Charity Ondriezek, of Design Adaptations, is the subject of my latest interview about premium WordPress themes. Her premium theme is called Cornerstone and is on sale now. She also has a variety of free themes available on her site as well.

What prompted you to begin selling premium WordPress themes?

Creating a premium theme was something I had in the back of my mind for quite a while, after having seen a few others try. I wasn’t convinced there was much of a demand however, until I saw how successful Brian Gardner’s Revolution theme was. Then I knew there was a predominantly untapped market. I figured the timing was right.

How do the number and type of support requests a premium theme is generating compare to the requests you receive for one of your free themes?

Surprisingly, there hasn’t been a significant difference. That means one of two things… either I’ve done something quite right in the building of the theme, or something very wrong! The jury is still out on that one.

I assume there’s a larger sense of responsibility when dealing with premium theme support. Do you sometimes feel like you’ve signed on with dozens of clients all at once?

I definitely feel a stronger sense of responsibility. For the most part, releasing a free theme affords the luxury of doing so on an “as is” basis. Some fixes and updates are necessary for the theme to stay on par with Wordpress itself of course, but there’s very little to do once a free theme has been released. With a premium theme on the other hand, I feel obligated to provide detailed email support when requested, because I consider it part of the theme purchase.

If so, has that new level of commitment altered your plans for future themes in regards to features, release schedules, etc.?

I’m really excited about the potential in themes right now and I absolutely plan to release more, both premium and free. Cornerstone has been a great learning experience… it has given me a basis for comparison for future projects. Hopefully I can refine my process (and my product) with each theme I release, and gather some happy customers along the way.

What are your thoughts on the notion of an official theme marketplace that was mentioned by Matt Mullenweg at the beginning of November?

I think there’s too little information right now to go on. I think a 50/50 split (if it’s true) is inappropriate, but Matt has a tendency to be shadowed by rumors wherever he goes. So until he sheds more light on the subject I’ll refrain from further comment.

With the crackdown on sponsored themes and sponsored links, do you fear the premium theme market will be flooded with WordPress designers looking to make back lost revenue?

There’s always the possibility of saturation, but I don’t see that scenario being too troublesome for serious themers. The people who were involved in sponsored links are typically looking to make the largest ROI for the least amount of work… creating (and supporting) a premium theme does not fall into that category based on my experience. It’s not a get-rich-quick enterprise.

Without giving away any personal trade secrets, what have you found to be the best methods of promoting your premium themes?

I’m still experimenting with ideas for promotion. So far, reviews and mentions on others’ blogs has brought in much of the traffic Cornerstone has received. Stumble gave it a boost as well.

Do you have any tips or words of advice for WordPress designers thinking about entering into the premium theme market?

Sure, start from the beginning. Be proactive in learning as much as you can about theming, then release a few high quality free themes to use as a launch pad. Spend some time aligning yourself (in a sincere way) with prominent individuals in the WP community. There’s a lot to be said for building relationships in this arena.

I’d like to thank Charity for setting aside some time to answer my questions. Her Cornerstone theme is available for purchase now. This was the second in a series of interviews with designers of Premium WordPress Themes. If you’re interesting in keeping up with them all I suggest you subscribe to this site’s RSS feed.