In the most recent Writing Excuses podcast episode, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler, Dan Wells, and I talk about breaking the rules. We’ve said that you’ve got to learn the rules before you break them, so now it’s time to talk about why to break them.

Tomorrow I’m starting the second leg of my book tour, and Harriet McDougal will join me for many of the stops. Details on my events page.

Wed Feb 6: San Diego w/Harriet
Thu Feb 7: Los Angeles area w/Harriet
Fri Feb 8: Sacramento area w/Harriet
Sat Feb 9: San Francisco w/Harriet
Mon Feb 11: Portland area w/Harriet
Tue Feb 12: Seattle w/Harriet
Thu Feb 14: Vancouver, BC area
Fri Feb 15: Toronto
Sat Feb 16: Milford, NH
Mon Feb 18: Baltimore area w/Harriet
Tue Feb 19: Philadelphia w/Harriet
Wed Feb 20: Raleigh w/Harriet
Thu Feb 21: Atlanta area w/Harriet
Fri Feb 22: Birmingham, AL w/Harriet

I’ll also go to various conventions this year, and there are two or three book tours later this year that aren’t planned out yet. I’ll try to stop somewhere in Texas for the THE RITHMATIST tour in May, and I’m thinking of going to the UK around November or so. If you want to receive my newsletter, and get email reminders when I’ll be signing near you, tell me your city here.

I’ve uploaded the second video of me writing the Rysn interlude from the sequel to THE WAY OF KINGS. If you missed the first video with the prewriting, it’s here. This week’s video starts the interlude itself.

Well, the day you’ve been (not so patiently) waiting for has finally arrived. Huzzah! I know that this has been a long wait for many of you as my team and I have been working on this book for about 19 months. We thank you for your patience, and we are so excited for you to be able to finally have it in your hands.

If you haven’t had a chance to pick up your copy yet, and you wanted to give it a try before you do, you can read the first 32 chapters on Tor.com. For those of you who have been following the preview chapters, I thank you for your write-in vote for the 2017 Goodreads Choice Awards. This is the only year that Oathbringer is eligible and hopefully you’ll be able to read it before final round voting ends on November 27th. (By the way, I’m about to send out my Newsletter to all subscribers, and it has a sneak peak of the final Legion sequel.)

My tour for Oathbringer officially starts this evening in San Diego, but the release party last night was the real kickoff. There were about 1,600 people who came last night; you can see a small portion of them in the photo below, many of whom stayed until the wee hours of the morning. Thank you all for coming out to support the book. I’m starting to think that this author thing might work out for me!

Below is a list of my tour stops, and you can find full details for each stop on my upcoming events page.

Nov. 14 – San Diego, CA, Mysterious Galaxy
Nov. 15 – San Francisco, CA, Borderlands Books
Nov. 16 – Portland, OR, Powell’s Books
Nov. 18 – Houston, TX, Murder by the Book
Nov. 21 – Chicago, IL, Anderson’s Bookshop
Nov. 28 – London, UK, Forbidden Planet
Nov. 29 – Birmingham, UK, Waterstones
Nov. 29 – Liverpool, UK, Waterstones
Dec. 01 – Leeds, UK, Waterstones
Dec. 01 – Newcastle, UK, Blackwell’s
Dec. 02 – Edinburgh, UK, Waterstones
Dec. 02 – Glasgow, UK, Waterstones

I’d love to see you at one of my signings, but if you can’t make it I understand. Knowing that you’re reading my books is such an honor for me.

Brandon’s assistant Kara here with details for the Oathbringer midnight release party. Further down in the post I’ll outline how to get your signed and numbered copies of the book.

VIP Backstage Party Tickets

We’ve run out of space at the BYU store, so we’re trying something new this year. BYU is still hosting the event, but the venue has changed to the Utah Valley Convention Center in Provo. In order to pay for the venue, we’ve worked with BYU to offer a VIP Backstage Party that will be held prior to Brandon’s presentation and Q&A at the Book Release Party.

Date: Monday, November 13th, 2017
Time: 7:00pm–8:30pm
Location: Backstage Room at UVCC

The VIP Backstage Party Ticket includes:

• Entrance to the VIP Backstage Party where Brandon and Team Dragonsteel will make an appearance.
• Light snack and beverage service
• Exclusive release party T-shirt
• Dalinar Cinch Bag
• Bondsmith Mug
• Raffle for Premium Prizes
• Reserved seating for Brandon’s Presentation

PLEASE NOTE! The VIP Backstage Party Ticket does NOT include:

• Book
• Book number

ACHTUNG! The VIP Backstage Party is NOT a signing. Please don’t ask for any signatures. There will be time for that later.

The VIP Backstage Party Ticket (limited number of tickets available)
Cost: $150
Goes on Sale: Wednesday, September 27th at 7:00 pm MDT at this link (won’t load until that time).

Book Release Party
Date: Monday, November 13th, 2017
Time: 7:00pm, Doors open at 6:45pm
Location: 2nd Floor of the Utah Valley Convention Center – 220 Center St, Provo, UT 84601; use the north entrance
Parking: See image below

Wristbands for the Book Release Party are FREE and will be handed out starting at 10:00 am on the NORTH side of the Utah Valley Convention Center.

A wristband guarantees you a seat. Limited seating. You may pick up ONE wristband for yourself and ONE wristband for another person.

Book Release Party Activities:

• Character Photo Ops
• Trivia
• Games
• Artist’s tables
• Badali Jewelry
• Henna for Charity
• Art Gallery
• BYU Store
• Raffle
• Prizes

8:45 pm – Brandon’s Presentation and Q&A

10:00 pm – Tor Books has given the release party exclusive permission to release the books at midnight in New York! That means 10:00 pm here. We will distribute books and the signing line will begin.

Because of the earlier release time, many of the activities will actually continue until midnight. So fans will have something to do while waiting for their line numbers to be called.

Signed and Numbered Books

Pre-orders will start Wednesday, September 27th at 7:00 pm MDT at this link (won’t load until that time).
Order by November 9th to guarantee a signed/#’d book at the party.
As your shipping option, choose “Pick up on BYU Campus.”
PLEASE NOTE! Wristbands to get into the Release Party are separate from buying the book.

Your book # is determined by when you pre-order your book, first come, first served, starting with #100. (If you want the chance at a lower number, see the Camping section below.)

When your order is processed (November 10th), you will receive a receipt via email to use at the release party as proof of purchase and to verify your line number. PLEASE NOTE: No receipt. No book.

ACHTUNG! It is very likely that BYU will not have a lot of extra copies of the book for sale at the release party, so if you want a guaranteed signed/#’d book at the midnight release, you MUST pre-order one!

As we’ve done at previously release events, the books will be pre-signed and pre-numbered. After picking up your book, you may opt to skip the personalization line and leave before the station wagon turns back into a pumpkin, or you may choose to stay and get your book personalized after you pick it up.

LIMITED Commemorative Merchandise
In addition to selling signed and numbered copies of Oathbringer, the BYU Store is offering some limited-time official Stormlight Archive merchandise for sale.

• All products go on sale Wednesday, September 27th at 7:00 pm MDT at this link (won’t load until that time).
• Order by November 9th! These items will be “limited to stock on hand.” Order before they are gone!
• Products can be picked up the night of the party
• If you are not attending the party, products will be mailed to you after the release party

Oathbringer Release Party Products

Merchandise for sale include:

• Exclusive release party T-shirt
• Dalinar Cinch Bag
• Bondsmith Mug
• Commemorative Letterpress Map Fine Art Print
• Bridge 4 Hoodie
• Stormlight Water Bottle

PLEASE NOTE! If getting a low number matters to you, we recommend ordering the book first and then ordering any other merchandise.

Camping at BYU

For those of you hoping to snag books numbered 1–99, BYU has graciously allowed camping outside the BYU Bookstore for this book release. See the image below for where you are allowed to camp.

IMPORTANT! Numbered wristbands 1–99 will be issued at the BYU Bookstore at 7:45 am on Monday, November 13th.

PLEASE NOTE! All campers must still pre–order their book!

We will only give numbered wristbands to the first 99 campers. You must have your barcode as proof of purchase. Your numbered wristband will guarantee you a seat at Brandon’s Presentation and Q&A.

Camping Rules:

• One body equals one line number
• Check in at the “War Camp” Info Station (NW Door of BYU Bookstore)
• Cannot leave for more than four hours per day
• Must sleep overnight
• Respect BYU’s and others’ property
• Only use the outlets designated on the map
  • No cords strung across pathways!
• Vacate Wilkinson Center by their designated hours
• Quiet Time starts one hour past Wilkinson closing time
• Be respectful of your fellow campers and BYU staff.
  • If asked to move by the University to another area, please do so. Let’s not create issues for future Stormlight book releases by not cooperating.

Hotel

If you’re coming from out of town, please note that the Provo Marriot Hotel is across the street from the Utah Valley Convention Center, where the party will be held.

Provo Marriot Hotel
Address: 101 W 100 N, Provo, UT 84601
Phone: (801) 377-4700

Weller Book Works Shipped Books

For those who can’t attend the release events but still want a numbered copy shipped to them, we’re working with Weller Book Works as we have in the past to make these available. They will be taking pre-orders for Oathbringer starting September 26th at this link.

• Books will be signed and numbered.
• Personalization will be available for a charitable donation.

Mysterious Galaxy Numbered Copies

Numbered copies of Oathbringer will also be available at Brandon’s signing at Mysterious Galaxy.

That just about covers it. Please read the above instructions carefully and prepare ahead of time. Here’s to a fun release event for Oathbringer!

For those who didn’t see it, right before he left on vacation a few weeks ago, Peter arranged for his daughter to do the ceremonial “stair toss” of the new Stormlight book. This is a tradition that started when she was a baby, and tossed the manuscript of The Way of Kings down the stairs. Now we get her to do it each time.

This blog post is going up a little later, as Peter took some deserved time off, but now that he has time to edit again I wanted to get something up on the website to celebrate. A few days back, the last version of the proofread was turned in. My team has finally finished the laborious process of copyediting and proofreading the books—which is the last major step in sending the book to press. (I finished my last part, the final revision, back in June.)

This means that Oathbringer is in, once and for all. It’s actually coming! Brace yourselves. Tor will be releasing sample chapters every Tuesday on their website. (By my suggestion, we’re going to do about a quarter of the book this way.) The prologue and first three chapters are already up there for you to read.

In conjunction with the book’s launch, we actually have a couple of Kickstarters coming up. I feel good doing these now, as the Mistborn board game is done and shipping—I don’t want to have too many of these things going at once. However, two others that we’ve been working on for a few years have come together around the same time, so I hope you’ll forgive us running them in succession.

The first is a concept album of instrumental music, inspired by the Stormlight Archive. This one is up and running, and you can kickstart it here.

Once that’s done, Shire Post Mint, which does in-world coinage for fantasy books, will be launching another Kickstarter. They’ve already done a lot of high quality work for various book series, and now they are minting some beautiful coins with designs by my team. We’ll be supporting them in a kickstarter for Mistborn coins running from September 28th to October 28th. Details will be coming soon.

So, you can have your pick! Stormlight music, in-world Mistborn coins, or both. In the future, we’re hoping to do a few more board games (one based on the Shattered Plains and one based on the Reckoners books) and maybe even a calendar.

The release date for Oathbringer is November 14th for the US and Canada, and November 16th for the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. You can preorder at your store of choice, and doing that is always appreciated. We’ll also be shipping out our traditional Weller Book Works signed editions. Look for details on that in a month or so. Also, we should have release party details for you before too long.

I know that Poland, Spain, France, and a few others are actively working on translations shooting for as close to the English release date as possible. But it’s a big book. In fact, my biggest so far.

I’ll be doing a very short tour in the States—one of the problems with releasing so close to the holidays is that squeezing tours in is tough. After Thanksgiving, though, I’ll go back out and do an equally short tour in the UK. Dates for the US tour are up on Tor.com already, but I don’t have exact dates for the UK yet. Should be around the last week of November.

This has been an incredible journey. The book took years of work, but it came together wonderfully. I’m excited to be sharing this series with you, and have planned a few blog posts about the history of Stormlight (and the cosmere) for you to read sometime around the book’s publication date. So watch for those! And Peter is putting together a number of deleted scenes from old drafts of the first two books to release during the next two months, so that’s something else to look forward to.

In the meantime, I’ve launched into my next project, a series called The Apocalypse Guard, which has some loose connections to The Reckoners.

The pitch is as follows: Emma is the office intern (and Coffee girl) to the Apocalypse Guard—a supergroup that saves planets from cataclysmic events. During a series of attacks that leave the Guard crippled, Emma gets trapped on a doomed planet they were planning to save—but one they no longer have the resources to defend. Emma is left to try to survive the coming apocalypse, or somehow figure out how to save the planet—neither of which are things her clerical internship prepared her for.

The Apocalypse Guard is a fun, fast-paced adventure with (hopefully) some very cool worldbuilding. It also asks the very important questions: Who fetches Superman’s coffee, and what does she do when the world is falling apart?

Our target release date is next fall. You can follow along with the percentage bar on my website—though I should note, it’s a percentage bar (right now) for the entire trilogy, which I’m writing straight through. (Something I haven’t done since the Mistborn trilogy, but which I’ve been keen to try again.) I’ll be stopping between books to do some novellas or other shorts. (Odds are, right now, that I’ll write Legion 3—the last of that series—between books one and two of the Apocalypse Guard.)

As always, thanks for putting up with the schizophrenic insanity that is my writing schedule. Know that your willingness to embrace some of these crazy ideas—like Steelheart and Legion—is part of what makes me so excited to keep doing this job. I always have something new and bizarre to look forward to writing.

Brandon

P.S.
My current expected writing schedule involves taking a year and a half to do other projects, then diving back into Stormlight.

2017
June–August: Apocalypse Guard One (Fall 2018 Release)
Early September: Legion 3 (Sometime 2018 Release)
Late September–December: Apocalypse Guard Two (Mid 2019 Release)
Late December: Random Novella
2018
January–March: Apocalypse Guard Three (Mid 2020 Release)
April–July: Wax and Wayne Four (Series finale, Fall 2019 Release)
August–December: Undecided (Rithmatist 2, maybe?)
2019
All months: Stormlight Four (Fall 2020 Release)

The State of the Sanderson in December will have more details. For now, I hope you enjoy Oathbringer! I’ll be sure to do some posts early next year, gearing you up for next year’s books, the Apocalypse Guard and the final volume of Legion.

Brandon

Hey, all! Things are going well with both Oathbringer and other projects, and I should have a blog post for you about those going up fairly soon.

In the meantime, however, I wanted to let you know that I’ll be attending Gen Con (Indianapolis) this weekend. Unlike most conventions I attend, here I’ll have a full-blown booth with T-shirts, signed hardcovers, and lots of other swag for sale—including the convention exclusive hardcover of Snapshot and Dreamer. Huzzah! I’ll also be on panels and playing the odd game of Magic the Gathering.

Here are my schedule and booth details.

Dates: Friday–Sunday, August 17th–20th
Address: Indiana Convention Center,
100 South Capitol Avenue,
Indianapolis, Indiana 46225

Thursday, August 17th

Worldbuilding: Creating a Universe of Worlds
Time: 2:00–3:00 p.m.
Event Type: SEM – Seminar
Location: Westin – Capitol I
It’s one thing to build a world, but what do you do when you need a universe of interconnected worlds for your stories? Featuring Brandon Sanderson, David Mack, James L. Sutter, Marco Palmieri
This event is sold out.

*NOTE: If a panel is listed as sold out (people tend to grab the tickets for free events super fast!), you still might be able to get in. Most of the Gen Con panels have an overflow line, for people without a ticket, that you can wait in. Usually a good number of people from this line get into the panel.

Signing
Time: 4:00–5:00 p.m.
Event Type: Zed – Isle of Misfit Events
Location: Exhibit Hall
Have him sign your books! Only guests with tickets are ensured of a chance for a signing.
This event is sold out.

Signing
Time: 5:00 p.m.
Location: Dragonsteel Booth #467
The signings at my booth are first-come first-serve. Ask for details at the booth. They’re longer than the official signings, which are only an hour, and are sold out.

Magic the Gathering draft with Brandon Sanderson
Time: 8:00 p.m.–12:00 a.m.
This draft is being put together by Kara, who runs my booth. She’ll have details about when/where, but I don’t have them yet. Best to ask at the booth if you want to grab a spot.

Friday, August 18th

Q&A with Brandon Sanderson
Time: 1:00–2:00 p.m.
Event Type: SEM – Seminar
Location: Westin – Grand Ballroom V
Meet Brandon Sanderson, author of the Mistborn and Stormlight series as well as the final Wheel of Time books. Ask him about his books, his projects, or anything else you’re dying to know!
This event is sold out.

Play Magic the Gathering with Brandon Sanderson
Time: 1:00–5:00 p.m.
Brandon will arrive at 2:00
Event Type: ZED – Isle of Misfit Events
Location: ICC : 141–142 : 6
Worldbuilders is a charity founded by author Pat Rothfuss in order to use the collective power of readers, fellow authors and book lovers to make the world a better place. We raise money for other charities who we believe do the best work in their field: Heifer International, Mercy Corps, and First Book. These charities’ missions and values are exactly what we have in mind when we think, “Where can this money do the most good?” We’re excited for the opportunity at Gen Con to have fans play games with some of their favorite celebrities all while generating money for these three charities who make sure the money we raise gets to where it’s needed most, and where it will do some real, long-term good.
This event is sold out.

This is a charity event, run with Worldbuilders, which should explain the high ticket price. It’s sold out, so don’t worry about it—but for the few of you I’m playing with, you’ll be playing sealed deck using Deckbuilder’s Toolkits. I’ll arrive an hour late, because of another panel, as the event starts at 1:00. (I’ll get there around 2:00.) However, I’ll have already built my deck, and you’ll spend your hour building yours. So we should be ready to play right when I arrive.

Writing Excuses LIVE!
Time: 6:00–7:00 p.m.
Event Type: SEM – Seminar
Location: Westin – Chamber
Join hosts Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler as they talk to authors and editors for a special live recording of their fast-paced, educational podcast for writers!
This event is sold out.

Writing Excuses LIVE!
Time: 7:00–8:00 p.m.
Event Type: SEM – Seminar
Location: Westin – Chamber
Join hosts Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler as they talk to authors and editors for a special live recording of their fast-paced, educational podcast for writers!
This event is sold out.

Saturday, August 19th

Signing
Time: 12:00–1:00 p.m.
Event Type: ZED – Isle of Misfit Events
Location: ICC – Exhibit Hall, Book Signing Area
Meet Special Guest Brandon Sanderson and have him sign your books! Only guests with tickets are ensured of a chance for a signing.
This event is sold out.

Worldbuilding: Making Magic New Again
Time: 2:00–3:00 p.m.
Event Type: SEM – Seminar
Location: Westin – Capitol I
Have you had your fill of spellbooks, wands, and wizards? Explore ways to make magic in your world exciting and new! Featuring Brandon Sanderson, Anton Strout, Brian McClellan, Christopher Husberg.
This event is sold out.

Writer’s Craft: Can a Hero be Too Powerful?
Time: 3:00–4:00 p.m.
Event Type: SEM – Seminar
Location: Westin – Capitol I
Is it possible for a hero to have too much power? Is there a point at which a powerful hero stops being interesting? Featuring Brandon Sanderson, Bruce R. Cordell, Howard Tayler.

Signing
Time: 4:30 p.m.
Location: Dragonsteel Booth #467
The signings at my booth are first-come first-serve. As for details at the booth. They’re longer than the official signings, which are only an hour, and are sold out.

Board Games

You should also be aware that various companies working on board games of my books will be there, doing demos of the games. The Mistborn board game, House War, has been printed and shipped to Crafty’s warehouse, and they’ll have a couple of copies to show off at the convention, but I’m not sure if they’ll have any quantity to sell there. Be sure to stop by the booths of both game companies to ask after the games, and maybe get in on a demo.

Note that I’ll have some copies of a special gamepiece on my person relating to the Mistborn board game for those interested. If you can find and ask me, you can get it.

Dragonsteel Entertainment (my booth) & Steve Argyle: Booth #467
Crafty Games: Booth #1929 (Mistborn game)
Nauvoo Games: Booth #2812 (The Reckoners game)

Scavenger Hunt

It’s Gen Con’s 50th anniversary, and we wanted to do something to celebrate. Since I’m sharing a booth with Steve Argyle—the illustrator who did these awesome endpapers for last year’s Leatherbound Mistborn—we figured we’d use them.

So, at Gen Con this year, Steve and I will have a limited quantity of generic creature tokens (for use in various card and board games) featuring Vin. You can use these for your games of Magic, for other games that they might fit, or just to have because they’re cool!

How do you get them? Well, the warrior token is quite easy. To get a copy, you just stop by the booth and ask either my people or Steve’s crew to give you one. We’ve printed off several thousand, so they should last for a little while. All I ask is that you don’t pick up more than one per person. (Please don’t come through, grab one, then come through later and grab another.) It’s okay to bring friends to collect an extra, then have them give you theirs—but I would like these to last for all who want to have one.

The Assassin token is a little more difficult to get. We only printed a few hundred of these, and after some discussion, Steve and I decided that we’d split them in half, then each come up with a game or scavenger hunt to give away our half.

I don’t know what Steve’s game is, so ask him at our booth. However, I settled on mine quickly. After all, I’m at a gaming convention, and you all probably know my nerd hobby by now.

I’m going to put up a bounty board of Magic cards that I still need for various set cubes I’m building. It will be a Google spreadsheet, open for everyone to read, that you can find here.

Yes, for now, it is empty. Each morning of the convention at 10am (on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) we’ll put up a new list of cards. (I’m going to choose mostly cheap cards, relatively easy to locate, so we’re not going to give you warning about what they are.)

You can show up at the booth any time during show hours with one of the cards on the bounty board. As long as it hasn’t been turned in yet, you can exchange it for a copy of the Vin assassin token. However, that’s the dangerous way to do it, as you might show up and find out that the card has already been turned in.

Instead, I suggest you come to my booth and look over the most current, up-to-date list of cards. (Which will list which cards have been turned in already.) You can then “claim” one for fifteen minutes. My staff will write your name beside it and a time—then you have fifteen minutes to return with the card. During that time, nobody else can snipe the card out from underneath you.

We’ll keep this physical list up to date, but I can’t guarantee that the on-line list will indicate which cards have been found already. Note that I intend for these to be cheap cards, $5 and under (with many under a buck) but I haven’t gone through my “to find” lists in depth to check which might have spiked in price—so you might want to quickly double-check on your smartphone the price of a card before you claim it or trade it in to us.

I’d again ask that you limit yourself to one card per person—but in this case, I’ll let you do a different hunt each day, for a total possible of three per person over the weekend. (Perfect for a certain planeswalker who creates assassin tokens.) I plan to sign all the assassin tokens ahead of time. (I can’t do that for the warrior tokens—there just isn’t time—though I’ll sign them during my regular signings if you give me one.) In return, I’d ask that you sign the Magic card you give me (on the back, please) and maybe write a little note or put Gen Con 50 on it or something.

Hopefully, this will be fun! If it’s popular, we’ll do future tokens for other characters. Either way, looking forward to seeing many of you at the convention!

Adam here. Brandon is currently heading out to the airport to start his “short” tour for Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection. If you’re not familiar with what Arcanum Unbounded is, check out Brandon’s introduction to it here. I have listed his tour stops below, but if you want to see details, please visit the Upcoming Events page.

• 11/29 – Fort Collins, CO – Old Firehouse Books
• 11/30 – San Fransisco, CA – Borderlands
• 12/1 – Seattle, WA – University Bookstore
• 12/3 – New York City (Hoboken, NJ) – Little City Books
• 12/6 – Chicago, IL – Volumes Book Cafe

If you would like to listen to an excerpt from Arcanum Unbounded, here is a sample of the Emperor’s Soul prologue for your listening pleasure.

For all of Brandon’s Spanish readers: Brandon was interviewed by a local news station during his visit to Spain last month. You can give it a watch here!

In this week’s new Writing Excuses episode, Fantasy Food, with Elizabeth Bear and Scott Lynch, Howard and Dan met up with Elizabeth Bear and Scott Lynch met up at GenCon Indy to talk about fantasy food, and how to engage your readers’ appetites with uour fiction. They talk economics, logistics, sensory engagement, and goof off quite a bit in the process. They might have been hungry at the time. There is good fun to be had here, and plenty of (pun intended) food for thought.

Last week, in chapters four and five in the reread for Warbreaker, Siri arrived in T’Telir, observed by Vasher and Lightsong This week, in chapter six, This week, she enters the God King’s palace and is readied for her husband.

My new book is out today! Supposedly, it’s a short story collection, but I’m not known for the “short” part so much as the “story” part. So, really, it’s a collection of long stories, with some shorter pieces gluing them together.
Almost a decade ago, I decided I wanted to be better at short fiction. Until that point, I’d written almost exclusively novels in my attempts to learn to be a writer. But there’s something magical about short(er) fiction. I love it when I’m able to sit down, pick up a book, and read a complete story in one sitting. Some of the most powerful works of literature, including A Christmas Carol, and Animal Farm, are actually short fiction, a form we call the novella.
Over the last ten years, I’ve fallen in love with writing novellas. While I have written a few true short stories (you’ll find a couple in the collection) my true talent is in my ability to set a world, populate it, and drag a character through it to see how it leaves them changed. Novellas are, essentially, short novels–and boy, they are fun to write.
The cornerstones of this collection, then, are its novellas: one set on the world of Elantris (The Emperor’s Soul), another on the world of Mistborn (Secrect History), and the third on the world of The Stormlight Archive (Edgedancer). Two other worlds (Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell and Sixth of the Dusk) will give many of you something new to taste, so the collection doesn’t just revisit what has come before.
One of the fun things about this collection is the chance you have to watch my progress as a writer. you can read some of my earlier short stories (Hope of Elantris and the Eleventh Metal) to give you something to compare to things like my most recent work (Edgedancer), written exclusively for this collection.
Even if you’re so-so on story collections, please give this book a try. I think it will change your mind. If you hate them with the white hot burning passion of the sun…um…Oathbringer is almost done. You can read that next year.
Before I leave you, let me mention the coolest part about the collection: in-world star charts and essays about the planets by Khriss, one of the great scholars in the cosmere, and the one who has been writing the Ars Arcanum section in many of my books (hence the title Arcanum Unbounded). I’m very happy with the illustration of her on the cover. All the new art in this collection is great, including star charts and full-color end pages in the American edition. You’ll find it to be a handsome book, well deserving of a place on your shelf.
Many people have asked me where they can read more about the cosmere–the connectivity between the planets of my epic fantasy works. Well, you’ll find that here – secrets, hints, and even some outright explanations.
This contains every scrap of cosmere short fiction I’ve done so far, so if you’ve been a little overwhelmed trying to collect it all, you can find it here. We stuck it all in, including things like Hope of Elantris and Allomancer Jak, which were never intended to stand alone, just so you’d have it, if you wanted it. Now you don’t have to worry about being confused or left out when other fans discuss them.
The collection is in ebook, audiobook, and gorgeous hardcover. Enjoy, and thanks for giving it a chance!
Also, don’t forget my release party tonight, and my short tour starting next week.

If you’re hungry for Oathbringer updates, check out this reddit thread from last week.

Hey, all! I’ve been working very hard on Stormlight Three, trying to get it done before I go on tour for Arcanum Unbounded (which comes out next week, hint hint). The tour actually happens a few weeks later. See the (unfortunately short) list of cities here.

However, if you’re looking for something to read now, rather than waiting all the way until next week, might I give you a suggestion? Dan, my podcasting buddy and longtime friend, has just released what might just be the best book of his career.

He’d probably be the first to admit that Extreme Makeover is a very strange book. On one hand, it’s a satire of the corporate world. On the other hand, it’s a doomsday party which counts down to the very end of the world. It’s funny, but not in a stand-up comedy way. More in a “I can’t believe he’s going there” kind of way.

Like most of Dan’s books, it has sf elements, but plays to a wide audience–as long as they’re willing to accept a strange premise (in this case, a health and beauty company that develops cloning technology). Reviewers are comparing it to Vonnegut, and I’d agree with that assessment.

Before becoming a full-time novelist, Dan worked for a health and beauty company in their writing department. He was exposed to a lot of the insanity that happens in such places, and is fully capable of skewering it–but the book is far deeper than that. It’s the most fun you can probably have reading about the end of the world.

So if you’re looking for something strange, thoughtful, and mixed with a shade of gallows humor, give the book a try.

Brandon

On Tuesday, November 22^nd at 7:00 p.m., I will be doing the world’s first signing for Arcanum Unbounded. Please note that this is not a midnight release, as we’ve done in the past, though there will likely be midnight release parties for future books, just not this time around. We’re using the Digital Line again, as it’s worked well for the last few releases, so mark your calendars for November 10th at 10:00 a.m., which is when the digital line’s entry form will become available. Numbers will be assigned by the order you enter the line, which closes on November 20th at 11:59 p.m. Further details from the BYU Store and my signing assistant Kara are below.

Let me tell you about a cool new thing we’re trying out for this event. When you pre-order Arcanum Unbounded, you will have the option to purchase a Cosmere-themed t-shirt, which will be exclusive to this event and not available anywhere else, including my store, for at least six months. This t-shirt is awesome, as you can see in the pictures here. The front features the newly-release Cosmere symbol, and on the back is Sanderson’s Zeroth Law: Err on the Side of Awesome. (See, I wasn’t just saying the shirt is awesome.)

Now, there will be other ways to get signed copies of Arcanum Unbounded. I’ve got a short tour planned, and signed books will be available at my various stops. The events page has details. You can also order a signed copy online from the BYU Store or from Weller Book Works. (Details on the Weller Book Works signed copies can be found at the bottom of this link. Please read all the way to the bottom to see how these editions help the Waygate Foundation. This is the only way to get a signed, numbered, and personalized book outside of the actual signings. Books ordered to be shipped from BYU will only be signed and numbered.)

Release Party Details:

November 9, 2016: Arcanum Unbounded Book Bundles become available for pre-order on byustore.com

• 1 copy of Arcanum Unbounded = $25.19 (10% off list price)
• 1 Cosmere T-Shirt = $25.00 (only available for purchase through byustore.com)
• 1 book + 1 t-shirt = $45.04 (15% off list price)

November 10, 2016 at 10:00 a.m.: Digital Line Opens

Only one submission per person. This is a line! (Duplicates will be deleted.) Please do not sign up for the Digital Line if you’re not attending the release party.

You will be required to preorder Arcanum Unbounded by November 20th in order to be assigned a number and guarantee that a book will be there for you to pick up on November 22nd. Books can be ordered in person at the BYU Store or online at byubookstore.com (choose the shipping option “Service Desk Pickup” to get your book at the release party). Books ordered through byubookstore.com will not be charged to your credit card until November 21.

You can pick up your number in person from the BYU Store starting on Monday, November 21, at 2:00 p.m. Bring a photo ID and your receipt or proof of purchase. If you do not pick up your number before 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, November 22^nd, your number will be given to someone else. If you show up after this point to pick up your book, you will be given a different number or a refund. The BYU Store will close at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 22.

At 6:30 p.m., fans will be able to enter the Wilkinson Student Center (WSC) and go to Room 3228 (third floor by the bookstore) which is where we will be holding the release party. Official start time is 7:00 p.m. for Games and Trivia. Prizes will be awarded throughout the evening.

Around 7:45 p.m. Brandon will hold a reading and Q&A in Room 3228 WSC. At 8:30 p.m., guests will be asked to line up in numerical order in preparation for the distribution of books in the BYU Store itself. Once guests have picked up their signed & numbered books, they are free to leave or to get into a separate line to have their books personalized by Brandon.

Cash registers will close at 10:00 p.m. All purchases must be made by this time.

Can’t attend the release party? See the previous post about ordering from Weller Book Works, or you can preorder a book from the BYU Store and they will send you a signed and numbered copy of Arcanum Unbounded after the Release Party. You must purchase your copy by November 20^th (to ensure a numbered/signed copy). The numbers for these copies will be assigned after the event. Again, please do not sign up for the Digital Line if you’re not attending.

Now, here’s the important part. It’s hard for stores to judge how many copies to order for this sort of event, and I’m worried that BYU might not order enough. They might run out. Therefore, they are letting you preorder to be assured you get a book. If you preorder, you are guaranteed a book. If you don’t preorder, it’s first come first served. If a lot of people preorder, they will get in more books to make sure everyone who ordered early is covered. They have ordered a ton of copies, but it’s always possible they could underestimate and some readers could go home empty-handed.

So, for this event, we strongly encourage you go to the website and order your book ahead of time. It will save you money and will make things easier for us. Let me say one more time, however, that you do not get your number based on when you preorder, though you do have to have paid for the book before you can get your number. You get the number based on when you signed up for the digital line. Preordering just guarantees that you get a copy, not that you get a low number.

Details Recap:

BYU Store, Provo, UT

• 10:00 a.m. Thursday, November 10th (digital line signups begin at this link)
• 2:00 p.m. Monday, November 21^st (numbers begin being distributed at the BYU Store)
• 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, November 22^nd (doors open)
• 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, November 22^nd (Party begins!)

Preorder by going to the BYU Store website. (For the shipping option, choose “Service Desk Pickup.”) You’ll need to bring your receipt or proof of purchase as well as your photo ID to the BYU Store before 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 22nd in order to get your book number.

Thank you again! We’re excited for you to get your hands on Arcanum Unbounded!

Adam here. Sorry about missing last week’s update post; I have been traveling in Europe with Brandon (mostly, but I will get to that in a minute) and didn’t have good internet access. So if you have been lost—or as I like to imagine it, wallowing in the pit of despair—without my weekly update, for this I am sorry. I will try to make it up to you.

Weekly Update

Humble Bundle has put up a fantasy/sf RPG ebook bundle that features three of Crafty Games’ Mistborn Adventure Game books. This is running for only two weeks, so if you haven’t had a chance to pick up these RPG books yet, this is a good chance.

The first round of this year’s Goodreads Choice Awards is now open for voting, and Brandon has two books nominated: The Bands of Mourning in Fantasy, and Calamity in Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction.

In this week’s new Writing Excuses episode, Horrifying the Children, with Darren Shan, the Writing Excuses crew with the aid of Darren Shan (Cirque du Freak or any of fifty other books), breaks down writing horror for children and young adults.

Last week, in chapter one reread for Warbreaker, we met the Idrian royal family and were introduced to the political tensions that drive much of the plot. This week, in chapter two, the sisters express their dissatisfaction with the exchange in no uncertain terms, and another plot-critical decision is reached.

And with the announcement last week that DMG Entertainment has optioned the entire Cosmere series for film, with a movie for The Way of Kings fast-tracked for production, Tor.com has put up a dream cast post for that movie. Check it out.

The Twitter post archive for October is up to date.