[PREVIEW] Signs could be used for written books, to allow people to read them without possessing the book.
Why not make a sell/buy sign? Now, bear with me: I'm not 100% if this would work, I'll see if some of my friends can help me test this later on to make sure. But in theory you should be able to make such a shop sign. This would allow someone to buy your book, read it and if they don't want to keep it they can sell it back to you. And because books cannot be copied by anyone but the original author there should be no way for regular players to abuse this. Maybe food for thought? I'll get back to you once I got a chance to test this out.
If I know Mattie he wants to show off some books that he doesn't want to part with or have anyone have copies of
This could be helpful, allowing me to write a short summary about what the book they'll be buying is about in another book.
Message signs can already be used for that, though. I've been doing that in TTB since I opened the shop on 17430. As for the [Preview] suggestion... I'm not sure how I feel about it. Indifferent, I guess? In my opinion, a [Message] sign serves plenty well for a preview, like reading the back cover, and if a player likes it, they should be able to buy a full copy. I guess I could see where this would work for player "Libraries," where you can go to read a book without buying it. I know a few people have tried to run libraries before, but end up running into the problem of people taking books and never returning them.
I requested this a few years back. I had the same idea like you, but it got rejected. I don't know what happened, but I really want this to be implemented. Everyone stole the 'public book' in the chest, however, this could stop those problems.
Should be noted, is that we have wanted to add a [Library] Sign, or something. Essentially letting you read books. Earlier minecraft versions, it was not possible without having the physical book in your hand. We haven't revisited it since. Would still be desired though
Could it be possible to give a "ghost" version of the book, which disappears once you exit the book, even if it's not possible to have the book open directly from a sign?
