A Talk with Web3 Writers
A Brave New World: How Web3 and NFTs are Transforming the Publishing and Writing Industries
The Web3 space has been growing, with one industry — the publishing and writing industry — taking its first steps using blockchain and NFT technology.
The evolution of entertainment is underway as Web3 technologies reach maturity, fueling the viability and proliferation of new entertainment mediums and distribution models. The publishing and writing industry recognizes the benefits and possibilities it can bring, with great examples already emerging.
The Web3 space is home to some of the most amazing communities, which play a major role in the development of projects and businesses. At Readl, we can definitely say that our community is the fuel we use to develop products around storytelling, publishing, and writing that meet the needs of writers, artists, collectors, and publishers.
Writing in Web3 — what writers say?
In this article, we will cover some very interesting points from writers’ perspectives, Edward H. Carpenter and J.D. Armstrong, who have done the leap to Web3 — how they see blockchain technology and NFTs can help their industry achieve new paradigms, and what this means for the future of entertainment!
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Q: You’re already a Web2 writer, but what was the starting point for experimenting with the Web3 space?
The Web3 space is where projects and communities come together. This aspect promotes ease of authors creating a greater relationship and proximity, not only with their readers but also with other authors who are also creating their literary work on Web3, as well as publishing projects teams like Readl — Edward H. Carpenter
Not only are authors able to get a clear sense of the business aspects, but they can use NFT technology to create synergies and strategies to attract and retain readers. The fact that we know, in a very simple way exactly who bought our works and we can interact with those readers and even reward them, is just amazing — J.D. Armstrong
Q: And what about the creative process? More challenging and motivating?
The web3 community is inspiring. We have a close relationship with our readers, which allows us to know what they think and how they feel about our work. This is an important part of the creative process. Because of this, I can reach new goals. Their support motivates us to keep working harder.
Q: How do the dynamics of web3 and blockchain technology / NFTs influence your creative process?
The last story I posted on Readl Stories, Tears in the Rain, is definitely a good example of how the dynamics of Web3 can somehow guide my creative process.
It happened during a small discussion in a space called Deca, which is a kind of two-dimensional art gallery forum, and I created a forum there for literary NFT’s and someone with whom I have no direct relationship asked me if I knew of an AI writing tool. I confessed that I had no idea what he was talking about at which point he showed me an article in The New Yorker that led me to Sudowrite — an AI-powered writing platform.
I would say that Web3 definitely has the ability to impact the creative process — Edward H. Carpenter
Q: As authors, what major differences do you find between the Web2 and Web3 space?
There is also a big difference in what we can create around NFTs. In web2, we usually have our work and cover in a certain format that is always decided by the publisher, now with NFT technology, there are numerous ways to publish our work. In addition to this, there are numerous ways to publish our work on a NFT platform like Readl. For example, one of my published NFTs is a movie as an Mp4 file with unlockable features — Edward H. Carpenter
One aspect that is extremely valuable to me is the fact that Web3 allows us to collaborate with artists and even the community while creating our own work. Instead of hiring someone who will just do their job, in the Web3 ecosystem I can actually collaborate with them and share revenue from our joint work. I have tried this with an artist in New Zealand and the experience was mind-blowing! — J.D. Armstrong
Q: While we understand that not everything is perfect, there is still much to create and improve. According to you, what are the main obstacles for web2 to web3 readers?
There is definitely room for improvement, however, in one aspect: the reading process. Readl has done an excellent job with Readl Stories. I already had some experience in this world, but I enjoyed it greatly.
Another tricky point is the onboarding process from traditional readers to web3. I remember that when Readl Books launched in Moonbeam, there was great difficulty for users to get Moonriver to buy. — Edward H. Carpenter
After some feedback from Readl users, we learned that we needed to greatly improve the onboarding process for traditional readers, but on the other hand, we couldn’t rule out Web3 natives who were more familiar with wallets like Metamask. With this consideration in mind, we developed integrations with Magic and Transak to make it easier for traditional authors to get their readers into the space. However, there are still hurdles because anyone can walk around with cash or a credit card in their wallet and buy a book or story in a physical store or online.
Q: We are all pioneers in this Write3 space, so, can you please share some of your thoughts about your future work for the next 3–6 months?
I’m in the process of creating another book of short stories, and it’s funny with what you’ve shared here, I’m experimenting with adding music to those stories, but I’m still waiting for the rights to use it.
I’m also exploring the development of a newsletter with a friend, in a project called “Writers Without Walls,” which can be seen as an analogy to the walls that writers face when publishing in the traditional media available right now. The idea here is really to break down those walls and find the easiest tools for each type of literary work.
Not to mention an idea I had one night that I no doubt believe has an incredible fit with Readl Stories! That’s all I can say! — J.D. Armstrong
Final thoughts
We’re excited about the evolution of the publishing market in the web3 space, using blockchain technology and non-fungible tokens. However, it’s rewarding to know that Readl is pioneering not only in developing the right tools and platform for storytellers on Web3 but also in the publishing process.
We listen to our community in order to create a product that meets both writers’ and readers’ needs without losing sight of what the future of storytelling will look like.
Thank you to our community for allowing us to be part of this innovation in the publishing industry.
About Readl
Readl — the revolutionary web3 platform that empowers authors, writers, and publishing houses to effortlessly publish, manage and distribute their multimedia literary content on the blockchain, with no technical expertise required.
With our platform, storytellers can build a decentralized library of literary NFTs, securing perpetual royalties and providing readers with seamless access to their favorite content from any device.
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