Book history of the future: NFTs as new opportunities for publishing and book trade

Abstract

Book history research can address the emergence of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as an experimental initiative arising from technological advances in book publishing and the book trade.The relationship between NFTs and textual entities can be examined in two main areas.On the one hand, there is the tokenisation of authors' intellectual products, or born-digital content that is already created as NFTs.From this perspective, we will explore how NFTs can empower authors, enhance the reading experience, address copyright concerns and provide new revenue sources.By tokenising books, articles, and other literary works, NFTs can help to foster a decentralised and transparent ecosystem that benefits authors, readers and the publishing industry as a whole.Books, on the other hand, can also become NFTs for real assets as collectable works of art.This could mean transforming old and rare books, literary relics, and ephemera into NFTs, to allow individuals to authenticate and transfer ownership of tangible and intangible assets.In my paper I will concentrate only on the second. ***Book history research can address the emergence of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as an experimental initiative arising from technological advances in book publishing and the book trade.A few years ago, NFTs generated significant interest within the art and art trading communities, with large sums exchanged as artists, museums, and collectors embraced this new market.However, shifting economic conditions ultimately led to a market crash, drastically reducing the real value of cryptocurrency and, consequently, the NFTs purchased with it.Despite this downturn, NFTs still present a transformative economic opportunity for authors, creators and other book industry professionals.With speculators now largely absent, NFT creators and book industry professionals can refocus on collaboration and community-building through the medium. 1 The primary utility of NFTs lies in the digital verification of ownership, making them highly relevant to book history research that explores the transfer of ownership.