It’s a known fact that self-publishing is on the rise. In the US, e-books have already surpassed print sales by 40%. In addition, 69% of Amazon Kindle owners purchased an e-book in 2012, and Amazon now sells more e-books than all print books combined. And not only Americans are enthusiastic about digital reading: across Europe, e-book sales have been increasing by 50%.
Self-published writers, who can’t yet afford a publisher to back them up, are the drivers of this digital revolution. With their e-books priced way lower than printed ones, they’re here to stay. And not only that: self-publishing is also among the most popular professions on the Internet.
However, although these numbers are pointing towards a bright future for e-books, there’s still one big problem that self-publishing writers have to deal with: getting their e-books read by potential customers. Indeed, due to fragmentation and competition in the digital books market, it’s getting more complex every day for self-published authors to get their books noticed.
How does Bitcoin help self-publishing writers?
Fortunately, one solution might make it much easier for self-publishing writers to promote and sell their e-books: bitcoin. As you’ve already discussed here, bitcoin is a perfect fit for self-published writing: it allows any writer to receive donations from readers, which can add up fast enough to help them compete with big publishing houses.
However, most self-published authors see bitcoin as a way to receive donations, and they tend to stay away from it if they plan to sell their e-books. Getting customers to pay for digital content online is still not an easy task: most people are used to getting everything for free.
Unlike credit cards, which can’t be used to pay for digital content, there are virtually no fees associated with the use of bitcoin. It means that if you’re a self-published writer who wants their readers to buy their e-books using bitcoins instead of fiat currency, they’ll save money by doing so. Like the Bitcoin System software, to learn more about bitcoin mining.
Using bitcoins in combination with self-publishing is an idea that’s catching on (and not only in the US): several entrepreneurs, like Mark Hopkins, have already started to offer bitcoin payment integration to e-books sellers around the world. And you can imagine that more will follow suit soon enough.
Of course, there’s still one problem: most self-published writers don’t know what bitcoins are. And that’s precisely the reason why you wanted to write this article: you can’t wait to see more and more authors embracing bitcoin as a means of payment and hope that you’ll find insights helpful.
Incredibly, a writer has to deal with many people from taking all the time and effort to write a novel. A writer must do his best to convince publishing houses why their stories should be published. They must also negotiate power on how much they can get paid-per-copy or royalties.
A writer can also choose to publish some e-books online and hope they get downloaded by people who read them. However, according to a report by Forbes, it was revealed that about 31% of total e-book readers access their e-books only through mobile devices such as phones and tablets.
Reduced transaction fee – leverage for e-book writers
With the rise of bitcoin, the transaction fee of sending money across countries has significantly dropped. In addition, it makes it possible to transfer money instantly through bitcoin.
It is good news for e-book writers because they will have the liberty to publish their e-books online and hope that people read them, earning royalties. Another advantage of publishing through bitcoins is that there are a lot of online bookstores that accept bitcoin as a payment, one of which is Coingig, a marketplace for e-books and digital goods.
Bitcoins have also made it possible to sell e-books directly from the writer’s site or blog, cutting out intermediaries like publishing houses who take advantage of or delay payments. Instead, the writer will be paid in their bitcoins directly, and he can immediately convert bitcoins to dollars.
Since publishing houses get a 50% of the royalties earned by e-book writers, it is not unlikely that the number of e-book writers using bitcoin for transactions would increase even more in time.
Conclusion
There are a lot of online book stores that accept bitcoin as a payment, one of which is Coingig, a marketplace for e-books and digital goods. Since publishing houses get 50% from royalties, it is not unlikely that the number of e-book writers using bitcoin for transactions would increase even more in time.
