Slave Auction Recap w/Photos, and a Question/Contest for You All

At last, the promised slave auction recap is here! But, I'd like to begin with a question and contest first, if you don't mind.

You may be aware that I self-published Sublime: Collected Shorts. It was a little experiment for me in managing a title and learning what goes in to putting things out on my own. Currently, I publish the paperback through Createspace, which is convenient and requires no up-front costs but makes the per-copy costs pretty high, hence the $6.95 sale price on the paperback now. That strikes me as a lot to ask people to spend on a 14K book they can get digitally for $2.99.

So, I've been looking at moving the print book to Lightning Source. I'd be able to sell the book a lot cheaper, at maybe $4.50 or $4.99. The problem with this is that up-front costs at Lightning Source are significant for a low-volume title, which the paperback will almost certainly be (though the ebook sells quite steadily, paperback sales in this genre tend to represent no more than 10% of total sales).

What's this got to do with you, you ask? Well, I'm wondering how the pricing would affect your buying habits. If you wanted Sublime, but didn't buy it in print at $6.95, was it because of the price or because you simply prefer ebooks? Would you buy it in print at $4.99? Would you be more likely to buy it at $4.50, or does that $.49 make no real difference? Would you buy it in print even if you already have it in ebook if it's affordable enough? What if you could get an autographed copy ordered directly through my website for the same $4.50 or $4.99, shipping included? Or does the autograph not terribly matter and, for convenience's sake, you'd just as soon order it through Amazon or B&N?

I know that's a lot of questions, but I'd be most grateful if you'd answer as many as you're able in the comments. This'll be a huge help to me and may well be the deciding factor in whether or not I can bring the print copy of Sublime to you at a more affordable price. Also, to say thank you for your input, I'll be giving away an autographed print copy of Sublime to one random commenter (be sure to leave your email address!).

But enough of that. You're here for the slave auction results, right? Beneath the jump, then, complete with photos.

It's Poll Time! And Also I'm You're Awesome!

A poll, if you would, for my Goodreads peeps (or those who, like me, simply can't resist pushing a button, any button, no matter what for):

What's your opinion on event invitations at Goodreads?
	They're great; I love to see what's going on with my favorite authors (or, you know, that Rachel chick)
	I don't mind them, as long as no one person sends me too many
	They make me ANGRY! I WILL SAY NO TO YOUR EVENT AND NEVER BUY YOUR BOOKS AGAIN!
	Meh, I ignore them or delete them unread
	I'm not on Goodreads, but I can't resist voting in polls
Free polls from Pollhost.com

And now for the awesome:

Yes, my friends, that is a current (as of this evening) screenshot of Counterpoint: Book I of Song of the Fallen cracking the Top 100 charts in the Gay and Lesbian Genre Fiction category. Thanks so much to all of you for supporting my writing, and especially to those of you who take the time to rate and review a book--be it mine or others', I love seeing M/M books get some love!--when you're done. Whatever small success I can claim is all because of my brilliant writing you :D