Price$ to be paid

The printer/distributer of my science fiction novel, Trinity on Tylos, has raised the price by another three dollars per copy at Amazon. That makes the “drive out price” $21.94. Yep, for a trade paperback. The industry average price for one of these is twelve bucks. Since my last royalty check didn’t reflect a single sale of a paperback, it doesn’t really matter much to me, but I wouldn’t pay it. Anyone who wants a copy would be better off buying via my website, where I offer autographed copies sent media mail for sixteen dollars. I have decided to call it a “sale” and see if I get any customers.

I was sitting in a hospital waiting room this week and heard an elderly woman comment that gas prices are on the rise, “And there is no reason for it, none at all.” I do believe that the finite supply of dead dinosaurs might be a factor, but that doesn’t explain why my book has gotten a whole lot more expensive. Or does it? Maybe the printing plant is miles and miles from the nearest Post Office. That’s a thought.

As for high prices, I took a technology class last week as well, and the teacher shared this fact:

The ink in your computer printer is among the world's most expensive liquids, with a price per ounce outpacing Dom Perignon Champagne and dwarfing household products like milk. See how it stacks up, in price per ounce:

Printer ink: $60.88
Dom Perignon: $4.53
Milk: 3 cents

Update: I bought a Mac compatible Brother laser printer a few days after this post. It was $109 for a network printer, with toner, from amazon.com, and I got free shipping. That is about forty bucks more than one set of cartridges for the HP inkjet.