Around 2020, if you so much as looked at LinkedIn without sunglasses, you were blinded by self-proclaimed visionaries promising that blockchain would "revolutionise" publishing. The pitch was simple: blockchain publishing would take a decentralised ledger, sprinkle in some crypto buzzwords, throw in "NFT books," and suddenly authors would be "liberated" from gatekeepers.
The Blockchain bros told writers they could mint their novels as tokens, sell them directly to readers, bypass Amazon, and earn untold riches while keeping "ownership." No middlemen! No censorship! Just sweet, sweet decentralisation and profits.
It sounded sexy. It always does when someone claims to smash the system with shiny tech. The problem? Publishing isn’t broken in the way blockchain thought it was. And books don’t work like Bitcoin.
What the Hell Is a Blockchain Anyway?
Before we keep roasting it, let’s break down what blockchain actually is — without the tech-bro word salad.
At its core, a blockchain is just a digital ledger. Imagine a spreadsheet that isn’t stored on one computer but on thousands at the same time. Every new entry (a “block”) is added in order, linked to the last one (a “chain”), and everyone has a copy. That means it’s really hard to go back and fudge the numbers, because you’d have to change every single copy of the spreadsheet across the entire network.
The sales pitch goes like this: it’s decentralised (no one person controls it), transparent (everyone can see the records), and permanent (entries can’t be deleted). Sounds impressive, right?
In finance, this matters because nobody trusts anyone. If you want to move money without a bank in the middle, blockchain lets you do that — every transaction is verified by math, not trust. That’s where Bitcoin and Ethereum come from.
But here’s the problem: books aren’t money. Nobody is worried about their novel being double-spent. Nobody is checking the blockchain to confirm that page 142 really exists. And readers don’t wake up in the morning thinking, "You know what would make this story better? A decentralised ledger!"
In other words: blockchain is cool technology in the right place. Publishing just isn’t that place.
Blockchain + Books = A Solution to a Problem Nobody Had
Blockchain didn’t fix publishing because publishing didn’t need the fix blockchain was offering.
- Copyright already works. Authors already own their work and license rights. No magic ledger is needed.
- Amazon already lets anyone publish. Whether you like Bezos or not, Kindle Direct Publishing solved the "gatekeeper" problem 15 years ago. Blockchain wasn’t new freedom; it was a clunky detour.
- Readers don’t care. Normal people buy books because they want to read them. Not because they’re backed by a cryptographic token or stored on some decentralised server in Estonia.
The entire blockchain pitch assumed readers were desperate to “own” books in a way that was provably unique. Spoiler: they’re not. Readers want cheap ebooks, fast delivery, and maybe a cool cover. They don’t want to manage a crypto wallet just to download The Catcher in the Rye.
NFTs and Books: The Dumbest Marriage Since Two Drunks in Vegas
The NFT craze was blockchain’s big attempt to seduce publishing. The idea: turn books into digital collectibles. Readers could "own" a unique copy of a novel on the blockchain, like a trading card. Authors could auction rare editions, get royalties forever, and live happily ever after.
In reality:
- Most NFT book platforms were ghost towns. Nobody wanted to pay $200 for an ebook they could grab on Kindle for $4.99.
- The so-called “royalties” depended on resale. Which assumes a thriving secondary market for… ebooks? Yeah, no.
- The platforms themselves disappeared overnight. Authors who bought into the hype found their “forever” digital home gone within a year.
The truth is, NFT books were a cash grab dressed up as “innovation.” And once the crypto market crashed, the hype collapsed with it.
The Tech Bros Misunderstood Readers Entirely
Blockchain evangelists never understood readers. They understood crypto speculation, but not why people actually buy books.
Readers aren’t investors. They don’t want to “collect” digital assets. They don’t want scarcity, they want abundance. Subscriptions like Kindle Unlimited exploded precisely because readers like binging, not hoarding.
Meanwhile, blockchain publishing demanded the opposite: scarcity, exclusivity, barriers to entry. "Only 1,000 copies exist!" Cool — until you realise books are ideas, not baseball cards. The value of a story comes from it being read and shared, not locked away in a digital vault.
Decentralisation Doesn’t Fix Discoverability
One of blockchain’s favourite buzzwords was decentralisation. Nobody could censor you! No giant corporations controlling your books! Everything peer-to-peer, baby!
Sounds heroic, until you realise discoverability is the real bottleneck. Writers don’t struggle because Amazon is evil. They struggle because there are millions of books and nobody knows who the hell you are. Blockchain didn’t fix that. In fact, it made it worse.
Try explaining your new novel to a potential reader while also explaining:
- What blockchain is
- How to buy crypto
- How to set up a wallet
- How to transfer funds
- How to unlock the book file
By step two, your reader is back on Amazon downloading a thriller for €3.99.
The Environmental Disaster Nobody Wanted to Talk About
Let’s not forget: early blockchain and NFTs were ecological dumpster fires. Proof-of-work chains used obscene amounts of energy, just so someone could say, "I own number 348 of this sci-fi novel."
Readers already feel guilty about paper waste. Convincing them to torch the planet so they can prove ownership of an ebook? That was never going to fly. Especially in publishing, where libraries and educators dominate the cultural conversation. Nobody wants to be the author who nuked a rainforest so they could sell a PDF as an NFT.
Who Actually Benefited? Well, Who Do You Think?
If blockchain publishing was such a bad fit, why did it exist at all? Easy: it was never about books. It was about tech bros finding a new market to exploit.
They saw desperate authors — hungry for income, fed up with Amazon’s dominance — and dangled promises of disruption. They built flashy platforms, pocketed investment cash, and disappeared when the hype died.
Authors who bought in? Left holding the bag. Again.
Case Study: The Vanishing Platforms
Like the Oscars, let’s do a quick “In Memoriam” roll-call of blockchain-for-books projects that are no longer with us. Cue the music.
- Bookchain (2018) — billed as “the future of publishing.” Website: dead.
- Publica (2017) — promised to democratize book funding with crypto. Platform collapsed, leaving investors stranded.
- Book.io (2021) — hyped NFTs for ebooks. After initial hype, traffic cratered. Today? Barely a blip.
- Mirror.xyz — positioned as a "decentralised publishing" platform. Writers posted essays as NFTs. Cool experiment. It’s dead quiet now.
Notice a pattern?
Why Blockchain Keeps Failing in Creative Industries
It’s not just publishing. Blockchain flopped in music, film, and art too — for the same reasons. Creative industries aren’t broken in a way blockchain can solve. Rights management, distribution, and royalties are messy, yes, but they’re cultural and economic problems, not technological ones.
Blockchain’s hammer was "everything is a token," and so every problem looked like a nail. But books aren’t nails. They’re stories. And no reader has ever said, "I’d buy this novel if only it was on the blockchain."
What Authors Actually Need (Hint: Not Blockchain)
Instead of crypto wallets and digital scarcity, authors need:
- Discoverability — tools to get in front of the right readers.
- Marketing support — guidance on ads, funnels, and branding.
- Fair royalties — better revenue splits from publishers and platforms.
- Community — genuine reader engagement, not speculative investors.
In other words, the boring, unsexy stuff. Stuff that actually helps sell books. Not flashy tokens and hype cycles.
Conclusion: The Blockchain Bros Lost Because Books Aren’t Broken
Blockchain publishing failed for the simplest reason: books don’t need it. Readers want stories, not tokens. Authors want readers, not crypto headaches. And the whole industry runs on discoverability, not decentralisation.
That’s why the Blockchain Bros crashed and burned. They tried to graft speculative tech onto a centuries-old cultural artifact without understanding either. The result? Another graveyard of dead platforms, wasted money, and bitter authors.
If there’s a lesson here, it’s this: beware anyone who shows up promising to “fix” publishing with buzzwords. Chances are, they’re not fixing anything. They’re selling you a dream that evaporates as soon as the crypto market dips.
Books will outlast blockchain, just like they outlasted censors, empires, and every failed format. Because stories don’t live on ledgers. They live in readers. And readers, thankfully, don’t give a damn about your NFT.
Did you enjoy this article? Then help me write the next one by buying me a cup of tea!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is blockchain publishing?
Blockchain publishing is the idea of using blockchain technology to publish, sell, track, or prove ownership of books and digital writing. In theory, a book could be linked to a permanent digital record showing who created it, who bought it, and how rights or royalties should be handled. The pitch sounds attractive to authors because it promises control, transparency, and fewer middlemen. The problem is that most authors do not actually need a blockchain to publish a book. Copyright already exists, digital storefronts already track sales, and readers generally care far more about price, convenience, format, and discoverability than whether a novel is attached to a decentralised ledger.
Can blockchain help authors sell more books?
Blockchain by itself does not help authors sell more books. That is the uncomfortable truth. Selling books depends on reader demand, cover design, positioning, metadata, reviews, pricing, mailing lists, advertising, genre fit, and whether the book is actually good enough to recommend. Blockchain does not solve discoverability. It does not put a book in front of hungry readers. It does not replace a proper launch strategy. At best, blockchain might become a back-end tool for rights tracking or direct transactions, but it is not a marketing engine. Authors looking for sales growth should usually focus on reader-facing systems before chasing publishing tech that readers neither understand nor care about.
Are NFT books a good idea for authors?
NFT books can work as a niche collectible product, but they are a poor replacement for ordinary ebooks. The average reader wants to buy a book, download it easily, read it on a familiar device, and move on with their life. They do not want to create a crypto wallet, understand gas fees, worry about platform collapse, or treat a novel like a speculative asset. NFT books may make sense for limited editions, fan collectibles, bonus material, signed digital artefacts, or experimental projects with an existing audience. For most authors, though, NFT publishing is a distraction from the real work: writing better books, building trust with readers, and selling through channels people already use.
Why did blockchain publishing fail?
Blockchain publishing failed because it misunderstood the actual problems in publishing. Authors do not mainly struggle because there is no decentralised ledger. They struggle because readers are hard to reach, markets are crowded, advertising is expensive, platforms are dominant, and trust takes time to build. Blockchain promised freedom from gatekeepers, but Amazon KDP, direct sales tools, email platforms, print-on-demand services, and wide distributors had already removed many old barriers. The blockchain crowd offered technical ownership when authors needed visibility, income, editing, design, distribution, and reader relationships. It was a solution looking for a problem, which is usually where tech hype goes to die.
Can blockchain protect book copyright?
Blockchain can create a timestamped record showing that a file, manuscript, or ownership claim existed at a certain time, but that is not the same as copyright protection. Copyright exists when an original work is created and fixed in a tangible form, and enforcement still depends on law, contracts, evidence, and jurisdiction. A blockchain record might support a dispute, but it does not magically stop piracy, plagiarism, scraping, or unauthorised distribution. Authors should not confuse “recorded on a blockchain” with “legally bulletproof.” For most writers, proper copyright registration where relevant, clear contracts, clean licensing, and sensible documentation are far more useful than minting a manuscript onto some shiny ledger.
Could blockchain improve book royalties?
Blockchain could theoretically make royalty tracking more transparent, especially in complicated rights chains involving publishers, agents, translators, audiobook producers, and international partners. Smart contracts could, in theory, split payments automatically when a sale happens. That sounds lovely. In practice, publishing royalties are messy because rights agreements are messy, retailers control sales data, refunds happen, taxes vary, platforms differ, and not every stakeholder wants radical transparency. The bigger issue for many authors is not that royalties need blockchain; it is that contracts need to be clearer, reporting needs to be better, and authors need more leverage. Blockchain might help one day, but it is not a magic accounting fairy.
What are the disadvantages of blockchain publishing?
The disadvantages of blockchain publishing are complexity, reader friction, platform risk, poor adoption, technical dependency, environmental concerns on some chains, and a tendency to attract hype merchants. If buying a book requires extra steps, many readers will simply leave. If the platform disappears, the promised permanent ecosystem may become useless. If authors spend time learning crypto mechanics instead of improving books and marketing, the opportunity cost is huge. There is also a credibility problem: blockchain publishing often sounds less like a reader-first innovation and more like someone trying to bolt speculative finance onto books. That may excite investors, but it rarely excites actual readers.
Will blockchain replace traditional publishing?
Blockchain will not replace traditional publishing. Traditional publishing exists because it bundles editorial development, design, distribution, rights sales, trade credibility, media access, retail relationships, and institutional trust. Blockchain does not replace those functions. It might someday support parts of the rights or payment infrastructure, but that is not the same as replacing editors, agents, booksellers, librarians, reviewers, publicists, or readers. The publishing industry has many problems, but most of them are cultural, economic, contractual, and market-based rather than purely technical. Replacing publishers requires more than a ledger. It requires a better system for making books visible, credible, available, and profitable.
Is decentralised publishing good for writers?
Decentralised publishing can be good for writers when it gives them more control, more resilience, and more direct access to readers. But decentralisation is not automatically useful. A writer with no audience on a decentralised platform still has no audience. A writer selling books from their own website, building an email list, owning their domain, controlling their files, and publishing across multiple stores is already practising a more practical form of independence. That matters more than whether the sales record lives on a blockchain. The best decentralisation for authors is usually boring: own your platform, own your mailing list, diversify your income, and do not let one company control your entire career.
What should authors focus on instead of blockchain publishing?
Authors should focus on the publishing fundamentals that actually move books: writing consistently, editing properly, designing strong covers, understanding genre expectations, improving blurbs, building a mailing list, growing direct reader relationships, testing prices, publishing in series where appropriate, managing metadata, and making books available in the formats readers already want. If an author has not fixed those basics, blockchain will not save them. It will just give them a more complicated way to avoid the real work. The future of publishing is not about forcing readers into crypto wallets. It is about making books easier to discover, easier to buy, easier to trust, and worth finishing.