It doesn't necessarily look dry, but it does look very under calcified. It should have a smooth white finish, but it has a snowflake pattern on it--that means that the female did not have enough calcium reserves to properly calcify the shell. That doesn't necessarily mean that the egg is infertile though. Was it just the one egg?
At this point I would be more concerned with getting enough calcium in your female's diet, and supplementing her with extra to help her along until she finishes laying eggs (which you will want her to do soon since she is laying eggs like that).
Using eco earth as substrate is going to make it very hard to find eggs in the future. Unless you happen to see her laying, you are going to have to routinely dig up her entire cage to look for eggs. I'd stick with the paper towels and lay box and hope she uses it next time. If you find eggs that have been laid outside of the lay box within 24 hours or so they should still be fine.
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