Brandon Sanderson's Blog, page 37

Tweets September 2016

BrandSanderson Thu Sep 01
I am going to try and post periodic book reviews on my Goodreads account. You can see more details here:

link

AaronToponce Thu Sep 01
I gets bragging rights. @BrandSanderson is my friend on Goodreads. üòé

BrandSanderson Thu Sep 01
@AaronToponce We go way back. Remember that time we went spelunking? Good times.

BrandSanderson Thu Sep 01
On my way to dragoncon. Stopped by the Salt Lake airport bookstore, gate C7, and signed a stack of books!

BrianTMcClellan Thu Sep 01
@BrandSanderson All the cool kids are at Salt Lake Comic Con.

BrandSanderson Thu Sep 01
@BrianTMcClellan Oh? They wouldn’t let you in then? Sorry to hear that.

hometeacher Thu Sep 01
@BrandSanderson what is dragon con? I feel like this might be something I need in my life

BrandSanderson Thu Sep 01
@hometeacher it’s like a mega-comic con.

yakeyonsen Thu Sep 01
@BrandSanderson no Salt Lake comic con this year?

Alcatraz ebook sale + Shadows for Silence in Storybundle

Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians book 5, The Dark Talent, came out this week—including the ebook and the digital audiobook from Audible and iTunes (not in all regions); the CD version comes out on October 15th. Check the region tabs in the widget to see what’s available in your area.

If you’re not familiar with my middle-grade series, this post is a great introduction. To get you up to speed, the first four ebooks are on sale at just $2.99 until Saturday (at least in the US; prices abroad may vary).

Book One: Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
Book Two: The Scrivener’s Bones
Book Three: The Knights of Crystallia
Book Four: The Shattered Lens

My release party on Tuesday was at The King’s English, and they still have signed copies of the first four books (as well as most of my other books). They expect to have more of The Dark Talent in stock next week, which I will also get signed. If you don’t live in the Salt Lake City area, they’re happy to ship books straight to you! This is easily done from their website, but if you have any questions you can reach out to them directly at books@kingsenglish.com.

I also have another event for The Dark Talent at the Springville Public Library, in Springville Utah, this Saturday at 3:00. You can see full details on my Upcoming Events page.

In other news, my Cosmere novella Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell is being featured in an ebook Storybundle right now. I’ve participated in a couple of these before, and it’s a neat way for people to pick up a collection of DRM-free ebooks from different authors.

You can choose your price (though Shadows for Silence is included only if you choose more than $15) and adjust the percentages for how much should go to the authors, Storybundle, or a charity. This Storybundle runs less than three weeks, so check it out.

Here’s a collage of the included books:

Alcatraz 5: The Dark Talent is out now!

Hey Hushlanders, Alcatraz Smedry here. The fifth and final volume of my autobiography is now available in print and ebook form! The Librarians will try to stop this information getting out if they can, so as in the past we’ve made this book look like a boring fantasy novel. You can find it at retailers everywhere as Alcatraz vs. The Evil Librarians, Book Five: The Dark Talent. (Except in the UK, Australia, and countries like that. The Librarians have so far stymied plans for its release there, but we will sneak it through eventually! They’ve also managed to delay its audio release for a few more weeks.)

In an effort to further confuse the Librarians, I’ve arranged for Brandon Sanderson, or at least someone who looks like him, to appear at two locations during release week to sign and number the books. “Brandon” will have two others with him: Hayley Lazo, my illustrator, and Isaac Stewart, my mapmaker. Don’t be alarmed. No matter how it may seem, these two are allies of the Free Kingdoms, and not Librarian agents. You can find their appearances listed here or below.

For an introduction to my autobiography series, see this post.

The Dark Talent Release and Signings
Tuesday, September 6th

Time: 6:00–8:00 p.m.

Address: The King’s English Bookshop

Salt Lake City, UT 84105

Phone: 801-484-9100

The King's English says:

Join New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson for a reading and signing of his new book, The Dark Talent.

Places in the signing line are reserved for those who purchase a copy of The Dark Talent from The King’s English.

Hayley Lazo, Alcatraz’s illustrator, will also be happy to sign all of your books!

Saturday, September 10th

Time: 3:00–5:00 p.m.

Address: Spingville Library

45 South Main

Springville, UT 84663

Phone: 801-489-2720

The Springville Library has a flyer about the event here.

Hayley Lazo, Alcatraz’s illustrator, will also be happy to sign all of your books!

And here is some more information from the library:

The tickets for the Q&A portion of this event are all reserved.
Please add your name to our wait list at SpringvilleLibrary.EventBrite.com so we can fill any possible cancellations.
Ticket and wait list lines begin at 1:30pm. Book signing only line begins at 4pm.
If you have a ticket for this event, you must be in your seat by 2:45pm. At 2:50, any unoccupied seats will be released to the wait list.
You do not have to attend the Q&A to have a book signed.

Dragon Con this weekend!

I’m on my way to Dragon Con in Atlanta, and I’ll be doing events Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. My full schedule is below.

By the way, The Missing Volume booth will have early copies of the fifth book in the Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series, The Dark Talent, available for purchase. It doesn’t officially come out until next week, but I’ll sign it or any others of my books if you bring them to me, especially at the listed signings.

Friday, September 2nd

Military Fantasy

1:00–2:00 p.m, Embassy EF – Hyatt

It's not all unicorns and fairy dust, people. But when kings are clashing, how does a story change when an army's arsenal includes magic missiles?

Signing

2:30–5:00 p.m., Booth-Floor 2 Exhibit-Mart 2422, 2424

Brandon has a spot at Badali Jewelry’s booth where he can sign your books.

Film Screening: I Am Not a Serial Killer

5:30–8:00 p.m., International North – Hyatt

(Brandon might be showing up at this to chat with Dan Wells before or after the screening.) A new horror feature! In a small Midwestern town, a troubled teen with homicidal tendencies must hunt down and destroy a supernatural killer while keeping his own inner demons at bay. Starring Christopher Lloyd and based on the Dan Wells novel.

Saturday, September 3nd

Mighty Men of Fantasy and S/F

1:00–2:00 p.m., Regency VI-VII – Hyatt

These writers are tops in their fields. Come and hear their stories, advice and suggestions to help you along the way.

An Hour with Brandon Sanderson

2:30–3:30 p.m., Regency VI-VII – Hyatt

The renowned author of the Mistborn series and Stormlight Archive–and the heir to Robert Jordan's legacy–talks shop and answers your questions.

Writing YA: The Craft

4:00–5:00 p.m., A707 – Marriott

Published YA authors talk about how they do what they do–writing as a craft.

Superpowered YA!

5:30–6:30 p.m., A707 – Marriott

There's a superhero explosion at the box office–but what about books? How do YA books handle great powers, great responsibility, and superpowered worlds?

Saturday, September 3nd

Autograph Session

1:00–2:00 p.m., International Hall South – Marriott

Taking the Torch

2:30–3:30 p.m., Embassy EF – Hyatt

Sometimes writers create their own worlds; other times, worlds get plopped in their laps. How do you carry on another author's legacy?

Signing

4:00–5:00 p.m., Booth-Floor 2 Exhibit-Mart

Brandon will be at the WordFire Press booth to sign your books.

Reading: Brandon Sanderson

5:30–6:30 p.m., Vinings – Hyatt

Fantasy Assassins

7:00–8:00 p.m., Embassy EF – Hyatt

Stealthily murderating important people: it's not just for ninjas.

Review of Ghost Talkers up on Goodreads

Hey, all. I’ve long wanted to start using my Goodreads account, and it seemed like reviews would be a good place to begin. Eventually, I hope to be able to get some more questions answered there—for now, I’m just going to try to post periodic book reviews.

Be warned, I’m not intending to be a real reviewer. As I explain in my review guide here, I consider this more a place to send people when they ask, “What have you read recently that you’ve liked?” If the reviews all look positive, that’s because they will be—I’ll only post about the books I like. But I will try to slant the second half of the review toward writing advice, using the book in question as a guide, for those looking to improve your craft.

More explanation in that link above.

I figured a nice place to start would be with Ghost Talkers, Mary’s new book. If for some reason you’ve never tried her work, this would be an excellent place to start! Find my review here.

Thanks, all! I should have another update on Stormlight Book Three very soon. It’s going well, and we’re almost to the 3/4 mark.

Brandon

Audible’s Much Loved Sale + Updates

Firefight, from the Reckoners series, was selected to be featured in Audible’s Much Loved Listens 2-for-1 sale, which began this Sunday and runs until Monday, August 22nd. You can check the entire selection of titles available for Audible members to get 2 books for only 1 credit here.

In this week’s new Writing Excuses episode, Crossover Fiction, with Victoria Schwab (who also writes as V.E. Schwab), she joined us in Phoenix to talk about books that target a given demographic but which have a much broader appeal, or books which straddle the line between age demographics. We discuss some good crossover examples, and how some of the boundaries work, and then we cover some of the techniques we use when writing crossover works.

With the completion of the Words of Radiance reread, Tor Books is offering readers and Brandon Sanderson fans a free download of The Stormlight Archive Pocket Companion through the Tor/Forge Blog.

My assistant Adam has updated the Twitter post archive for August.

Mistborn: House War playtests at Worldcon + Updates

There will be two Mistborn: House War board game playtests at Worldcon in Kansas City, August 18th (Thursday) and 21st (Sunday), run by Brandon’s literary agent, Joshua Bilmes. He has three copies of the game, so there will be 15 slots available in each session. Please sign up ahead of time for the Thursday or Sunday sessions. It looks like there’s no cost to join the playtests, but you must be a registered attending member of Worldcon (preregistration is over, but you can register at the door) in order to take part.

The eighth installment of the 2016 Sanderson Lectures, “Magic Systems,” is now live! If you missed last week’s episode, “Character,” you can catch up on all the videos here. Enjoy!

In this week’s new Writing Excuses episode, The Element of Humor, we ask, what is the driving force that gets readers to turn pages in a book that is primarily a work of humor? More importantly, how do we as writers get that driver into our books? We cover this, and provide some starting points for writers seeking to improve their humor writing, along with a bunch of neat techniques and a long example for deconstruction.

Last week, in Tor.com’s continuing reread posts for Words of Radiance, a highprince met his fate and four Radiants gathered. This week, in Epilogue and What Comes Next, Wit expounds and [redacted] Elsecalls, as we conclude our discussions of this magnificent behemoth.

My assistant Adam has updated the Twitter post archive for July and August.

Tweets August 2016

KillJodi Mon Aug 01
@BrandSanderson this was an old version I drew after my first read. Again the high storms really throw me off lol pic

BrandSanderson Mon Aug 01
@KillJodi Nice!

Knappppank Mon Aug 01
@BrandSanderson Realised my job is basically being an Obligator. Minus the tattoos and tyranny. This has made it much better, thank you!

BrandSanderson Mon Aug 01
@Knappppank

Reader Mail: Survey of Awesomeness

Occasionally I receive some very cool, and creative, emails from my readers from around the world. Recently I received a survey from a few of my (self-described) weirdest, nerdiest, and most number one fans: Jessica, Matthew, and Jared Ashcraft. I thought it would be fun to share it with all of you. I have italicized my answers for your convenience.

You are a…

Fish
Stick
Potted Plant
Fish Stick on top of a potted plant
Other:

Would you rather…

Become an evil High Epic and destroy everything and everyone in your city?
Watch all your friends and family be eaten slowly by wild chalklings?

Who would win in a fight between Vin and Kaladin and why?

Vin. Kaladin isn’t good at hurting people who aren’t hurting people he cares about.

Are you more like…

Wax?
Wayne?

Which of your characters is your favorite?

None. They’re all like my children.

Which of the following has a larger obsession over guns?

Waxillium
David

Who would it make you more sad to turn evil?

Wayne
Kaladin

Which would you choose?

Twinborn
Mistborn
Full Feruchemist
Elantrian (not the undead kind)
Epic (nice)
Rithmatist
Knight Radiant
Awakener
Smedry Talent
Other :

Explain previous answer including form of power if necessary

Lots of metal in my current life. Not much Stormlight. So Mistborn wins.

If you didn’t choose Twinborn previously but you were Twinborn anyway, which two metals would you choose?

Same as Wax.

If all your books were burning in a fire, and you could only save one, which book would you save?

Way of Kings.

Is Zahel really Vasher?

Yes
No

Is there significance in the fact that the world of Silence Montane uses silver for protection? (Even though there is no known allomantic use for silver)

Yes.

Are you fluent in High Imperial? If so, do you teach lessons?

No and no.

Have you really had your library card revoked 17 times?

Alcatraz made that up. He does things like that.

Why are you doing this survey instead of writing Stormlight 3?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Because the writers of this survey are so awesome

New Elantris Maps Poster Set + Updates

The new Elantris maps poster set is now available in my online store for those who have been asking. These maps were composed by Isaac Stewart for the 10th anniversary and leatherbound edition of Elantris.

The seventh installment of the 2016 Sanderson Lectures, “Character,” is now live! If you missed last week’s episode, “The Business of Writing,” you can catch up on all the videos here. Enjoy!

In this week’s new Writing Excuses episode, Futurism, with Trina Marie Phillips, she joins us at Phoenix Comicon to talk about her work as a futurist. Futurism, for those unfamiliar with our use of the term here, is related to science fiction, but it remains rooted in existing technology and trends, then seeks to be predictive in useful ways.

Last week, in Tor.com’s continuing reread posts for Words of Radiance, the secret societies began to reveal their purposes in aftershocks from the climax. This week, in Chapter 87, Adolin gets angry and the Radiants gather in conference.

My assistant Adam has updated the Twitter post archive for July.