7 Reasons to Buy Books on the Blockchain
If you are a voracious reader and always looking for new books to read, you might have run across the term ‘NFT Books’, or “Literary NFT”.
Reading books on the blockchain is a relatively new concept that is gaining popularity as more and more people are discovering the benefits of owning a digital book that is stored on a decentralized network.
We at Readl believe decentralized libraries will become part of our everyday lives, bringing many benefits to the ever-growing community of self-publishing authors and publishers who want to embrace new technologies.
While the advantages of publishing on the blockchain are numerous, most of the benefits are actually for readers.
From increased security to real ownership, buying books published on the blockchain brings opportunities that we wouldn’t even imagine before.
Let’s take a look at them.
1. Actual ownership of digital books
How many paper books have you given to friends and family? Most likely many!
How many ebooks have you given instead? Most likely none.
This is because when you purchase a book on Amazon, you are only renting a digital copy of the book. This means that you don’t actually own the book, and in some cases, the rental period may be limited.
On the other hand, when you purchase a book as an NFT, you own a unique digital asset. This has never been possible before: for the first time ever, you have full control over the NFT book you purchased and can resell or gift it as you please. And the book, because it is stored on the blockchain, will be forever yours.
Fun fact: CEO Diego Torres co-founded Readl after realizing that an e-book he had purchased on Amazon had disappeared from his library when the contract between Amazon and the publisher ended, leaving him unable to access a book he thought he owned.
2. A unique piece to collect
The Gutenberg Bible is one of the earliest known books printed using movable type. It is estimated that only around 48 copies were printed in the 1450s, making it a holy grail for book collectors. The last buyer of one of those 48 copies paid $4.9 million to own a piece of history.
NFT books can be unique and limited in number, and as such can become highly sought-after collector’s editions. These editions are often enhanced with special features like artistic covers, or exclusive material never-before-seen by readers.
This makes them highly desirable and can potentially increase their value over time, making them an attractive investment for collectors and enthusiasts alike.
As the popularity of NFT books continues to grow, these rare editions become increasingly valuable and can be a great way to add unique and exclusive art to any collection.
3. Authenticity
Throughout all of human history, we have seen knowledge being burned, erased, and prohibited by dictatorship regimes. It’s impossible to know how much was lost and no way to get it back. Blockchain makes sure that this never happens again.
Buying a book as an NFT is a great way to guarantee its authenticity and make sure that it has not been altered in any way. This is because NFTs are stored on a blockchain, which allows for the creation of secure records of ownership and authenticity that are not easily tampered with.
This means that you will be able to rest assured that the book you purchase is genuine and that it remains unchanged.
4. Privacy
Buying a book as an NFT allows for greater privacy, as your purchase is recorded on the blockchain and not in a centralized database controlled by a bookseller or publisher.
Traditional booksellers and publishers often track what books you read in order to determine what types of ads or other marketing tactics to employ. On the blockchain, no one controls your information, creating a more transparent market that is better for everyone involved. It is very hard to identify a person by their wallet address, making it more anonymous.
5. Easier than you think
Web3, blockchain, and crypto might seem intimidating, but they don’t need to be. There are lots of companies working on making web3 apps with simple user experiences, so they are no different from traditional services like Amazon.
With platforms like Readl, buying a book as an NFT is easy, secure, and fast.
All you need to do is:
- Create an account with your email;
- Find the book or story you want to buy;
- Click on “collect”;
- Complete the purchase with your credit card.
You will receive the book directly stored in your wallet, and you can keep it safe and secure for as long as you like.
And if you ever decide to resell or gift it, you can do that too! It’s as easy as transferring the book from your wallet to someone else’s.
Get your first NFT book for free here
6. Support the authors you love
Buying a book as an NFT allows you to directly support the author and publisher, as they receive a larger percentage of the sale (up to 98% on Readl!) than they would through a traditional bookseller and they have perpetual royalties, which means that they will continue to receive royalties from the secondary sales.
This is a significant departure from traditional book sales, where gatekeepers like Amazon keep between 30% and 70% of the profit, and where there is no second-hand market at all.
Looking at the big picture, this means that emerging authors and indie publishers have greater opportunities to continue writing and distributing their work.
7. It’s not just a book, it’s a key to a new world
NFTs can be used to represent all sorts of things, not only books, like art, collectibles, videos, music, and more.
But it can also be the key to numerous exclusive opportunities; including, but not limited to, invite-only events, perks like revenue sharing on the profit the author makes, or even exclusive access to future content before anyone else.
These opportunities provide an enhanced connection between the author and the reader, bringing the relationship to levels that weren’t possible before.
Additionally, because NFT Books, being stored in the owner’s wallet, can be transferred to various platforms, they can potentially be used in different ways, making the digital asset more useful.
The arrival of books on the blockchain is opening up a world of possibilities for readers, authors, and publishers alike. For readers, there are advantages like increased security, real ownership, and privacy. For authors and publishers, the advantages include direct support from readers, perpetual royalties, and larger profit margins.
But perhaps the most exciting aspect of NFT books is the potential of exclusive opportunities and connections between the reader and the author that weren’t possible before.
NFT books are not just digital assets — they are keys to an entirely new dimension of storytelling.
👉 Get your first NFT book for free here
About Readl
Readl is the first web3 platform designed to help storytellers, publishers, production houses, and NFT projects to publish, manage and distribute multimedia literary content on the blockchain, without requiring specific technical knowledge.
Our platform allows storytellers to create a decentralized library of literary NFTs, keeping perpetual royalties, and where audiences can discover, collect and read the content they love from any device and with web2 user-friendly onboarding.
