"http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-image-young-elegant-couple-image17069171"

Lol, nothing says 'young elegant couple' like a hand grabbing her behind.

Hey, it works for billionaire erotic romance books which sell TONS.

Fotolia also has very cheap monthly subs, as little as 80 cents for full sized images.  http://us.fotolia.com/Info/Subscriptions

But those seem to have monthly quotas. With the DP promo, people just need to get their images within the space of a year. It's actually not even a subscription. Customers go to a different part of the site ("image packs").

How much do DP contributors earn per download under this offer?

I don't know. Never uploaded there.

Oh, I almost forgot. This is a super good deal for designers who make something called "premade book covers." Most agencies require an EL for a book cover that's made in advance and customized for an author (ETA: pretty much no one actually pays for the EL because they either don't know or don't care). This is different than a custom book cover not made in advance, which only requires a SL. DepositPhotos, however, allows premades under an SL, at least according to the rep I spoke to.

So, yeah, this is a really popular offer.

Something I think microstock photographers should be aware of:

Amazon apparently has been cracking down on erotic books with certain kinds of covers (among other things).

This is causing writers and publishers to use "tamer" images, such as stuff that's more "fashion" or "glamour" rather than outright raunchy.

This could lead to a lot of surprises among photographers and models who didn't think their image would be used in such a way.

Just thought you should know.

Sure. Whatever works best for your situation, but remember I spent two posts explaining how mine is a bit different.

I've seen too many cases where people were likely using a subscription or an on-demand SL for an EL use. Not with my images, but with others'.

While my stuff might appear on a web template, most of it is geared toward book covers, which are SL most of the time anyway.

Except for when premade book covers are concerned.

In the self-publishing world, many designers sell a single-use book cover mock-up to self-published authors. The designers change the sample text for the authors' names and titles. Even though only one customization happens per book cover, many agencies see these covers as templates or merchandise, meaning EL and not SL. Commissioning a custom cover would be SL use.

However, many designers didn't and probably still don't know this. They think "ebook covers=SL use."

http://www.kboards.com/index.php?topic=155206.0

I'd rather these book cover designers use my stuff while complying with a license agreement. I'd also rather get $5 or $10 per download than $.42 while hoping for the rare $50.

In short: yeah I've given this a lot of thought.

Who's abusing who here? What is a book cover? An EL or not even allowed by SS terms of use?
Surely if the photo on a cover was obtained improperly the copyright holder can issue a take down on Amazon? A trifle damaging for sales?

A book cover is a SL under most agencies' license agreements, unless the book sells a certain amount of copies. Please, no one contact Amazon about an author who probably didn't do anything wrong.