Went for it, basically. Thanks @RISK for the encouragement! My wife is behind me too. Interesting. Guys I consulted were much more dubious and suspicious. Ladies rock!
So I've got a marketing plan that gives Otorongo exposure in a NY Times Book Review ad, Publishers Weekly ads, various Internet promotions, three critical reviews (out of which you gotta hope we get something positive to put on the cover), a website . . . .
The good news is I negotiated the price and managed to get 25% off!
Yikes. Still a lot of money.
So that's what I did. I'm feeling okay with it. Next we got to actually produce the book, though. Back to basics.