While Chris Dixon and a16z may have skewed the sales numbers of his recent book, Read Write Own, what hasn’t been given as much time in the spotlight is the book’s NFT offering.

Paired with the newly minted web3-worshipping tome is a bookmark that contains a code allowing readers to redeem an NFT on OpenSea (one of the largest NFT marketplaces). The problem is no one seems to care.

Of the 5,000 NFTs that are up for redemption only 5% — or 264 — have been redeemed by readers. It’s difficult to match this with the fact that Read Write Own landed at number nine on the New York Times Best Seller list. To achieve such a prestigious status there’s no doubt that Dixon and a16z moved thousands and thousands of copies, physically, through ebook readers, and via audiobook applications.

So, why isn’t anyone interested in the NFT?

It’s hard to say since exact numbers on who purchased the books are unattainable, but there are at least two likely reasons. Firstly, bulk sales were likely almost entirely to a16z itself, which will slowly be gifting the books to partners and companies it invested in. Alternatively, many sales were organic, and simply no one cares about NFTs. Either way, it’s negative for Dixon and his thesis presented in Read Write Own.

Read more: Chris Dixon says a16z doesn’t sell its crypto tokens — portfolio disagrees

Major crypto companies partnered to work on NFT

The Read Write Own NFT project was a collaboration between a16z, IYK, Manifold, Dynamic, and Optimism — large and important companies in cryptocurrency. In that sense, one might expect that the NFT would be interesting and perhaps have some degree of usefulness. That expectation would be wrong.

Instead, the NFT is a copy of the cover of the book and when it’s redeemed it changes colors and the pixelated sun moves around. That’s it, no more, no less.

Regardless, while the future of blockchains, tokenization, and NFTs remains to be seen, it’s clear that Dixon’s attempt to predict it and get credited for it has fallen on deaf ears.

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The post Chris Dixon offers NFT with his ‘bestseller’ — 264 of 5,000 have been claimed appeared first on Protos.

Entrepreneur and Andreessen Horowitz partner Chris Dixon recently released a book espousing the benefits of the blockchain, NFTs, and web3, entitled Read Write Own — and it’s getting mixed reviews.

From the highly critical Molly White complaining that “Dixon fails to identify a single blockchain project that has successfully provided a non-speculative service at any kind of scale,” to the more commendatory by David Z. Morris calling it “an optimistic read,” it’s safe to say Dixons literary efforts are dividing opinion.

However, regardless of how you feel about a16z, Dixon, or the future of web3, what’s clear is that the book did some serious numbers in its first week on bookshelves and via ebook sales. Indeed, the nonfiction title sold more copies this week than Britney Spears’ autobiography, The Woman in Me, and slightly fewer than bestselling author Donald L. Miller’s Masters of the Air, landing at number nine on the New York Times (NYT) Best Seller list.

Unfortunately, the revered ranking comes with a very serious caveat, namely that the NYT itself suspects that the title managed to get ranked by gaming the system.

Read more: Chris Dixon says a16z doesn’t sell its crypto tokens — portfolio disagrees

The list only adds a ‘dagger’ to titles it believes have, in some way, attempted to present more sales than real demand, a concept a16z is extremely familiar with.

Marketing isn’t enough

Dixon went on a massive marketing blitz in the lead-up to the public release of Read Write Own, appearing on podcasts like the NYT’s Hard Fork and a16z’s own show. Clearly, the push wasn’t enough.

The NYT states that including a dagger on the Best Seller list implies “institutional, special interest, group or bulk purchases,” and that such a dubious distinction only comes after “proprietary vetting and audit protocols, corroborative reporting and other statistical determinations.”

While ensuring profits and positive results can easily be manipulated in financial markets, it’s nice to see that at least organic book sales are being monitored and, as usual, a16z is doing everything in its power to make things look far more optimistic and profitable than they actually are.

Congratulations to a16z and Chris Dixon — I hope it was worth it.

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The post Opinion: How a16z gamed the NYT Best Seller list appeared first on Protos.