Literary NFTs – Darkblock

Bridging the Gap: Darkblock Introduces Kindle Integration for Token-Bound Ebooks

Whit Richardson — Thu, 22 Jun 2023 15:04:46 +0000

Authors have recognized the immense potential of blockchain technology in expanding their readership, fostering fan engagement, and attaining creative autonomy. However, there remains a significant gap in the web3 publishing landscape—a lack of emphasis on actually getting people to read their books.

At Darkblock, we are determined to change this narrative.

Today we’re thrilled to introduce a new feature that lets authors allow their readers to seamlessly send their token-bound PDFs and EPUB files to their Kindle devices and apps once they’ve been purchased and unlocked. The feature is live now in our web app and for anyone using the iframe embed of the Darkblock Viewer.

Through this feature, we aim to enhance the way token-bound ebooks are experienced, showcasing our unwavering commitment to user-centric design that bridges the gap between web3’s innovative possibilities and the real-world aspirations of authors. While it is ironic that web3 technology, including our own, is positioned as an alternative for indie creators to web2 platforms like Kindle, the truth is the majority of readers still prefer web2 and rely on Kindle for their ebook consumption. Therefore, until web3-native digital ebook readers become more prevalent, meeting readers where they are is crucial in helping creators reach a larger audience beyond the crypto-native community.

Given the nature of NFTs and the narrative that drove the NFT craze of 2021 and 2022, it’s not surprising the focus of the first NFT Books revolved around collectibility rather than optimizing them for actual consumption. Our guess is the vast majority of people minting NFT Books are not actually reading them. That may be because many of these early buyers are just collectors or speculators, but we believe it’s also in part due to subpar user experience (no one wants to read a novel on their desktop) and limitations of web3 tech (e.g., Metamask’s mobile browser doesn’t support EPUBs).

Collectibility is a great feature authors can unlock by using blockchain technology to sell their ebooks, but we believe it doesn’t have to come at the cost of utility.

“By enhancing the user experience and making it easy for readers to transfer their token-bound ebooks to the world’s most popular e-reading platform, Darkblock is at the forefront of revolutionizing the NFT book landscape, meeting consumers where they’re already comfortable consuming content, and unlocking the full potential of web3 technology for authors,” says Chris Seline, Darkblock’s CEO.

If you want to test out the feature, scroll to the bottom of this post (past the video walk-through) where you’ll find an NFT to mint for free called Ink Block, which you can see in the embedded Darkblock Viewer has more than a dozen PDFs attached to it. Once you mint and unlock your token-bound content, click on the three dots to the right of the file name to find the Send-to-Kindle feature. Follow the instructions below to select your method for sending the file to your Kindle account.

How authors enable this feature

There are two ways an NFT holder can send PDFs and EPUB files to their Kindle device and/or app: If they’re on a mobile device, they can share directly to an installed Kindle app, or they can use a Send-to-Kindle email address, which requires whitelisting an email address within their Amazon settings.

As an author, there’s an important distinction to be aware of between these two methods: One requires the author to enable downloads, while the other is always available for readers to use, a decision we feel comfortable with because the files remain protected throughout the entire process.

To enable readers to share directly to an installed Kindle app, the author must check the “Allow download” box at the time they upload their files to be encrypted, stored and attached to the NFT. Because this user flow exposes the PDF or EPUB to being easily downloaded, emailed, or even sent via text message, we want authors to decide if they want to grant readers that level of freedom.

However, holders of NFTs with token-bound files compatible with Kindle—the app supports several file types beyond PDFs and EPUBs—will always have access to the Send-to-Kindle flow requiring a whitelisted email address, regardless of whether the author checked the “Allow download” box at the time of upload. The reason behind this design decision is that with the email flow, the token-bound files are never exposed to being right-click-saved, redirected via email or downloaded to a personal hard drive—the decrypted files are sent from the protocol directly to the user’s Kindle account, where it’s safe from being downloaded given how difficult Amazon makes it to jailbreak its Kindle app.

How readers use this feature

In both user flows described above, a reader will access the Send-to-Kindle feature by clicking on the three dots to the right of the file name after the files have been decrypted.

Share to Kindle mobile app

This method works on mobile devices that have the Kindle app installed. The user can send the file to the app by selecting the “Share to Kindle mobile app” or by scanning a QR-code provided when on a desktop device. Note: On the Darkblock app, the “Share to Kindle mobile app” method is only available if the creator makes the asset downloadable when it is created.

Send to Kindle via email

Users can also send the files once unlocked to their Kindle devices and/or apps via email. To enable this, users will be led through a one-time process to connect their Kindle email, which will entail adding an email address provided by Darkblock to their Approved Personal Document E-mail List in the Amazon Personal Document Settings, and then providing their Kindle email so they can receive the file. This option is always available to users whether the creator checks the “Allow download” box or not at the time of upload.

Hop into our discord if you have any questions or want to learn more.

Watch the video

Try for yourself

If you’d like to see how it works, you can mint our Ink Block NFT for free. It includes a ton of unlockable content in the form of novel excerpts, short stories, audiobook samples, and poems from more than a dozen web3 creators, including NYTimes-bestselling author Joe Nassise, Erfan Mojib, Katie Dozier, Jon F. Merz, Edward H. Carpenter, Tom Leveen, and M.S. Bourland. Once you mint one (widget on the left if on desktop, on top if on mobile), you should be able to unlock the token-bound content in the other widget. Once you do, you should be able to click on the three dots next to the file you want to send to your Kindle and follow the prompts to make it happen. If you run into any problems, please let us know in our Discord. Getting people to use our tech and break it is the best way to improve it!

Note: You will need some MATIC for gas to mint Ink Block. If you don’t have any, let us know in our Discord and we’ll send you some so you can mint one.

About Darkblock

Darkblock, a web3 pioneer in decentralized content, lets creators encrypt and permanently attach multimedia files to their NFTs, creating token-bound assets that are portable, composable, censorship-resistance and capable of being truly owned via decentralized storage and access. Darkblock’s protocol provides the infrastructure creators need to harness the power of web3 technology, unlock new storytelling and community-building tools, explore new business models and ultimately build a new creator economy free from platform control.

Free NFT! Introducing Ink Block, a Literary NFT Sampler from Darkblock

Whit Richardson — Thu, 09 Mar 2023 12:54:45 +0000

Darkblock is excited to announce its first NFT drop—and it’s free to mint!

Ink Block is an experiment in decentralized unlockable content and a celebration of the authors, poets, and storytellers pioneering the next frontier of publishing, powered by Web3 technology and the promise of a decentralized web where you and I control our data and content—not companies.

The idea for Ink Block came about as we at Darkblock did a deep dive into Literary NFTs during February 2023. We wanted to learn everything there was to learn about how writers are using Web3 tools to bypass traditional industry structures, take control of their content, and find new ways to connect with fans and make a living from their work. Attached to the NFT (thanks to Darkblock’s tech) are novel excerpts, short stories, audiobook samples, and poems from more than a dozen writers in the Web3 space who we engaged with over the course of the month. Contributors include NYTimes-bestselling author Joe Nassise, Erfan Mojib, Katie Dozier, Jon F. Merz, Rionna Morgan, Edward H. Carpenter, Cryptoversal, Tom Leveen, and M.S. Bourland.

Creators of all stripes are experimenting with NFTs, but no group is doing more to experiment with the technology than writers. Visual artists and musicians may be more prolific NFT minters, but writers—especially novelists—face an added challenge that’s forced them to be extra creative in how they use NFTs to distribute and monetize their work. That challenge? How to use NFTs to sell their ebooks, but protect those ebooks from being right-click-saved.

Visual artists and musicians don’t worry much about their JPEGs being right-click-saved or their MP3s being free to listen to without buying. As collectibles, the value of those NFTs are in the underlying token, not the infinitely copyable digital file that contains the artistic work. The actual artistic work is a status symbol—and people like showing off their status symbols. They also don’t mind, within reason, when others proliferate the awareness of said status symbols—evident by the trend of artists licensing their work under CC0. Add to this the fact musicians are already conditioned, because of the streaming revolution, to give away their music for free and find other ways to generate income (e.g., sell tickets and merch), and it’s clear their incentives are different from those of writers.

That’s not to say writers don’t like the collectible nature of NFTs—they do, and the authors and poets included in Ink Block have experimented with collectibility, such as creating unique novel covers in varying rarities that people can collect. But as I said, their incentives are different. A novelist wants to protect their IP; they can’t make a living if someone can right-click-save their 300-page novel and upload it to their Kindle. They need to mint the NFT, but not give up the goods until someone buys it. That’s where Darkblock comes in. With our free app, creators can attach encrypted multimedia content to their NFTs in such a way that only the NFT owner can unlock it. The content is stored on Arweave, a decentralized storage network, and is available to be accessed from anywhere that integrates our open-source Viewer, as well as on the minting page, via the Darkblock app, or even on OpenSea if you install our Chrome extension.

We believe true ownership of digital goods isn’t possible without decentralized access, which is what differentiates Darkblock from token gating, the method most writers to date have used to provide exclusive access to their ebooks. There’s nothing inherently wrong with token gating, but it comes dangerously close to recreating the platform-centric Web2 model, exemplified by Kindle, of locking content in walled gardens and gating access to it—but with an NFT instead of a password. Kindle doesn’t sell ebooks, it sells access to ebooks and the illusion of ownership. Some people are okay trading ownership for convenience, but with Web3 technology we can do so much better. And we believe Darkblock, with our infrastructure enabling a future where decentralized content is a reality, is helping us get there.

Feel free to mint the NFT, share the link with your friends, and enjoy the reading material. If you like what you read, we encourage you to support the literary artists represented in Ink Block by following the provided links to where you can mint or buy the original Literary NFTs. Ink Block is on Polygon; while the NFT is free to mint, you will need a wallet with a small amount of MATIC in it to cover gas fees.

Thanks to all our contributors. Mint your free Ink Block here.

Soltype and Darkblock Partner to Revolutionize Literary NFT Space

Whit Richardson — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 15:38:53 +0000

Darkblock, the protocol for decentralized unlockable content, announced today a strategic partnership with Soltype, the leading platform and marketplace for Literary NFTs on Solana, that will introduce readers and collectors to the world’s first truly decentralized unlockable ebooks.

Soltype has integrated the Darkblock Protocol into its platform, which means that collectors who mint or purchase Literary NFTs on Soltype are given true ownership of the attached ebooks through decentralized access. While the ebooks will be token gated and accessible on the Soltype platform, it is also using the Darkblock Protocol to encrypt and store the files in a decentralized manner, and immutably attaching them to the collectors’ NFTs so they will be unlockable by owners regardless of any platform-related issues.

“We believe decentralizing content is the future of digital ownership and we’re excited to partner with Darkblock to provide our users with a more secure and robust ebook NFT experience,” said Paco Puylaert, Soltype’s CEO and co-founder. “We’re committed to giving our users the freedom and security to forever own and access their ebooks, no matter what happens to us.”

While most ebook platforms—both in the Web2 and Web3 spaces—seek to lock readers into using their platform by storing content in their own walled gardens and gating access with a username (i.e., Kindle) or NFT (i.e., centralized ebook NFT platforms), Soltype recognizes that decentralizing content is the only way to provide true ownership of digital assets to readers, immutability to an author’s work, and prevent over-zealous censorship of literature. All Literary NFTs minted on Soltype’s platform will have their corresponding EPUB and/or PDF files encrypted, stored on Arweave and immutably attached to the NFT.

“Decentralized content means users hold the keys to the content and choose where to consume it, not the other way around,” said Chris Seline, CEO of Darkblock.

He continued: “Amazon is a behemoth, so we never even think about the fact Kindle could disappear—but it could. And if it did, all those ebooks you’ve purchased over the years would disappear overnight. That’s the risk of centralized platforms locking content in walled gardens—and it doesn’t matter if they’re gating access with a password or an NFT, if any link in the chain is centralized, then the benefits of decentralization are lost.”

More concerning than the unlikely chance that Amazon shutters Kindle is the fact it has complete control over the ebooks its users “buy.” Amazon could go into a user’s device and delete an ebook without prior warning—in fact, it has already done this. Just like decentralized social protects users from being deplatformed without recourse and gives them ownership of their social graphs, decentralized content protects users from overzealous censorship of books and other forms of content and gives them ownership of their digital assets, whether ebooks, films, or metaverse assets.

The first Literary NFT that will be minted on Soltype’s platform and benefit from Darkblock’s tech will be Dracari by E.R. Donaldson, which is small, 140-edition test mint. It will be the world’s first decentralized unlockable ebook.

Dracari is a dress rehearsal for Soltype’s first big mint. On March 1, Soltype will launch Riglan, a novel and Literary NFT by award-winning Marvel writer B. Earl.

“If we believe NFTs provide the delivery and ownership technology of the future, then we need to be thinking in decades—not days,” Seline said. “Current owners and future buyers of Literary NFTs need to have confidence that the digital assets associated with their NFTs will be accessible forever without worrying about 404 messages or broken Dropbox links. That’s what Darkblock and Soltype are doing.”

About Soltype

Soltype is the leading platform and marketplace for Literary NFTs on Solana. It provides a user-friendly interface for authors and publishers to mint, sell and promote their ebooks in NFT form. Soltype is committed to giving readers true ownership of the ebooks they purchase on their platform via the Darkblock Protocol.

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About Darkblock

Darkblock, a web3 pioneer in decentralized content delivery and monetization, enables creators to control the distribution, accessibility, and monetization of their content without making it right-click-savable. By repurposing NFTs into tokenized vaults for digital content (e.g., music, videos, podcasts, films, comics, ebooks, 3D metaverse or gaming assets, or even HTML files), Darkblock provides the encryption infrastructure creators need to harness the power of web3 technology, unlock new storytelling and community-building tools, explore new business models and ultimately build a new creator economy free from platform control.