Why Author James Fahy Is Expanding Into NFT Books, And Why You Should Too
As autumn creeps in and winter gets closer, what better way to spend an evening than to rediscover a good fantasy novel and immerse yourself in a different world. BookVolts have the solution to this: the upcoming re-release of James Fahy’s Isle of Winds — the first book in the Changeling series.
Originally published in 2015, the Changeling series is YA fantasy that follows Robin Fellows, a seemingly ordinary boy, as he discovers that he is descended from a mystic race of fae-people from a realm called the Netherworlde. The Netherworlde is in the throes of a terrible civil war, and the series follows Robin as he finds out the truth about who he is as he tries to overthrow the tyrant leader and save his new-found homeland. Now, for the first time ever, this cherished series will be available as a digital first edition, with a limited run of only 100 copies being available for purchase.
But what is a digital first edition? In brief, a digital first edition is a digital book that is created (minted, as they say in the NFT world) as an NFT on the blockchain. The result is that instead of being available to readers as a replicable ebook file that they have to download from platforms like Amazon, digital first editions allow readers to properly own their digital books. Much like physical first editions, digital first editions can be collected or sold on the blockchain as the owner sees fit, and because there are only a limited number of digital copies in existence for each book (as set by the author/creator), the digital first edition offers collectability and rarity in a way that ebooks cannot.
Another unique feature of digital first editions is that it is possible to incorporate different bonus content in formats beyond what can traditionally be included in print and ebooks. This content can take the form of audio, visual, video, and physical discounts and offers, along with direct access to the author, giving readers an exclusive experience that goes way beyond just reading the book.
Over the years since its initial publication, Isle of Winds has amassed a loyal and dedicated following of readers, with author James Fahy constantly receiving messages from fans wanting to know more about the world he has created. Along with the novel, owners of the digital first edition of Isle of Winds will gain access to a wide range of bonus features including a character glossary with trivia, a hand-drawn map of the Netherworlde, a deleted scene titled ‘Combat Training with Phorbas’, a Netherworlde guide, The High Tongue: Netherworlde language, links to exclusive video content and author Q&A chats, and a bonus origin story: ‘The Boy in the Bog’. This edition will offer the ultimate enhanced Netherworlde experience — one that only those who buy one of 100 copies will get to have.
Three beautiful new covers have been designed by Thea Magerand, each one depicting a character from the book: Woad, Karya, and Robin. These three cover variations will be minted and randomly sent out, so of the 100-copy mint, 60 copies will feature the Woad cover art, 30 will feature the Karya cover art, and just 10 will feature the Robin cover art. The varying levels of rarity offer readers the chance to own exclusive limited editions, especially as each copy will be numbered and signed by the author.
Speaking to author James Fahy, it is clear that this project is a love letter to his fans and a thank you for supporting him. The bonus content reveals character histories, details about places and people from within the Netherworlde, and background content and information that James wrote for his own reference when originally writing the books. This content has never before made it to the page, and James thinks it will be interesting for readers to see the bedrock underneath the world they’ve enjoyed over the years.
‘There’s a bonus 50/60 page story that, if it were worked into canon, would basically be a prologue to the first book. People want to know how these characters met, and it’s hinted at through the books, but to actually read that story of how they met is a bit of an exciting bonus.’
So why release this as a digital first edition? James loved the idea that he could bring all these bonus features together in a new way, saying that ‘it’s something fun that no-one else has done before, releasing a whole novel in this format with limited editions. This extra material isn’t going to be available anywhere else; it won’t be released separately in a behind-the-scenes physical book: if you want this content then it’s only in one of these 100 editions, and that’s special for fans.’
This exclusivity, as well as the element of true ownership, is important to James as he argues that ‘if you buy a Kindle, you’re basically buying access to a file that 8 million other people already have. You can read it but it’s not yours, whereas with the digital first edition you’re buying the actual product and it’s yours to sell on at a profit in the future if you want to’. Here he is referring to the opportunity that the blockchain presents for readers to buy and sell their copies on the secondary market.
Much like physical copies of books, owners of digital first editions are able to sell their copies on if and when they choose, meaning that there is an opportunity for someone else to enjoy that content. James says that, for fans, ‘it can be an investment, as if the value of [his] work goes up then their copy will be worth more money and they can sell it’, which presents an interesting opportunity for fans and collectors. Also, when digital first editions are sold on the secondary market, the author receives royalties of up to 10% from these sales, meaning that James can continue to be reimbursed for his work in perpetuity.
This edition is an exclusive access-all-areas pass to the Netherworlde, only available on BookVolts and running on pre-release until November 17th for £22 a copy.
Click here to pre-order a copy.
Find out more about BookVolts here.
