughter’s, we she turned 10, as well. We did the little ones early because there is always a very large event that happens in our city. It’s the weekend before and after her b-day. It’s sad because her friends can never come to her parties because of it. Now the rest of this week that I am waiting I think I will be cleaning house. I know it’s only a day or two until I should have it back, but I want this house looking great for when I sit down and look over everything. A clean house makes me think better. Now I am off to start my day.

I guess this new post should come with a warning ~ I typed it at 6am… for those of you who are late night people… that’s in the morning!    I was still in the zombie like state of half… no, hardly awake. 
I know it says the time that it was posted… but incase you didn’t look… and truly 6am is very early for my brain to do anything.  I am not a morning person by nature.

Money, money, money ~

Here is the what, when, where, how much of everything right now.
I bought the Bookstore Premier Pro Express (on sale form $2,499 to $1,599) when going with iUniverse.  I would have gone with the Bookstore Premier Pro NOT express, but the express was on sale and the other was not.
I read reviews and ratings for the top self-publishers out there.  I studied Lulu, AuthorHouse, and a couple others and found that there were a few I liked.  In the end it came down to 3 things plus their overall rating.

Three important things to me in order of importance…                                

1. Editing ~ I want my book worth the money spent on it.

2. Cost for the buyer ~ I want my readers to not have to spend a fortune on my book

3. Book return-ability ~ I want stores to want to carry my book and that means they might need to return it.

I found that iUniverse had the strongest reviews with the editing, prices were a little high but nothing I could change, and the books could be returned if I bought the package.  I do wish I could change the price of the book.  I will only be taking 10% instead of 20% making it so bookstores will be able to sale my book for cheaper.  That was the best I could do for anyone.  I wished iUniverse had the same deal that AuthorHouse offers, so I could take a 5% and make my book very cheap, but editing was top on my list.  Without a good edit my book would not even be worth a buck.  If I could have found a review on Wright Book Publishing I might have gone with them.  I did like what they had to offer in their packages.  Please, if anyone goes with Wright Books let me know how it went/goes, I am very curious.
Now I understand (from working at B&N) that books need to be modeled in the store in order for them to be stocked in the store.  I also know from working in a book store that people do not always pick-up what they order and that people do order a lot of books.  So that return-ability is important.  I really don’t know if going with the 10% or 20 % will be help any, but I am trying.
This was a great table to go off of…
http://online-book-publishing-review.toptenreviews.com/index.html
I think it was from early 2009… not sure though.  Lulu was not on it, which surprised me, but I’m sure it’s because Lulu in not technically a “publisher.”  But they still publish books…
http://www.lulu.com/en/help/disclaimer
This info did surprise me, but I still considered them.  I did not find a disclaimer like that on the other sites but I could have missed it.  If anyone finds something like that please let me know and I will update this.
I was shocked that iUniverse, Authorhouse, and Xlibirs did not have more matching items since they were all bought by Authorhouse.  I discovered that in some of my research.  iUniverse still topped out as the best edit wise.
I had the editorial evaluation done and it was recommended that I had a content edit.  That cost me $3,475 and some odd change.  Which my book is in the process of finding the editor to do the right type of job I need.  It sounds very hand picked, which makes me happy.