In a world where fewer and fewer interactions are happening in person, and where the supply and demand economics of the attention economy are becoming increasingly fierce, writing is fast becoming the primary mode of communication. The problem is that between email, work memos, sales letters, chat sessions, etc., the written word no longer holds the sacred space that it once did. Further compounding the problem is the fact that (let’s face it) most people don’t have anything new to say. As Raoul Vaneigem says above, “everything has already been said.”

So how does one grab attention in today’s fierce attention economy? The most well-trodden path is to publish a book that someone actually purchases. When someone buys a book, they’re investing money with the intention of investing time -- at some later point -- into reading what they’ve purchased.