Holidays and News :-)

Happy Holidays one and all!  No matter what you celebrate, I hope you are having a wonderful winter season!

Because it is the holiday season, I need to inform everyone of my holiday schedule.  I will not be available from December 19, 2014 until January 4, 2015.  I won't even be checking my emails.  For me, Christmas is the time to spend with my family, making lots of food, getting fat, shopping, and decorating :-) 

In cover art news:

I don't accept rush jobs.  It's unfair to put an author above another author who is already in the queue.  It keeps thing fair and organized this way.  If you do have a rush job, you should seek another cover artist.  Perhaps they won't believe in being fair.

Pre-Made covers are changing.  I'm calling them "Concept Designs".  I'm doing this because so many stock sites are now requiring extended licenses for any images used in Pre-Made Covers.  Even though I only sell the pre-made covers once, the legal wording used in the stock sites makes it so I have to purchase an extended license.  My pre-made covers are inexpensive so it's not cost effective for me to purchase an extended license.  Therefore, I'm creating Concept Designs.  These can be used as covers.  All we do is add title, author name, etc.  I'll have individual prices under the Concept Designs.

One of these days, I'll have to start taking pictures myself.  Stock images are getting more expensive--especially if you want images that are more rare.  I've seen so many of the same images on covers that it makes me nauseous.  I'm sure, as authors, you want something original for your book as well.  Custom images can be expensive.  I'm also searching for new models.  I'm bored seeing the same ones on so many covers.  Of course, I still have my favorites--Jax Turyna, Max Aria, Jason Aaron Baca--to name a few (there are several).  But I want new faces along with the popular faces.  It helps new models become the Heroines and Heroes they want to be :-)

I'm thinking of changing my pricing scale.  As you all know, I like being fair.  It doesn't seem fair to charge the same price for a cover that has 1-3 images the same cost as a cover that has 7-9 images.  The price is too disparate.  I'm thinking of employing a price scale like so:
(e-books)
1-3 images:  $100.00
4-6 images:  $125.00
7-9 images:  $150.00
More than 10 images:  $200.00

What do you think?

Have a wonderful holiday season! :-)

Comments

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Update: Forgot something...ooops.

    Fair pricing is definitely worthy. And I think that sounds fair as it does even it out. I don't think that changing a pricing scale is riot worthy, but giving everyone a heads up that any orders placed after a certain day will have that scale is probably the most important.

    It's definitely a weird feeling trying to develop and arbitrarily asses how much to charge for something because frankly you are charging the community and while you want to make it worth it for you, you also don't want to screw the community. I'm doing the same thing now with our D40s. Any lessons learned?

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    Replies
    1. I haven't had any complaints increasing the cost because I am still one of the lowest cost in the business. Many of my peers believe I should be charging twice as much. What you have to do is find the right balance. When I first started out, my pricing was ridiculously low--so low that I wasn't making a profit. I was charging $50 for a cover meanwhile, the stock image sites I peruse now run from $30 - $45 per image. Think of it. I couldn't continue. A few years ago, e-book publishing was just starting out and no one really knew about pricing. So, I could get away with charging less because stock sites weren't charging as much. Now, stock sites recognize the boom and they have increased their prices in order to make more money. I don't raise my prices without just cause. The authors I work with are like family and I would never take advantage of that.

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    2. Absolutely. That is not sustainable. It stinks to raise prices, but you definitely do work above and beyond the call of duty. Don't lose a wink of sleep, I think it's excellent and more than fair. I wasn't trying to insinuate anything, I sincerely think you are in the right. Keep it up!

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  3. I think it's absolutely fair to charge more based on number of images, particularly when your artistry is beyond price. While I desperately hope that you can afford to keep your prices this low until I've found my feet as an author and can follow you into the higher-priced realm, this is, after all, your business, not a charity.

    As a customer, I'd appreciate knowing, or being able to specify, how many images your mock-ups use for my orders, so I'll know how to budget. I'll count on you to let me know if my requests exceed the minimum number of images.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Cheri! I am always upfront about pricing. I would hate to be surprised on a bill so I make sure that information is always given :-)

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