Publica's CEO answering your questions:
Why does publishing need Publica?
Amazon and iTunes ebooks changed publishing for online retail but left the rest of the ecosystem to others. The online marketplace responded with many sites and services.
None of them have taken up the blockchain opportunity. Publica expects those sites and services to simply adopt Publica as their easy gateway to the benefits of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain revolution.
What’s the simple idea of the Publica project?
Publishing is a global economy and ecosystem unto itself.
Online retail is only one corner of it. DIY self-publishing is good but sacrifices some of the best parts of traditional publishing. They can be revived with elements of the gig economy and the sharing economy so long as the ecommerce is tailored to publishing.
Most of the ecommerce in making and publicizing great books happens before retail, starting with how book projects are funded. Book projects continue long after the release of their first editions.
Publica serves book projects from start to finish--and they don’t have to end. Some book projects can go on forever in new or expanded editions, derivative rights, audio books, movie scripts, games, merchandise, etc.
What’s the radical idea of the Publica project?
When you buy a paper book, you own it. The same should be true of an ebook. This is very different from a revokable license to read it on a proprietary device or app such as iTunes or Kindle.
No one, including Publica, can tell you what to do with your ebook. There are no terms to accept, no fine print, no subscriptions to maintain, no proprietary devices. The digital key you hold is the only proof of ownership you need.
This presents new business opportunites for authors, and total transparency for their readers and the rest of the people and businesses illustrated in the Publica Circle drawing.
What does Publica do for authors?
Advances on revenues in new Book ICO’s. That practice virtually disappeared in the Amazon/iTunes age and authors need it back.
Social networking with a professional edge, e.g., treating books as the projects they are. Project managers, collaborators, publicists, marketers, printers, and all the rest of the people and businesses that make books great and help authors reach the readers who want their books.
Authors need an ecosystem with simple, trustworthy ecommerce that looks more like a LinkedIn than a 50-page contract of fine print that serves lawyers better than authors.
New business models. Every new book is like a startup. The business model is as important as the creative writing, and one size doesn’t fit all.
In one easy example, readers can’t pass traditional ebooks along to their friends and colleagues for fear that the publisher might miss out on revenues. This stifles word-of-mouth marketing and forces all sales to unrealistic retail pricing. Ebooks languishing in an elibrary don’t help anyone except the minority of readers who want to re-read them.
At Publica, readers can resell ebooks on an open market. Authors can set creative new terms for ebook resales including a portion back to themselves or their next book project. They can promote word-of-mouth marketing, host a shop on their own site inlcuding like-minded authors, boost their fan clubs and book clubs, etc. Opportunites abound.
What does Publica do for readers?
Crowdfunding in creative ways. Whatever the readers, authors, institutions, and project managers can dream up in their business models to include their fans and readers who care and want to participate.
After reading, resell ebooks on an open market. This is also good for authors because they can get a portion of the resale on Publica.
In one easy example, university textbooks are expensive and students sell them back at a fraction of their purchase price. Universities don’t need that commerce, they do it because they have to, so the courses can happen on time.
At Publica, authors, project managers, and institutions can set creative new terms for book resales including a portion back to the book project or its successor (fund the next edition). Ebook resale market prices are then up to the seller (reader) and buyer (next reader).
How is Publica different from other ICO’s mentioning books or publishing?
Publica is a platform for ecommerce in the publishing economy, including the social networking that fuels commerce between businesses, groups, and individuals who need to collaborate on book projects.
Other ICO’s will continue to address atomic portions of the publishing ecosystem, i.e., copyright registration, translation, retail ebook sales, advertising, reputation points, book recommendations, or crowdfunding. On the Publica Circle drawing, those are the corners nearest to the readers and authors. Publica addresses those too, plus all the rest of the publishing ecosystem so that everyone can enjoy the full benefits of social and commercial network effects.
What is PBL? Is it a token, a currency, a coin?
PBL, called Pebbles, are ERC20 tokens.