When The New Yorker announced their plans to feature the epic work of iPhone impressionist artist Jorge Colombo, on the cover of their June issue, it instantly triggered an unexpected payday for Brushes app developer Steve Sprang. A $13,373 dollar payday to be exact, as the iPhone gold rush delivered another impressive pay out to an independent developer overnight.
On May 25th, the day the New Yorker broke the story that Colombo's iPhone art would grace their cover, Sprang's wildly popular iPhone painting application hauled in the highest one day sales since it was first released back in August of 2008. Reaching over 2,700 downloads at $4.99 a click. Gaining the kind of free advertising that creates instant iDrool for most developers.
That amounts to almost $10,000 in one day for Steve Sprang after Apple shaves off their thirty percent share. Not exactly chump change for an iPhone developer bent on making a full-time living from his handy work.
In all fairness, Mr. Sprang says he's thrilled to see an artistic community flourishing around his own creation, admitting that's he's still a ways off from pulling down the six-figure numbers that other developers have enjoyed. To date, his Brushes application has sold around 40,000 copies, which many of his peers would consider a grand success.
“Some developers are able to make hundreds of thousands of dollars doing this,” Sprang told the New York Times. “I’m not at their level. But I am able to make a living and support myself doing this, which is what I wanted to do.” Source: NYT
Brushes is on sale now at $3.99 for a limited time.
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