BookVolts - literature NFTs and blockchain books

I caught up with James Faktor, co-founder of BookVolts, a groundbreaking publisher and platform for Digital First Editions. BookVolts are using blockchain technology to create NFT books and bonus material. James tells us about the future of literary NFTs, how authors can create an NFT book, how they can become a valuable asset for readers and most importantly, how they offer a decentralized alternative to the current publishing industry.

What can BookVolts offer readers that hasn’t existed before?

Right now BookVolts can offer readers the chance to own Limited First Editions in a digital format, something not previously possible before blockchain development. With a digital version comes the possibility for readers to own a 'live' edition of a book that can be updated and added to by the author when they wish. These updates could range from bonus material such as artwork, special messages, short stories, personal jottings and introductions to full blown announcements and rewards for fans that wouldn't be available elsewhere. 

This kind of interaction leads to the possibility for owners of the Digital First Edition to seamlessly become part of a select community around the writer. 

With blockchain being able to track each individual copy from owner to owner, the reader can also sell on their copy knowing that some of that sale will go back to the author. Therefore, they are endorsing both a form of purchase that rewards the author directly and fostering a secondary market that keeps supporting that author, previously impossible for print and ebook. BookVolts also offers readers the chance to consume all of the content available in a Digital First Edition through our newly developed Reader App which supports video, audio and animation, along with the epub file. 

Essentially, we're giving readers the chance to actually own the digital book that they purchase with a clear digital code that unequivocally proves that ownership. With an Amazon ebook purchase, that ownership isn't clear - if Amazon went down or offline for some reason, you would lose your purchase. 

NFT books work on a decentralised system that cannot be taken down or disputed.

What type of bonus material do you imagine can be included with an NFT book?

Aside from the examples above, we imagine that authors will make an effort to engage with their fans through offering certain discounts on their books, as well as offering closer access to in person readings or events. They could even drop in a new chapter for a separate book, or even ask for direct feedback on a plot point or title. One of our fantasy authors that we've worked with included a glossary of terms, character analyses, and illustrated maps and history of the world in their books, but the possibilities are endless!

Do you expect the value of literary editions/NFTs to increase over time?

Not necessarily - but that's OK! It's been a folly of NFT purchases recently for owners to assume that the prices will always rise without the bubble bursting. With NFT books, there's an actual asset to consider, so there will always be some value attached to it that's separate from pure speculation. If a new author does start to gain popularity through their work then their early Digital First Editions should gain significantly in value, especially if the author doesn't create any future editions to dilute the scarcity. Established authors should also be in this category if they pitch it correctly to their fanbase. 

Then of course there will always be those from a crypto background who treat NFT's as a speculative investment and may view NFT books as the new hot thing to get on board with early. Either way, it's a great way for the author to earn some extra revenue for their work - The key is to not charge your fans a fortune for that first drop and instead allow the potential value raise to occur organically in the resales.

How are you hoping to work with authors and what type of original books and bonus material are you hoping to publish?

We hope that independent authors in particular will look to launch with us as we see no real downside to them marketing a Digital First Edition along with all of their other formats. The authors we are talking to so far have all spoken to at least some of their reader base about whether an NFT edition is something they'd appreciate, and so far the response has been positive. Authors who have their existing digital rights signed to a publishing house are a little more complicated, but even then it only takes an agreement between the author and the publishing house on how to split those NFT sales to go ahead. 

We're currently bringing out a line of public domain books to show what our reader app can do, combining the text with new cover designs from some leading NFT artists. We hope to collaborate with authors to get the best out of their Digital First Edition, and we're currently building out the auction and review platform to allow for more of an interaction between new authors and potential fans to take place. In the future, we see NFT editions as another way for authors to get discovered, and with the smart contract setup allowing for multiple owners of a single edition, we see fans starting to stake their favourite up and coming authors to be part of their success.

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How do authors submit their NFT idea to BookVolts and what can they expect during the publishing process?

An author that gets in touch with BookVolts will be considered just like any other editorial process - we will look at the quality of the work and see if there is enough unique or selective material to justify an NFT edition. Once we approve the work we will collaborate with the author on what material to include, what kind of artwork should be adopted or created, and how many copies should be minted. This final discussion could be based on the existing fanbase that comes with the author, or it could be based on how much different content there is - some authors like to create Gold, Silver and Bronze editions with different bonus material for each, thus limiting the number of editions for the higher value NFT's. Once the number and a price has been decided upon, BookVolts does the minting.

BookVolts charges no fee for this service but instead takes 15% on the sale of the NFT books, and then 15% on any of the author's share of resales (generally 10%, so BookVolts would take 1.5%).

BookVolts will then announce the publication on our Twitter and Discord channels, and we are also in the process of growing a newsletter.

Finally, what would you say to sceptics to convince them about the future of literary NFTs?

My impression is that NFTs in general have come in for a bad reputation due to the recent downturn in the crypto markets, and this has spread to the idea of NFT books being somehow toxic. However, these fluctuations in the crypto markets really have nothing to do with the value of an NFT book - they can easily be charged in 'real' currencies such as pounds and dollars, and they can be bought and sold just as easily as you would do a print book. 

From a security standpoint, there is a worry around hacking, but this has always been an issue for any digital product and isn't a blockchain error but a human one. The technology itself is incredibly secure if the owners are careful with their wallets and who they give their details out to. Environmentally, the minting process has come a long way since the first iteration of Ethereum, so the carbon footprint of creating the editions has decreased massively. The cost of creation has also dropped to make it easily accessible to any author. 

For those who think it's fool's gold, I would say it finally offers authors the chance to maximize the latent, untapped value of their work at a time when authors need that value most keenly! 

On top of promoting to that existing fanbase, there's also the possibility of attracting new readers to the industry - just as the audio boom attracted podcast fanatics to a whole new genre, I believe that the rise of blockchain publishing could attract a whole wave of crypto enthusiasts to the publishing ecosystem. 

James Faktor, co-founder of BookVolts 

To find out more about BookVolts head over to https://bookvolts.com/

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