As authors struggle to find a way to monetize their creative works in this new digital era, a new idea has emerged by this author to sell e-books as NFTs. Until now, selling collectible e-books as NFTs has followed the traditional book selling model. For example, in physical book sales, a “first edition” copy is more valuable than a “second edition” copy. Likewise, a “first printing” copy is more valuable than a “second printing” copy. And so on. E-book NFTs have tried to mirror this physical book selling model by minting first editions, second editions, etc., but without resounding success. A survey of the experiments attempted so far by publishers and authors alike show that there isn’t much appetite among book collectors for NFT versions of e-books. The exception to this observation is the sale of e-book NFTs of famous authors’ e-books. But where does that leave the remaining 99.99% of unknown, non-famous authors who cannot sell e-book NFTs of their works? As one looks to the art-NFT space, it is clear that NFTs have helped non-famous artists with niche followings a way to monetize their art and make a living from their creative work. There should be a way for writers to benefit also from this new way of e-commerce.
If one considers what a book is at its most fundamental form, the answer to the previous question reveals itself.
A book is a collection of pages.
On the pages are written words which tell the story. Each page is unique. Each page is important. The book is only complete when all pages are present and brought together.
Therefore, each page of a book can be sold as a separate NFT and become collectible. The collection of all page-NFTs, then, constitute a complete e-book.
Postulating that the the urge to collect is innate in human nature, the only two properties a collectable needs are: scarcity and authenticity. Page-NFTs possess both these properties.
A book has a limited number of pages. Creating each page as its own NFT naturally limits the total number of NFTs available for purchase. Therefore, there is scarcity.
Since NFTs are minted on the blockchain, their provenance can be verified. Therefore, authenticity of each page-NFT can be established.
Since page-NFTs possess both properties of scarcity and authenticity, it is collectible. Therefore, humans will collect them.
Selling these page-NFTs to fans and collectors will cause them to seek and to trade the other page-NFTs and buy them. This creates a market. As the popularity of the story grows and creates more fans, the value of the page-NFTs will rise as more people seek to participate in “owning” their favorite e-book.
This method of monetizing e-books has the advantage of mirroring the cash flow structure of traditional publishing contract. Let us take the example of a typical 350 page novel.
Suppose that each page is minted as its own NFT and each NFT is priced at $85 US dollars, not an unreasonable price for an NFT. Then the initial sale of 350 NFTs would net the author 85 x 350 = $29,750. This amount is in the ballpark range of an advance on royalties from a traditional publishing deal.
Further suppose that for each NFT, there is a smart contract attached which pays a 10% royalty to the author for each subsequent sale of the NFT each time it changes hands. If all 350 NFTs change hands at least once a year even at the same price of $85, that would yield a royalty payment of $2975 each time 350 NFTs are transacted. This can be thought of as a annual royalty payment to the author so that recurring revenue is generated for the author even if no more NFT pages are minted. Of course, it is unlikely that all 350 NFTs will be transacted each year, but it is also unlikely that the transaction price will remain the same. Instead, it is likely that the transaction price will increase because of the collectability of the pages. Ten percent of a higher transaction price means an increased royalty payment to the author, which means annual royalty payments could be even higher as long as a single collector does not manage to corner the market and purchase all available page-NFTs.
If it becomes acceptable to sell the pages of an e-book as NFTs instead of the whole e-book as a single NFT, then another interpretation of the e-book can be made. The e-book can be thought of as a “company” and the NFT pages can be considered “shares” in the company similar to stock but without the transfer of copyrights.
Clearly, it is difficult to sell a single copy of an e-book for $30,000. But at $100 per page-NFT for 300 pages, that price is well within reach of any author’s enthusiastic fans. If fans of the e-book are given a chance to “own” a “share” of their favorite e-book by purchasing an NFT of one or two pages, then finding 300 or fewer fans to share in the cost of purchasing the collection of NFTs may be much easier than trying to sell the book to a traditional publisher for the same advance on royalties.
As it becomes customary to collect page-NFTs instead of whole e-books, it will become clear that some pages of a book are more valuable than other pages. For example, the cover page is typically regarded as more important than a random interior page since it is the first page of the book. Likewise, some pages in which a key fact, plot twist or introduction of a favorite character may also be regarded as more collectible than other pages. This will cause price fluctuation with some pages more affordable and some highly desirable pages being priced at a premium. The more affordable pages create an entryway for new fans of the e-book while the expensive pages will be fought over by the ardent collectors and speculators. This market activity serves to create more royalty income to the author as NFTs exchange owners.
Page-NFTs also have power to change the prevailing business model of e-book sales. The current business model for digital books is “pay-to-read.” If someone wants to read the e-book, that person must pay first before the content can be accessed.
But with page-NFTs, the business model changes from pay-to-read to “free-to-read” but “pay-to-collect.” With page-NFTs, writers, especially niche or small fandom writers, no longer have to gatekeep their create works behind pay-walls. They can allow free access to their work to anyone to help them increase reader reach. But because page-NFTs are “pay-to-collect,” only those readers who wish to “own” a share of their favorite stories will buy and trade with others who feel the same ardent urge. This situation of free-to-read but pay-to-collect is a striking advantage over the current pay-to-read model.
By recognizing the book as a collection of unique, indispensable pages, it becomes clear that, rather that selling an NFT of the entire e-book, selling NFTs of the individual pages is what will create collectability. Since the pages are of limited number, this creates the scarcity needed for a successful NFT. If the author has fans, then selling NFTs to the fandom is a way to allow the fans to feel a sense of ownership in their favorite e-books. Selling the individual pages of an e-book as NFTs, therefore, becomes the logical future of e-book publishing for a greater number of authors trying to earn a living from their creative works.
Click here to see the first e-book to be sold as 435 single page-NFTs.
