What Are NFTS and How Do They Work in Publishing?

The publishing industry has grown along with the technology and has included in its arsenal a number of ways to market an author’s book. One such concept is the NFT or the non-fungible token. What is a non-fungible token though? What makes it an important tool for a lot of writers?

Here are a few things writers should know about NFTs.

1. What are NFTs really?

Before we talk about using NFTs, let’s find out what an NFT really is, and what it has to offer as a resource. NFTs or non-fungible tokens are somewhat similar to cryptocurrency.

While digital content could be easily copied and resold, what makes NFTs so unique is that they are backed up by a digital certificate of ownership that could be bought and sold.

The record of sale for NFTs is stored in a digital ledger called a blockchain. What makes NFTs secure is the fact that they are maintained by thousands of computers all over the world.

2. NFT for writers/authors

As a writer, it is important that you take whatever advantage you could get when it comes to selling your work. This includes NFTs.

The NFT is a new concept for most content makers. By utilizing NFTs in your book marketing, you will be able to hit various aspects of the book marketing process. You will also be able to sell various merchandise that is connected to your work.

3. Can books be NFTs?

Yes, books can be NFTs. Any kind of digital content can be an NFT. Like cryptocurrency. The only difference is that it deals with digital goods. It is a record for any kind of digital content and could encompass arts, music, tweets, games, and yes, books in digital form.

4. Marketing strategies for authors as the world and technology changes

Now that we know what NFTs are, we can now strategize how to use them in your book marketing campaigns. When it comes to using NFTs in your book marketing, you should know the key benefits it has to offer. Here are some ways you could use NFTs in your book marketing.

Sell Signed Copies

One of the best things about NFTs is that they are a potential source of income for content creators. The amount of revenue that a content creator could earn depends on how well-received and limited your content is. In the case of authors, you could release a limited number of digitally signed books. This will give these books a sense of rarity and will compel fans to buy them.

Digital Merchandise

A good number of authors often create physical merchandise such as stylized bookmarks, artworks, shirts, and even glassware that holds excerpts or images taken from the author’s work.

Why not do the same for your NFTs? Create fun content like digital trading cards, original illustrations, and screensavers that are given the go sign by you, the author. This is an attractive prospect for most fans, and they will most likely purchase them to show their fandom.

Release Limited-Edition Copies

Aside from selling signed copies, why don’t you release limited-edition copies of your work? When it comes to NFTs, a majority of people often prefer limited-edition content. By selling limited-edition copies of your book, you will be able to entice your fan base as they are more likely to prefer a rare copy of your work. Just make sure that you make your limited-edition copy as attractive and unique as possible.

There are many ways you could do this. You could create beautiful artwork interspersed in your digital book or specialized forewords that are exclusive to only the limited-edition copies. You could also add some snippets from your other work, such as a poem, short story, or a unique author photo.

When it comes to creating a limited-edition copy of your work, what’s important is that it has added features that will set it apart from the regular copies of your work. Most important of all, the content should be registered in the NFT blockchain. This is the only way to confirm its authenticity as an NFT.

Related: How to Promote a Book

5. The downside of NFTs

While NFTs are beneficial for authors, it is a new concept, and it still has some things to improve on. If you are going to use NFTs, it is very important that you keep tabs on these downsides and know how to avoid the key mistakes in using NFTs. Here are some of the downsides of using NFTs.

Lack of content control

While NFTs can’t be legally changed if you have proof of authenticity, it is still quite vulnerable to hacking and security breaches. Even if you hold the original copy, there is still a risk of prints being made without your knowledge. This lack of security is mostly because NFTs are very new, and few security systems are in place.

There is no set value for NFTs

One of the main setbacks in using NFTs is the fact that there is really no set value for NFTs. The value is speculative, and it is up to you and the buyer to come up with a set price for your NFTs. This could be quite tricky if you are going to sell your NFTs to a large number of people.

NFTs take a substantial amount of computing power to create

If you are going to create NFTs, you should know that it takes an incredible amount of computing power to create and maintain. The power it takes to power thousands of computers to create NFTs is considerable and difficult to sustain. In the past few years, though, these powering issues have slowly been addressed and will become less of a problem in the near future.

Conclusion

In recent years, new concepts for marketing have been making waves in the online world. Some can appear to be quite off the track for the writing and publishing industry. But with proper research and experimentation, it is up to the writers and authors to make those new trends work to their advantage.

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