Eterna Cadencia, an Argentinian publisher, has published a book with a special ink that gradually disappears over a period of about two months. If you pick it up after that, you'll find nothing but blank pages!
Design Taxi reports that it's called "The Book That Can't Wait." The idea is to motivate us to read books rather than putting them in piles to get to someday. The publisher says it's a boon to new authors, because until you read one book by them you won't be motivated to buy another of theirs.
Oh boy, if all my books were like this I'd have a lot of blank notebooks. I'm not sure this will be good for the book trade, which depends on people like me who buy faster than they can read.
Of course it's also a marketing gimmick and a good one, I think. It garners press coverage for a publisher people probably wouldn't have heard of otherwise and may lead them to see what non-disappearing books they offer as well.
Which raises the question for smart marketer authors: what ways can you think of to attract people to your book? It may require more high-profile "bait" to capture their attention.
(Whether or not you will read it right away, I think you should go ahead and order my newest book, "Your Creative Writing Masterclass." The print is guaranteed not to disappear and you'll find it full of writing advice from the greatest writers of all time--Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Jane Austen--and my tips on how to apply that advice to your own work. You can get it now from Amazon, or why not order it via your favorite local book store? They need our support to stay in business!)
