NFT Minting - iStory

Overview

iStory lets you mint story collections as NFTs (non-fungible tokens) on Base. Transform your journal entries into permanent, tradable digital artifacts stored on IPFS with on-chain metadata.

NFTs are minted via the StoryNFT ERC721 contract with built-in ERC2981 royalties.

What Are Story NFTs?

Story NFTs are:

ERC721 tokens: Unique, non-fungible assets on Base blockchain
Book collections: Curated groups of stories (e.g., “Summer 2024 Reflections”)
IPFS-stored: Metadata and content hosted on decentralized storage
Royalty-enabled: Earn 5% on secondary sales (ERC2981 standard)
Ownable: Transferred, traded, or held as digital collectibles

Think of NFT books as permanent time capsules — your stories preserved forever on-chain.

NFT Types

Book Collections

Public Minting (0.001 ETH fee)Self-published compilations of your stories. Create thematic collections like “Travel Adventures” or “2024 Gratitude Journal.”

Weekly Winners

Admin-Minted (Free)Awarded to top creators each week based on engagement and quality metrics. Minted by platform admins.

Creating a Book NFT

Step-by-Step Guide

Curate Your Stories

Navigate to /library and select stories to include:

Minimum 3 stories recommended
Choose a cohesive theme or timeframe
Stories can be public or private (metadata is encrypted for private)

Open Book Creator

Click “Create Book” in the library navigation.Fill in metadata:

Title: e.g., “My Year of Growth”
Description: Brief summary (1-2 paragraphs)
Cover Image: Upload or generate AI cover (optional)
Story Selection: Check boxes for stories to include

Upload to IPFS

The app packages your book metadata as JSON and uploads to Pinata:

{
  "name": "My Year of Growth",
  "description": "Reflections from 2024...",
  "image": "ipfs://Qm...",
  "properties": {
    "story_count": 12,
    "author": "0xYourWallet...",
    "created_at": "2024-03-04T..."
  },
  "stories": [
    { "id": "uuid1", "title": "First Entry", "ipfs_uri": "ipfs://..." },
    ...
  ]
}

Mint NFT

Click “Mint Book NFT” to execute the on-chain transaction:

// Source: contracts/StoryNFT.sol:34-40
function mintBook(string memory uri) external payable {
  require(msg.value >= mintFee, "Insufficient mint fee");
  uint256 tokenId = ++_nextTokenId;
  _safeMint(msg.sender, tokenId);
  _setTokenURI(tokenId, uri);
  emit NFTMinted(tokenId, msg.sender, uri, "BOOK");
}

Confirm in Wallet

Sign the transaction in MetaMask:

Gas cost: ~$0.01 on Base
Mint fee: 0.001 ETH
Total: ~$0.01 + 0.001 ETH

NFT Minted!

Your NFT appears in:

iStory library under “My Books”
Your wallet (MetaMask NFT tab)
OpenSea Base collection

Using the Hook

// Source: app/hooks/useStoryNFT.ts:8-26
import { useStoryNFT } from "@/app/hooks/useStoryNFT";

const { mintBook, isPending, hash } = useStoryNFT();

const handleMint = async () => {
  const ipfsUri = "ipfs://Qm..."; // IPFS hash from Pinata upload
  await mintBook(ipfsUri);
};

// Listen for success
useEffect(() => {
  if (isConfirmed) {
    toast.success("Book minted successfully!");
  }
}, [isConfirmed]);

Book Page

Each minted NFT gets a dedicated page at /books/[bookId].

Page Features

Gradient Cover Header: Eye-catching visual with book title and description
Author Card: Avatar, name, and wallet address
Publication Stats: Mint date, chapter count, IPFS hash
Table of Contents: Interactive list of all stories in the book
Chapter Links: Click any entry to read the full story at /story/[id]
IPFS Gateway Button: View raw metadata on Pinata gateway

// Source: app/books/[bookId]/BookPageClient.tsx:73-84
const { data: bookData } = await supabase
  .from("books")
  .select(`
    *,
    author:users!books_author_id_fkey (name, wallet_address, avatar)
  `)
  .eq("id", bookId)
  .single();

const { data: storiesData } = await supabase
  .from("stories")
  .select("id, title, content, created_at")
  .in("id", bookData.story_ids);

Book pages are SEO-optimized with OpenGraph metadata for social sharing.

NFT Contract Details

Smart Contract

Property	Value
Contract Name	StoryNFT
Symbol	ESTORY
Standard	ERC721 + ERC721URIStorage + ERC2981
Network	Base Sepolia (Testnet) → Base Mainnet
Address	`0x6D37ebc5...`
Mint Fee	0.001 ETH
Royalty	5% (500 basis points)

Key Functions

// Source: contracts/StoryNFT.sol

// 1. Public Mint (Book Collections)
function mintBook(string memory uri) external payable

// 2. Admin Mint (Weekly Winners)
function mintWeeklyWinner(address winner, string memory uri) 
  external onlyRole(MINTER_ROLE)

// 3. Update Mint Fee
function setMintFee(uint256 _fee) external onlyRole(DEFAULT_ADMIN_ROLE)

// 4. Withdraw Fees
function withdraw() external onlyRole(DEFAULT_ADMIN_ROLE)

// 5. Set Royalties
function setDefaultRoyalty(address receiver, uint96 feeNumerator) 
  external onlyRole(DEFAULT_ADMIN_ROLE)

The contract uses AccessControl for role-based permissions and ERC2981 for automatic royalty payments on marketplaces.

Royalties and Secondary Sales

Earn passive income when your NFTs are resold.

How Royalties Work

Initial Sale: You mint and list your book NFT on OpenSea for 0.1 ETH
Buyer Purchases: Collector buys it — you receive 0.1 ETH minus marketplace fee (~2.5%)
Resale: Collector resells for 0.5 ETH to another buyer
Royalty Payment: You automatically receive 5% × 0.5 ETH = 0.025 ETH
Forever: Every subsequent sale pays you 5%

ERC2981 Implementation

// Source: contracts/StoryNFT.sol:21-22
// Set default royalty to 5% (500 basis points)
_setDefaultRoyalty(defaultAdmin, 500);

Marketplaces like OpenSea read this on-chain and automatically send royalty payments to your wallet.

Royalties are enforced at the marketplace level. Most major NFT platforms support ERC2981.

Viewing Your NFTs

In iStory

Navigate to /library
Click “My Books” tab
See all minted NFTs with:
- Cover image
- Title and description
- Chapter count
- Mint date

On OpenSea

Visit OpenSea Base
Connect wallet
Go to Profile → “Collected”
Filter by “eStory Collections”
View, list, or transfer your NFTs

In MetaMask

Open MetaMask mobile app
Tap “NFTs” tab
Your StoryNFT books appear with metadata

Use MetaMask mobile for the best NFT viewing experience — desktop extension has limited NFT support.

IPFS Metadata Structure

Your book NFT metadata follows the OpenSea standard:

{
  "name": "My Year of Growth",
  "description": "A collection of reflections from 2024...",
  "image": "ipfs://QmImageHash...",
  "external_url": "https://istory.app/books/uuid",
  "attributes": [
    { "trait_type": "Story Count", "value": 12 },
    { "trait_type": "Theme", "value": "Personal Growth" },
    { "trait_type": "Year", "value": 2024 }
  ],
  "properties": {
    "author": "0xYourWallet...",
    "created_at": "2024-03-04T12:00:00Z",
    "story_ids": ["uuid1", "uuid2", ...],
    "ipfs_stories": [
      { "id": "uuid1", "title": "First Entry", "ipfs_uri": "ipfs://..." }
    ]
  }
}

IPFS Pinning

All metadata and story content is pinned to Pinata for permanent storage:

// Source: app/utils/ipfsService.ts
const uploadToIPFS = async (data: object) => {
  const res = await fetch("https://api.pinata.cloud/pinning/pinJSONToIPFS", {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      "Authorization": `Bearer ${PINATA_JWT}`,
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    body: JSON.stringify(data),
  });
  const { IpfsHash } = await res.json();
  return `ipfs://${IpfsHash}`;
};

IPFS hashes are immutable. Once minted, you cannot change the NFT metadata. Verify everything before minting!

Fees and Costs

Action	Cost	Goes To
Mint Fee	0.001 ETH	StoryNFT contract (fund rewards pool)
Gas Fee	~~0.0001 ETH (~~$0.01)	Base network validators
IPFS Pinning	Free (up to 1GB)	Pinata
Listing on OpenSea	Free	—
OpenSea Sale Fee	2.5% of sale	OpenSea
Royalty (Resales)	5% of sale	You (the creator)

Total minting cost is ~0.0011 ETH (~$2-3 depending on ETH price). Much cheaper than Ethereum L1!

Weekly Winner NFTs

Top creators receive exclusive, free NFTs.

Selection Criteria

Engagement: Likes, comments, shares, tips received
Quality: Verified metrics tier (Gold > Silver > Bronze)
Consistency: Active journaling streaks
Impact: Community interactions (follows, inspiring others)

Admin Minting Process

// Source: contracts/StoryNFT.sol:26-31
function mintWeeklyWinner(address winner, string memory uri) 
  external onlyRole(MINTER_ROLE) {
  uint256 tokenId = ++_nextTokenId;
  _safeMint(winner, tokenId);
  _setTokenURI(tokenId, uri);
  emit NFTMinted(tokenId, winner, uri, "WEEKLY_WINNER");
}

Winners are announced:

In-app notification: “You won this week’s NFT!”
Email alert: Sent to verified email
Social spotlight: Featured on /social homepage

Weekly Winner NFTs have no mint fee and include a special “Winner” badge in metadata.

Trading and Transfers

Your NFTs are fully owned and transferable.

Listing on OpenSea

Go to OpenSea
Connect wallet with your NFT
Navigate to your NFT page
Click “Sell” → Set price and duration
Sign listing transaction (free on OpenSea)
NFT listed! Buyers can purchase instantly

Direct Transfer

Send your NFT to another wallet:

// Using ethers.js or viem
const contract = new ethers.Contract(STORY_NFT_ADDRESS, STORY_NFT_ABI, signer);
await contract.transferFrom(yourAddress, recipientAddress, tokenId);

Or use MetaMask/OpenSea UI for transfers.

Double-check recipient addresses. NFT transfers are irreversible!

Best Practices

Curation

Quality over quantity: 5 great stories > 20 mediocre ones
Thematic coherence: “Summer 2024” or “Career Reflections” work better than random assortments
Timeline: Chronological order often creates compelling narratives

Metadata

Descriptive titles: “My Journey to Mindfulness” > “Book 1”
Rich descriptions: Include themes, key moments, emotional arcs
Custom covers: AI-generated or designed covers stand out on marketplaces

Pricing (OpenSea)

First editions: Start low (0.05-0.1 ETH) to build collector base
Established creators: Can price higher based on following
Scarcity: Limited collections (e.g., “Only 10 copies”) command premium

Security

Smart Contract Audits

The StoryNFT contract uses OpenZeppelin battle-tested libraries:

ERC721URIStorage (safe minting)
AccessControl (role permissions)
ERC2981 (royalty standard)

IPFS Persistence

Pinata ensures your metadata remains accessible:

Redundant nodes: Pinned to 3+ IPFS nodes globally
Uptime: 99.9% availability SLA
Backup: iStory maintains Pinata account with paid plan

For extra safety, you can re-pin your IPFS hashes to your own Pinata account.

Next Steps

Earning $STORY

Learn how tips and paywalls fund your creative journey

Community Feed

Publish stories to gain followers and sell more NFTs

Get Started

Core Features

Social & Monetization

User Guide

​Overview

​What Are Story NFTs?

​NFT Types

Book Collections

Weekly Winners

​Creating a Book NFT

​Step-by-Step Guide

​Using the Hook

​Book Page

​Page Features

​NFT Contract Details

​Smart Contract

​Key Functions

​Royalties and Secondary Sales

​How Royalties Work

​ERC2981 Implementation

​Viewing Your NFTs

​In iStory

​On OpenSea

​In MetaMask

​IPFS Metadata Structure

​IPFS Pinning

​Fees and Costs

​Weekly Winner NFTs

​Selection Criteria

​Admin Minting Process

​Trading and Transfers

​Listing on OpenSea

​Direct Transfer

​Best Practices

​Curation

​Metadata

​Pricing (OpenSea)

​Security

​Smart Contract Audits

​IPFS Persistence

​Next Steps

Earning $STORY

Community Feed

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

What Are Story NFTs?

NFT Types

Creating a Book NFT

Step-by-Step Guide

Using the Hook

Book Page

Page Features

NFT Contract Details

Smart Contract

Key Functions

Royalties and Secondary Sales

How Royalties Work

ERC2981 Implementation

Viewing Your NFTs

In iStory

On OpenSea

In MetaMask

IPFS Metadata Structure

IPFS Pinning

Fees and Costs

Weekly Winner NFTs

Selection Criteria

Admin Minting Process

Trading and Transfers

Listing on OpenSea

Direct Transfer

Best Practices

Curation

Metadata

Pricing (OpenSea)

Security

Smart Contract Audits

IPFS Persistence

Next Steps