It's official: we've decided on the new cover for The Complete Guide to Pay What You Want Pricing (2nd Edition).
The book cover "reveal" is below, but before we get to that -- some context:
Last year, I decided I wanted to do two things:
The first edition of the book was published back in 2014.
My original intent was to share what I had learned from using Pay What You Want Pricing to sell books, coaching, art, and more.
It was an experiment, like most of the things I do.
And...it flopped (sort of...).
I won't go into a ton of detail here because you can read the complete Pay What You Want launch report here.
But for those pressed for time, here's a quick summary:
Wins:
Yay!
Now for the bad:
Yikes.
Luckily, I did the most important thing:
I validated the idea.
So I spent the next year writing about and sharing the book as widely as possible.
And now that we're going on close to a decade since the original publication of the book -- and because I never published on Amazon, nor published a paperback of the book...
I decided it was time for a 2nd edition.
NFTs were the hot new thing in 2021.
In many ways, they looked and seemed insane to me:
Why, why, WHY would anyone pay $7 million for a jpeg?
The whole thing just looked like a money-laundering Ponzi scheme from the outside. I just didn't get it.
YET...The underlying concept and tech are pretty neat.
And once you get past the initial NFT jpeg cash-grab, one starts to realize that maybe there's something to this idea of digitized ownership.
Here's how NFTs are defined by Ethereum.org:
NFTs are tokens that we can use to represent ownership of unique items. They let us tokenise things like art, collectibles, even real estate. They can only have one official owner at a time and they're secured by the Ethereum blockchain – no one can modify the record of ownership or copy/paste a new NFT into existence.
ethereum.org/en/nft/
Here are a few of the key concepts that I think make NFTs interesting for creators:
That last reason -- The ability (and incentive) for the NFT creator to continue to provide VALUE to the NFT holder -- is what prompted me to combine Thing #1 and Thing #2 above.
So, I'm releasing "The Complete Guide to Pay What You Want Pricing (2nd Edition)" as an NFT.
Want to follow along?
Sign up (FREE) to get first access to the book, NFT exclusive bonuses, and more.
Plus, I'm documenting my NFT journey and will share what I learn for people who register above.
So if you are:
Join me for the launch of my first NFT here.
And now for the book cover reveal...
A few months ago, I shared 8 potential book covers for the 2nd edition of TCGTPWYWP.
You can see all the covers here.
In the end, here's how things panned out:
This cover received the LEAST amount of votes:
This book ended up with exactly 0 first-place votes. I guess not completely surprising.
Although I liked the aesthetic, I think the magnet confused people.
Next up...
This book cover received the most "cumulative" votes:
This was the original cover idea I had for the book. And while the cover is very rough around the edges, it seems like the minimalist aesthetic attracted a lot of readers.
This book ended up getting the most number of votes in total.
HOWEVER...
In the end, I felt like the 'tip jar' idea, while catchy in a minimalist sense, didn't fully articulate the value proposition behind Pay What You Want pricing.
I mean, can you imagine an attorney, software startup, or [pick name of profession/business/enterprise here] self-identifying with a 'tip jar' for their pricing model?
In other words, as much as I loved the aesthetic of this cover, it felt like it missed the mark from a "market" perspective.
I don't want people to think that Pay What You Want pricing is a tip jar.
It can be -- but it doesn't have to be.
I want people (entrepreneurs, creatives, business owners, etc.) to see that Pay What You Want pricing can be a sustainable, socially beneficial, and even lucrative pricing technique.
So in the end, this cover was edged out by our winner:
This book cover received the most #1 votes by percentage:
While this cover doesn't have that 'Malcolm Gladwell minimalist item design' like the one above, I still think it has a nice, professional aesthetic.
It's clean. Simple. Professional. And it feels...precise.
Most importantly, I feel like it will appeal to the broadest market of entrepreneurs, writers, artists, creatives, and business owners.
Here's an updated cover mockup + teaser of the book (don't you love the floating Tom body in the top left corner!?!?):
So there it is.
What do you think?
Anything we should change or adjust for the final version?
Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Oh, and don't forget:
A little over a month ago, I decided to dive into the NFT space. NFTs (or Non Fungible Tokens) are a popular new trend that allow creators to monetize digital products in interesting new ways.
As an author / publisher / creator / online business owner in the education and publishing space, I think there's "something here" when it comes to NFTs.
What that "something" is I'm still waiting to see -- but in the interim, I wanted to test the waters and see for myself what all the fuss was about.
To get started, I solicited feedback from my newsletter subscribers.
I asked them what they would like to see me create as my first NFT.
Here are a few of my favorite responses:
Thanks Jen, Brian, and Michael -- appreciate the feedback. Lots of great ideas here, though I especially liked the idea of selling a 'block of time' from a conceptual standpoint (nice one Brian!)...
But, in the end, I decided to go with something simple and maybe a bit more appropriate to the work I do in the publishing space...
So I've decided to turn one of my books into an NFT.
The next question is: which book?
I didn't want to simply package a book that's already out as an NFT...that just doesn't feel like it has enough 'pizzazz.'
And I don't want to delay shipping an NFT with an entirely new book (though I've got a lot of ideas on that front...).
So I've decided to do something I've been planning to do for a few years now:
Update "The Complete Guide to Pay What You Want Pricing."
And to roll out the 2nd Edition of the book, we'll be releasing a limited edition via NFT.
I'm already in the process of updating the content of the book with new examples, new case studies, and new research...
But in the meantime, I want to hear from YOU!
Now it's your turn.
Help me decide the best cover for the 2nd edition of The Complete Guide to Pay What You Want Pricing.
I've labeled the cover mockups below, Cover 1 through Cover 8.
Leave a comment below with your top pick / favorite cover (or top 3 picks in order). Just leave the # of the cover you like best (e.g. "I love cover #5, #2, #7 in that order").
Based on feedback, we'll move forward with completing the updated design...and after that, we'll be turning the new cover into a limited edition NFT print (think "Platinum" and "Gold" editions, yo).
(oh, and by the way -- everyone who leaves a comment on this blog post will get a very special, NFT exclusive from yours truly...so make sure to comment below to win!)
Thanks in advance for your feedback!
Special shout out to the cover designers over at Lifestyle Entrepreneurs Press for creating several of these mockups.
Leave a comment with your favorite cover. Everyone who leaves a comment will receive an
Whether you're interested in getting in on the "NFT gold rush" or you simply want to understand what an NFT is and how it can help you on your creative journey, you're in the right spot...
In this blog post (and supporting video), I share everything I've learned about NFTs, including how I'm using them in my publishing business, and ways authors and creators can use them in fun, unique, and lucrative ways.
Keep reading to get the goods...
What is an NFT and how can authors, artists, and creators use NFTs to protect and profit from their intellectual and digital property?
I sat down with Jesse Krieger, the co-founder of Powerfan.io -- an NFT minting platform -- to explore this topic.
Jesse Krieger (co-founder of Powerfan.io) and Tom Morkes (author, publisher, and very handsome entrepreneur) sit down to discuss NFTs - what they are, how they work, and how to create and sell your very own NFT.
What we cover in this interview:
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Just getting started with Crypto and NFTs?
The first thing you need to do is setup your wallet.
In this training video, I sit down with Albert Ahn, CEO of Powerfan.io, to show you how to setup your first Crypto wallet.
We also show you:
Watch the full video training here:
Interested in minting your own NFT?
I partnered up with Powerfan.io to help me mint and sell my very first NFT. I'll be documenting the process on this blog and via my (exquisite + free) newsletter.
As part of our collaboration, Powerfan is doing something very cool for my readers and audience:
They're giving away 1,000 PFAN tokens plus a chance to win 10,000 more.
PFAN tokens are what you can use on the Powerfan.io platform to buy or sell NFTs:
"The PowerFan Token (PFAN) empowers content authors and creators by helping them get paid via decentralized finance and blockchain technology."
Powerfan.io
According to Powerfan.io:
"Fans can access the entire library of content by staking or spending their PFAN tokens. Authors and Creators can mint custom NFTs that provide exclusive content, personal access, valuable training, and…well, anything else their creative minds can come up with! Anyone can stake their crypto and earn interest and PFAN that accrues to them, and can also be directed towards their favorite creators. Creators can incentivize their audience with custom offers, and Fans can “earn while they learn” on the PowerFan platform."
So if you want to come along with me for the ride of minting and selling your very first NFT, here's your chance to get an unfair headstart with 1,000 PFAN tokens:
👉 Sign up to get your free 1,000 PFAN tokens PLUS a chance to win 10,000 more!
Questions? Thoughts? Or ideas on what I should mint and sell as my very first NFT?
📢 Leave a reply in the comments below!
I'd love to make this first venture into the "unknown" as collaborative and useful for all of you as possible, so comment below and let your voice be heard ????
Started, finished, and shipped from 7,000 feet elevation | Writing (and recording) time: 3.5 hrs | Soundtrack: silence (still trending)