Harper Kingsley blog

I’ve been trying to turn this writing thing into some kind of income, but it’s slow going and there’s a few things I want that I simply cannot afford out of pocket. And that’s not just food *ba-dump-bump*

I’ve been lucky to find an awesome publisher (Less Than Three Press) and I have some novels and stories they’re already publishing for me or that I’m hoping they’ll publish for me ^_^;;

At the same time, I also self-pub some stuff. Original works, stories I’ve serialized on my site, what have you. I’m currently going through and revamping a lot of them (rewrites, extended scenes, the full nine.)

I could submit some of the original works to other places (lots of publishers don’t accept anything that’s been self-published, but some are cool with it) but I don’t think I can do that with my free-to-read stories and it makes me sad.

I really like being able to offer free stories, but once a story’s been released on the Internet most publishers don’t want it. I can self-pub those stories, but I have to arrange all the interior and cover work myself. It’s a big headache, but I’m willing to do it. I just don’t have a lot of money to work with.

I want great cover art for my self-pubbed books, but I can’t afford to pay for 20 premade covers out of pocket, much less the amount it would cost for beautiful, one-of-a-kind covers. It’s frustrating, because everyone has such pretty covers lately, and mine… Even after a year of art tutorials and photo manipulation videos, I’m still not an artist.

But my sister is.

So I offered her an agreement that she makes me covers, and she gets 5% of the cover price for all the books sold. As long as her cover is used, she gets paid, and I told her to hold onto all her sketches and whatever because they’re hers to do with as she likes. We could have like a joint book/art auction or something. It could be fun. (I know I felt bad when I didn’t have anything really cool to offer for the fandom charity auction.)

Anyways, my sister just started her new job, and other than her preliminary sketches for The Panic Pure I haven’t seen much else out of her. So if I offered the same deal — 5% of the cover for the time of use and $40 if I decide to stop using the cover early — would artists be interested in something like that?

5% doesn’t sound like a lot, but I think it’s fair. I mean, my sister spends a week working on a cover and she gets a quarterly deposit in her Paypal, plus I pimp her art everywhere. Plus a percentage if the art’s used on any kind of merchandise. I think long-term she would make more money than if I just paid $40 upfront.

*Though thinking about it, print book prices would have to be different. The royalty per book is low because of the cost of materials. So it would be more like a percentage of the cover minus cost, versus just the cover.

*

Sometimes I get jealous. I wish I could draw. If I had her ability, I would use it all the time and I would be so rich. I mean, she can draw, paint, she knows all this 3D computer art stuff, she’s done jaw dropping stuff with ceramics and glass.

And she’s working in an office filing paperwork.

I would have sold out my art skills a long time ago. “You want some naked ladies? Okay!”

*

Here’s a breakdown:
$0.99 x 5% = 0.049 is what the artist gets per book.
$0.99 x 35% = 0.35 – 0.049 = $0.301 is what I get per book.

Through Amazon:
0.99 x 35% = 0.35 -||- 0.99 x 5% = 0.049 -||- 0.35 – 0.049 = 0.301
1.99 x 35% = 0.69 -||- 1.99 x 5% = 0.099 -||- 0.69 – 0.099 = 0.591
2.99 x 70% = 2.09 -||- 2.99 x 5% = 0.149 -||- 2.09 – 0.149 = 1.941
3.99 x 70% = 2.79 -||- 3.99 x 5% = 0.199 -||- 2.79 – 0.199 = 2.591
4.99 x 70% = 3.49 -||- 4.99 x 5% = 0.249 -||- 3.49 – 0.249 = 3.241
5.99 x 70% = 4.19 -||- 5.99 x 5% = 0.299 -||- 4.19 – 0.299 = 3.891
6.99 x 70% = 4.89 -||- 6.99 x 5% = 0.349 -||- 4.89 – 0.349 = 4.541
7.99 x 70% = 5.59 -||- 7.99 x 5% = 0.399 -||- 5.59 – 0.399 = 5.191
8.99 x 70% = 6.29 -||- 8.99 x 5% = 0.449 -||- 6.29 – 0.449 = 5.841
9.99 x 70% = 6.99 -||- 9.99 x 5% = 0.499 -||- 6.99 – 0.499 = 6.491