NFT-Based Books: The Next Tipping Point
Art and Music are already being revolutionized by NFTs. When, however, does that extend to written content, i.e., books?
While 2020 was the year of DeFi, the more that 2021 unfolds, the more it feels like it will truly be the year of NFTs. By now, it’s relatively well-established that NFT art has the potential to be the next major art movement, worldwide, with the NFT art market “tripling in value” in 2020 alone, reaching up to $250 million. Now that the Kings of Leon appear poised to take the NFT-music niche on its first major step towards mainstream attention, it’s reasonable to wonder when written content will reach its own tipping point.
Take books for example.
While art and music have already moved to the blockchain world, the fate of books largely remains in the hands of traditional publishers or platforms like Amazon. In both of these cases, the author loses 85% or even more of their potential revenue due to the stranglehold that these companies have on publishing at large.
There has to be a better way, right?
Enter NFTs.
As mentioned above, they’ve already begun to revolutionize art and music. Why not do the same with book publishing? If, for example, the next novel of a popular author could be released as a provably-scarce NFT with say, an attached drawing for a VIP meet-and-greet as is being done with the Kings of Leon’s current drop, then there’s no telling what that would do for the author involved as well as, really, all authors.
Publishing needs its’ own tipping point.
That means like Beeple has done and like the Kings of Leon are doing, one or more authors need to step forward and provide proof-of-concept for everyone else that NFTs really can change the middlemen-driven publishing space for the better.
It’s not about making well-known authors even more well-known.
It’s about lifting the scores of under-appreciated authors out of relative obscurity, as the crypto art movement is currently doing with artists from all walks of life. Making that happen means kickstarting a movement around a few authors with a considerable amount of existing fame. From there, as has been seen with the crypto art movement, particularly over the past two months, a resultant ecosystem will come.
No one’s going to build dedicated products for authors until they see the initial need for them and to me, that need comes from a few revolutionary drops.
If you take the rule of thumb that each and every creative space that’s under a stranglehold by middlemen will inevitably be decentralized, then book publishing will logically be one of the next to fall. We’re already beginning to see short-form poetry listed on the well-known OpenSea marketplace. It’s only a matter of time before books follow suit.
If anyone’s already working on this, please do reach out. I’m a writer and aspiring author and would definitely be interested in being involved with such an effort in any way possible. Art and music have already hit the crypto-sphere.
Why not bring books in as well?
Where does all of this leave us?
It goes without saying that decentralizing book publishing won’t be easy. Most new authors face a considerable barrier in terms of marketing, which is the main reason they often still turn to traditional publishers, who have the pull to attract mainstream media attention.
In my view, once the marketing of books gets revolutionized in a way that fits the crypto-ethos, then book publishing will follow suit in a big way. In any case, as the year rolls on, expect big things, including the launch of a dedicated NFT content platform, where I plan to write about artists, musicians, and more as the space evolves. Until then, reach out to me anytime on Twitter, where I’m always available, and remember, the crypto revolution goes beyond just money.
It’s about the decentralization of everything.
— — — — — — —
As of now, most of my free time is now being taken up with my newsletter, which is completely free and focused on how the rise of the Metaverse improves things for everyone. Sub here.
