Final Stages

Hymn is in the final stages of pre-production. In fact, I'm simply waiting on the proof to be printed up and arrive in the mail before it's set to go on out there.
I decided to go the route of self-publishing first while attempting to shop the manuscript around or wish upon all the stars and 11:11s I come in contact with for it to fall into the correct hands. Heh.
I suppose, though, that any hands which find their way around the cover are the correct hands. They're the hands of those I want to be reading my work.

One of the downfalls of the self-publication, however, will be the price. I went with the hard cover edition which jacks up the price. Follow that up with the retailer mark-up (in this case about 110% from production cost) and you're left with a hefty price for a short novel. It'll retail for $32.99. That's as low as it would let me go.
The downside is that I will not make a cent off any of the books sold, except those sold directly through my marketplace on Lulu.com. The upside is that Hymn should be available on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Borders.com. It could possibly even find its way into stores.

I also need to check the fine print in the Lulu.com marketplace contract to see if I'm allowed to upload the content onto Kindle. As I retain the rights, I legally can (and will), but the pricing may prove an issue. I vaguely remember reading a clause in there that disallowed selling the work for a lower price than that which is offered on Lulu. But that could only pertain to the printed editions.

We shall see; we shall see.

In the end though, it's incredibly exciting to have finished - and be putting out there - my first official novel.

Now to really get cracking on the two I've got bubbling forth now.