Creator Royalties #001: Open Editions

January 10, 2023

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Open Editions: What are they and are they for you?

Over the past couple of months, artists have been experimenting more and more with open editions. Curious about what they are, and whether they are right for you? Read on.

What are open editions?

Artists, when choosing to mint their work as NFTs, have typically chosen between minting them as 1/1s (read: one of one’s) or editions. While 1/1s exist as a single, unique edition (i.e. only one person can own that piece of art at any given point in time), editions exist as multiple copies of the same piece of art.

As the name suggests, limited editions are limited to a predetermined number of editions, whereas open editions allow for any number of that art to be minted, although sometimes within limited time windows.

Why open editions… now?

Open editions aren’t new. In fact, one of the most famous open edition drops came from XCOPY, one of the original and top-selling crypto artists of all time, in March 2022, where each edition sold for a whopping 1 ETH each! You can see that collection, Max Pain and Frens, here. Since then, we’ve also seen open edition generative drops, such as the one from Season 2 of Women and Weapons.

With new creator-friendly tools being released every day, it is now easier than ever to launch your own open edition drop. Manifold Studio, in particular, allows creators to mint work on their own smart contract with a few clicks of a button.

The pros and cons of open editions

As with anything, there are pros and cons. One big pro of open editions is that since they would be priced lower than a 1/1 or limited edition, it naturally allows more people to access and collect your art at a lower price point. This allows your work to be more widely circulated, expands your collector base, while still making sure that you are being adequately compensated for your time. Chances are, it may be easier to find 50 people willing to spend 0.03 ETH each than 10 people willing to spend 0.1 ETH (total proceeds of 1.5 vs 1 ETH!).

On the other hand, due to a lack of scarcity, open editions are often seen as being less valuable and desirable. In fact, some artists have vowed to stay away from open editions, in fear that it dilutes the value of their work. Open editions may also be off putting to some collectors, who choose to avoid them for fear of them having limited resale value.

Considerations for open editions

  • Primary objective: First up, consider your primary objective. Are you trying to maximize revenue or expand your collector base? How much supply are you willing to have on the market? Are you also looking at open editions as a way to introduce gamification for your collectors to collect future work through a burn and claim* mechanism?

  • Pricing: How is your open edition priced relative to your 1/1s or limited editions? Tiffatronn for example recently priced her open edition at around 4% her 1/1, and 50% her limited editions of 30/30.

  • Wallet limit: How many would you like each wallet to mint? Setting wallet limits are usually ideal, especially if you want to avoid a single collector holding on to too many pieces, particularly if it is a low priced mint.

  • Time limit: How long should your mint be open for? Depending on your primary goal, minting windows can be as short as a few minutes or even be left open indefinitely.

  • Collection: Do your open editions live in a collection of its own, or does it live within an existing collection?

* Burn and claim refers to holders effectively removing that NFT from circulation in exchange for another token.

Final thoughts 

Open editions can be a great way to put your work into the hands of more collectors, and could be the start of a new beautiful collector-creator relationship! However, what works for others may or may not work for you, so be sure to ask yourself what your main goal is and do what ultimately feels authentic to yourself as an artist.

Have an open edition drop coming? We would love to know about it so we can share it in our next newsletter! Hit reply to give us the details.

In the News

Artist Grants and Opportunities

This Week's Art Drops

  • Royal Rebels by Sara Baumann (10-piece collection, Open Edition) - follow Sara on Twitter: Women and Weapons founder and artist Sara Baumann drops her genesis collection with Coinbase NFT on Jan 13.

  • Next Horizon by Stackles (Editions 20/20, 0.02 ETH) - follow Stackles on Twitter: A tribute to the storms we weather by Australian multi-disciplinary artist, Stackles.

  • Into the Night by Focus Pirate (Editions 50/50, 0.04 ETH) - follow Focus Pirate on Twitter: Otherworldly depictions of a milky way and an alien planet by photographer and visual artist, focuspirate.

  • As Dreams Are Born by Eszter Lakatos (Editions 30/30, 0.085 ETH) - follow Eszter on Twitter: Surreal depiction of a pink dreamscape by Hungarian color and detail-oriented surrealist, Eszter Lakatos.

🤗 Fancy being part of our creator spotlight? Have an upcoming art drop you’d like to share? Or an upcoming exhibition or opportunity for your fellow artists? Feel free to hit reply or email [email protected] and share it with us, so we can share it with our readers.

Creator Spotlight: Mariana Blatnik

Mariana of Mari Inks Art creates fine art using fluid paints and a blow dryer. Prior to being a full-time artist in Miami, she studied Marketing and Advertising and obtained a master's degree in Business Administration in Brazil. She discovered alcohol ink in 2019 and became fascinated with the relatively new medium's relationship to time and motion, thus marking a before and after in her artistic practice. Her animated NFTs use color to highlight the organic beauty of natural movement. How to claim a free open edition from Mariana: Mariana is the January recipient of the Meta Angels x Adobe Artist-in-Residence program, owners of Meta Angels and HUG Passes will have access to a free mint of a commissioned piece at the end of the month.Learn more about Mari Inks Art.