The real math of a $2.99 illustrated story
No marketing fog — just arithmetic over the live catalog of 10 stories (10 completed sales reported by the store so far). The cheapest complete story costs $2.99, the most expensive $2.99, and the average sits at $2.99. Every download is a finished illustrated PDF you keep forever: no subscription, no episodes, no upsell inside the file.
Cost per minute of reading
An illustrated Originality story is built to be finished in one sitting — about 25 minutes for most readers. At the average price that works out to roughly $0.12 per minute of story. A café latte costs about $4.00 and lasts 10 minutes ($0.40 per minute). Reading here is roughly 3.3× cheaper per minute than coffee — and the story stays with you.
What your money actually funds
Each $2.99 pays for the illustration work inside that specific story, the writing and editing, the PDF layout, and the hosting that keeps Part 1 of every story free for the next reader. There is no publisher taking 85%: buying at $2.99 is about as direct as supporting an indie author gets.
The comparison table
· 1 complete illustrated story: $2.99 — 25 min of story, yours forever. · 4 complete stories: $11.96 — about the price of one cinema ticket. · 1 complete stories: $2.99 — less than one fancy coffee, and the reading lasts for months.
Why we publish the math
Because a tiny price should be easy to defend, and defending it honestly is cheaper than advertising. If these numbers look small, that is the point: the store is designed so that trying one complete story costs less than almost any other entertainment decision you make today.