A Better Bookstore, Part 2

Josef Marc
Publica
Published in
3 min readMar 22, 2018

In Part 1 I described Publica’s better bookstore idea. What about an author’s own online bookstore? (Their own website.)

Photo by Alejandro Escamilla on Unsplash

Cookie-cutter won’t cut it, so to speak. Virality, SEO, blind traffic, they won’t cut it either. Not anymore. Want to see a better bricks-and-mortar bookstore online? Here’s the one Seth Godin highlighted in his blog today.

http://www.mcnallyjackson.com/

That looks like a lot of work. An author might need help to make their website that rich. That’s what Publica’s Book ICO’s are for, to get them that help.

Meanwhile, what can authors learn from it for their own online bookstore? I’m no web designer but I can offer my first impressions as an avid book buyer. I recorded myself talking to myself about what I saw as I clicked the link so forgive the rambling, it’s a tradeoff for the authenticity.

Character. Very nice. I get a real sense of this store just by looking at it. In a heartbeat.

News I care about. I can see that I want to check back in. I have no idea if anyone else cares about this news or not. Wouldn’t care if they did. I do.

Video? I’m in! Ha-ha! Yes!

No annoying popups? I’m staying awhile. I can look around.

Español? How’d they know I recommend books to my Spanish-speaking friends?

Links to other people. Now I’m starting to really believe in this store. Reminds me of “People like us do things like this.” [Seth Godin.]

I like this bookstore and I trust these people. I’ll subscribe, or log in, or buy something. Lemme see…

So there you have it. A better bricks-and-mortar bookstore made a better online bookstore too. That’s what I’d like to see in every author’s own online bookstore.

Because better bookstores start with better books, and better books start with their authors, and they’re where we all end up.

Photo by Riley McCullough on Unsplash

Which brings me full circle to my December post that got me thinking about better bookstores in the first place, and how publishing on the blockchain will make it happen:

A Billion Stores, A Common Linkage.

Photo by Pj Accetturo on Unsplash

Let’s get together and do this thing, OK? Better bookstores, billions of ’em. Publica is doing its part. The Publicans (our supporters) want you to join the global party.

If you’re an author, publisher, or bookseller interested in learning more, write to info ‘at’ publica.com or go to https://publica.com and get a newsletter.

If you’re a reader and want the app, it’s coming soon to your app store. Follow our announcements on Medium or join the conversations on social media.

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Josef Marc
Publica

Blockchain evolution fan. Digital media nerd.