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$2,000 was mentioned as the cost of cover artwork earlier, and countered by a reply saying that artwork could be had more cheaply-so I'd like to offer my own experience, with a non-profit that ordered a 'concept' painting to promote a new project.
The painting, by a local artist, cost $900 (about half the artist's 'regular' price, but he supported the project so he 'donated' half the price). But it took a team of 3 people a total of about 12 hours interviewing artists to select the artist. These were volunteers but, had they been paid (management/decision making level) the cost would probably have been at least $1000.
Of course with a dedicated 'art manager' the cost could have been lowered (it wouldn't have taken 3 people to make the decision), but then you'd need to spread the cost of the manager's position across all the artwork purchased. The same is true for staff artists-so I don't regard $2000 for cover/artwork unreasonable, once all the costs are considered.
Too often people, particularly believers in DIY, ignore the non-hourly cost of labor. DIY (self-publishers?) tend to regard labor as free while others regard salaries as overhead rather than as a 'project' cost. Neither case is true-it's just that they're both difficult to reduce to 'hard' numbers.
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