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:

My Cosmere novella Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell has been on sale on Kindle in the US, and a few other vendors, during August. The 99¢ price is ending soon, so take a look if you haven’t already.

In this week’s new Writing Excuses episode, Breaking In, with Charlie N. Holmberg, Charlie, whose debut novel The Paper Magician was released by Amazon’s 47 North imprint just one year ago, joined us in front of a live audience at the World Science Fiction Convention to talk about breaking in to the industry today.

Last week, in Tor.com’s continuing reread posts for Words of Radiance, Adolin takes over another of Dalinar’s roles as he goes out to meet with Eshonai about the Parshendi proposal. This week, in Chapter 52, Shallan and Kaladin each improve their skills as they take steps toward their intermediate goals.

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

My Cosmere novella Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell is on sale at 99¢ in the US on Kindle and a few other ebook vendors, for the rest of August. (And several people have been asking about audiobooks for this and for Perfect State. Those aren’t available yet, but they are in the works.)

I will be leaving for Worldcon in Spokane in a couple of hours, and I hope to see many of you there this weekend. You can see my full schedule at the bottom of this post, or in case some things need updating, you can find the full details on the Upcoming Events page on my website. I will also bring this year’s con exclusive hardcover, which is the Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell/Perfect State double.

I sent some signed copies of the new hardcover printings of Legion and Legion: Skin Deep to the Mississippi Book Festival which is this Saturday, August 22 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. You can find the books at the Basement Books booth. You can also find them on my store.

In this week’s Writing Excuses episode, Combat, with Marie Brennan, we discuss writing combat. Marie Brennan has studied fencing, combat choreography, and is *this close* to having a black bet in Shotokan Karate, and we are lucky enough to have her sit down and share her invaluable perspective with all of us. She’s also written the book Writing Fight Scenes, so she knows how to talk about this stuff.

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

Sasquan, the 73rd World Science Fiction Convention

Thursday 14:00–14:45, Spokane Falls Suite A/B (Doubletree)

Reading
Brandon Sanderson

Thursday 17:00–17:45, 401C (CC)

31 Flavors of Fantasy Devoured by Kids and Teens
Fantasy has become a catch all category for all of the subgenres featuring “fantastic” elements from action adventure to urban and epic fantasy, romantic fantasy, and more! How many subgeneres are out there and what elements help to define them? Does the reader’s age affect the growth or definition of a subgenre? Join our panel of young adult and middle grade authors for a lively discussion that gives you a little taste of each subgenre as they share some of their favorite works across the fantastic spectrum that help to define the various subgenres.
James Van Pelt, Alma Alexander, Cassandra Rose Clarke, Esther Jones, Brandon Sanderson

Friday 11:00–12:15, 300C (CC)

Writing Excuses Recording
Sit in on a recording of the popular podcast Writing Excuses, with special guests selected from Worldcon attendees.
Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells and Howard Tayler

Friday 15:00–15:45, 202A-KK2 (CC)

Kaffee Klatche – Brandon Sanderson
Join a panelist and up to 9 other fans for a small discussion. Coffee and snacks available for sale on the 2nd floor.
Requires advance signup. ALL SLOTS CURRENTLY FILLED.

Friday 21:00–03:00, Grand Ballroom: Salon IV (Doubletree)

SpoCon Presents: Magic the Gathering Tournament with Brandon Sanderson
Brandon loves playing Magic the Gathering. Brandon enjoys it so much that when he travels, he often puts out the word that he’s up for a game. Now Brandon is here for Sasquan, and he’s not just putting out the word, he’s offered us a tournament. So, come out and play in a MtG tournament with Brandon Sanderson! Did somebody say prizes? Why yes we did! Per Brandon, this will be a “Booster Draft.” Seats are limited to 15 players, and please note that there will be an additional $25 fee to participate in this event. ALL SLOTS CURRENTLY FILLED.

Saturday 14:00–14:45, Exhibit Hall B (CC)

Autographing
Mark J. Ferrari, Mark Oshiro, Jessica Rising, Brandon Sanderson, J. Neil Schulman

Sunday 13:00–13:45, Grand Ballroom: Salon IV (Doubletree)

SpoCon Presents: The Great Debate
Author L. E. Modesitt will moderate this Great Debate between a cast of colorful characters; and you, the audience, will determine which of our candidates will reign supreme. You can be assured that every vote will count in this hilarious battle of circumlocution and doublespeak, so join us as our candidates dazzle you with their political impotence and stupefy you with feats of circular logic. You will laugh. You will cry. You will sit and stare in bewilderment. And, in the end, you will decide.
L. E. Modesitt Jr., Patricia Briggs, James C. Glass, Brandon Sanderson

Sunday 14:00–14:45, 300D (CC)

The Long View – Writing the Multi-volume Series
First there was the novel. Then the trilogy. But some stories go way, way beyond two or three books. Writers working on lengthy series talk about the advantages and disadvantages of world-building, history-building and character development across decades of writing and many volumes of books.
Kevin J. Anderson, Scott Lynch, Brandon Sanderson, Eric Flint

Tomorrow I’m off to Kansas City for the ConQuesT convention that starts on Friday. My complete schedule (including a “Play Magic with Brandon” game) down below. Also, copies of the Perfect State/Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell con exclusive double hardcover will be available at the Basement Books booth in the dealers’ hall. But first some updates.

I’ve mentioned before that my middle grade humor series that starts with Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians will be republished next year by Tor, leading up to the release of the fifth and final book that Alcatraz will write. Well, there will also be a ton of new illustrations in the book, and Isaac Stewart has written up a post for Tor.com that introduces the illustrations to you. Enjoy!

Over the weekend, Words of Radiance was named the winner of a 2014 Whitney Award for the Speculative category. Thanks to all of the Whitney Awards academy members who found it deserving! And many congratulations to all of the winners and finalists.

There are a couple of Writing Excuses episodes I haven’t yet talked about in the blog. The 19th episode this season talks about Intrigue. What’s the difference between intrigue, suspense, and mystery? We answer this and then talk about what makes intrigue useful as a tool for any story, and how to use it without falling back on idiot character plots, or simply withholding information from the reader. Intrigue is also its own genre, with spy stories and political intrigue stories fitting into this space. We talk a bit about how those stories work and how they’re built. Next, the 20th episode is titled, How Do I Write a Story, Not an Encyclopedia? You’ve done piles of worldbuilding. How do you convey this world to reader without infodumping? We talk about the different skill levels involved, and then the techniques that you’ll be using as you get better and better at what is probably the most critical skill unique to genre fiction writers.

ConQuesT 46

Date: Fri, May 22, 2015 – Sun, May 24, 2015
Address: Kansas City Marriott Downtown
200 West 12th St
Kansas City, MO 64105
Phone: (816) 421-6800

Friday, May 22

4:00 p.m., Count Basie Ballroom A
MidAmericaCon II
MidAmeriCon II is coming to KC in 2016. Learn more about Worldcon and the local fans helping make this happen.
Diane Lacey, Ruth Lichtwardt, George R.R. Martin, Jeff Orth, Mark Oshiro, Brandon Sanderson

5:00 p.m., Count Basie Ballroom A
World Building – Religion and Magic
We’ll discuss creating believable worlds from religion to magic systems. We’ll also look at how you make everything work together and decide what everyone needs to see and what only you need to know.
Kathleen Collins, Gera L. Dean, Brandon Sanderson, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, Thomas Trumpinski

7:00 p.m., Count Basie Ballroom A
Opening Ceremonies

Saturday, May 23

1:00 p.m., Count Basie Ballroom A
Brandon Sanderson Interview

3:00–5:00 p.m., Count Basie Ballroom A
Brandon Sanderson Book Signing

5:00 p.m., Count Basie Ballroom A
Research – How Much Do You Really Need?
Discussion of what to research, where to research, how much to research, when to quit researching. How to determine if the information is legitimate. How to use Google and other serach engines for research.
Holly Messinger, Penny Cockrell, Gera L. Dean, KD McEntire, Brandon Sanderson

7:00 p.m.–midnight, Mary Lou Williams room, 3rd floor
Magic Draft with Brandon Sanderson
This will be a Magic: The Gathering draft of the type that Brandon likes to do at conventions. The cost is $15. Limited to 16 participants. Sign up ahead of time using the signup sheet located in the main gaming area.

Sunday, May 24

12:00 p.m., Bennie Moten A/B
The Story Mind
Neurological research suggests that the human mind is hardwired for stories and that humans remember stories more easily than they remember facts. Panelists discuss this theory and what this means for sf & f tales.
M.C. Chambers, Zo Allen, Marshall Edwards, Lezli Robyn, Brandon Sanderson

5:00 p.m., Count Basie Ballroom A
Closing Ceremonies

If you missed it, my novella Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell is available as an independent ebook. I talk more about that here.

In this week’s new Writing Excuses episode, Project In Depth: “Parallel Perspectives”, we discuss the 13-page graphic story (“comic book”) found at the end of Schlock Mercenary: Massively Parallel and focus on its story structure.

Last week, in Tor.com’s continuing reread posts for Words of Radiance, Alice Arneson got to hang out with Kaladin and Shallan as the next highstorm approached. This week, in Chapter 32, Carl Engle-Laird talks about something almost completely unrelated. Again.

Minnesota residents and anyone willing to drive to Minneapolis! Minicon is coming up the first week of April and I’m a guest of honor. My full schedule is here.

My assistant Adam has updated the Twitter posts archive for March.

Don’t forget, the deadline to nominate anything for the Hugo Awards (if you’re a member of the 2014, 2015, or 2016 Worldcons) is tomorrow! For more details see my award eligibility post here.

My Cosmere novella Shadows for Silence in the Forest of Hell is now out as an independent ebook! If you didn’t already read it in the Dangerous Women anthology, check it out! Here’s the blurb:

When the familiar and seemingly safe turns lethal, therein danger lies. Amid a forest where the shades of the dead linger all around, every homesteader knows to follow the Simple Rules: “Don’t kindle flame, don’t shed the blood of another, don’t run at night. These things draw shades.” Silence Montane has broken all three rules on more than one occasion. And to protect her family from a murderous gang with high bounties on their heads, Silence will break every rule again, at the risk of becoming a shade herself.

There’s an excerpt of the story here on Tor.com, and I shared some words on its inspiration here. The new ebook has a great cover illustration by Miranda Meeks:

In other news, in this week’s Writing Excuses episode, Q&A with the I Ching, Wesley Chu helps us literally shake up our structure. For those who aren’t familiar with the I Ching, it’s a collection of poems which you consult with numbered sticks. You ask a question, shake a random stick from the cup, and the corresponding poem holds your answer. In writing The Man in the High Castle, Phillip K. Dick used the I Ching to make plot decisions at crucial points. We decided to turn that, and our format, on its head, so we used the I Ching to ask us questions.

Last week, In Tor.com’s continuing reread posts for Words of Radiance, Carl Engle-Laird got to read about all the pretty eels. This week, in Chapter 31, Alice Arneson hangs out with Kaladin and Shallan as a highstorm approaches.

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

Words of Radiance launched in paperback this week, so if you’ve been waiting to grab it, now might be a great time! (The ebook price was supposed to drop at the same time, but due to a glitch that won’t happen until Monday or Tuesday.)

I don’t usually do much of a heads-up on paperback releases, but I figured this would be a good time to talk about a few other re-releases we’ve got going on. For one, Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell (the novella I wrote for GRRM’s Dangerous Women anthology) just had its standalone release in ebook. I’ll do a blog post on that next week in depth.

For now, I wanted to talk about a new edition of Elantris, along with making a bit of confession to you. You see, I’ve done something dangerous. The new editions of Elantris and Words of Radiance both made me confront some of the problems in the text, and I have decided to go ahead and fix them. (More on that below.)

Elantris 10th Anniversary

First, in relation to Elantris, May is the 10th anniversary of its release, my first published book! In celebration, we’ve been putting together a 10th Anniversary Edition, which is coming out later this year. It will be in trade paperback form (the paperback format which is more the size of a hardcover), and I’m hoping I can get Tor to print at least a few hardcovers for those who want to get them.

We’ve packed this edition with some cool extras. It includes a new foreword by Dan Wells, a retrospective by myself, an Ars Arcanum appendix (as this was the only one of my Cosmere books not to have one), brand-new redone maps by Isaac Stewart, and a very short extra scene. In addition, as I mentioned, we’ve changed a few things.

Now, this is the dangerous thing I talked about above. We’ve seen in certain high-profile films that changes done by the creator many years later are controversial. It’s a slippery path. Part of creating a work of art is learning when to let it alone—most writers I know could just keep tweaking something forever. The quote (often attributed to da Vinci) that says “Art is never finished, just abandoned” is quite a true statement.

However, Elantris needed some attention. When I wrote it, I didn’t have access to a good cartographer who could make the continuity of my crazy map-based ideas for the story work out. I did my best, but it never quite clicked. The maps didn’t match the story, and the conceptualization of the ending was always kind of vague because of this disconnect.

Well, I have Isaac now, along with Peter who is really, really good with the minutiae of this sort of plotting. We’ve made two kinds of sweeping changes, then, to the text:

Map Continuity: We’ve had to shift the locations of some buildings and events as we’ve figured out a scale for the maps and for the city. We’ve tweaked the ending; the events are the same, but where certain things happen has been changed to fit. (Over the years, many of you have asked me about this, and I’ve had to admit that we just got it wrong.) This shouldn’t change the story in any significant way except that now it actually makes sense, but I thought you should know.

Language Changes: Peter has done a very, very thorough copyedit, and has made some stylistic changes to remove some of the quirks of my earlier prose. (Extraneous commas, for example.) Again, this shouldn’t change the story in any significant way except to make it more readable.

Right now the book looks like it’s scheduled for an October 20th release, but since that’s over half a year away, it could possibly end up coming out slightly earlier or later.

Words of Radiance Tweak

Moving on to Words of Radiance, as we were entering typo fixes for the paperback of this book, I made changes to a few lines near the end. This isn’t anywhere near as extensive as the changes in Elantris, but once again I figure I should be up-front about what I did and why I did it.

This part is going to have some spoilers for the book, so if you haven’t read it, please stop right here. I’ll put a number of blank lines here to prevent accidental spoilers. Scroll down if you’ve finished the book.

So, in Words of Radiance, I think the scene I worked on the longest both in my head and on the page was the final confrontation between Kaladin and Szeth.

There was something I wanted to do, and took a stab at it in the text, then backed off because I couldn’t make it work. It was important to me that Kaladin refuse to kill Szeth at the end. Kaladin is about protection, not vengeance, and once he realized that Szeth really just wanted to be killed, I wanted Kaladin to hesitate.

It didn’t end up working, and I moved on to a new version and submitted it. But this itched at me, and by the time the book was released, I felt I’d made the wrong choice for that scene. So I’ve taken this chance to roll it back to the previous idea, and written it in a new way, which I like much better.

The events are the same, except for that moment. Szeth is now killed by the storm instead of by Kaladin, which I think is more thematically appropriate.

The question this raises is about Szeth being stabbed by a Shardblade, then being resuscitated. I’m sad to lose this sequence, as it’s an important plot point for the series that dead Shardblades cannot heal the soul, while living ones can. I’m going to have to work this into a later book, though I think it’s something we can sacrifice here for the stronger scene of character for Kaladin and Szeth.

As I’ve said, it’s dangerous to tweak your work after it’s out. I realize this, and I hope you’ll give me some artistic liberty in this case. (Besides, with Tolkien’s after-publication tweaks to The Hobbit being so good, I think there is proof in the genre that changing the text here and there isn’t always bad.)

Thanks, and as always I appreciate you reading and supporting me in this crazy thing that I do.

Brandon Sanderson
March 2015

I’m a little late to the party this year, but I wanted to post a few words about awards season. If you want to nominate for the Hugo Awards you either need to have had a membership to last year’s Worldcon in San Antonio, or you need to be registered for this year’s Worldcon in London by this Friday, the 31st of January. (Note that you don’t have to nominate by then, you simply have to have your membership by then to be able to nominate.) A membership to next year’s Worldcon in Spokane will also let you nominate this year.

I’ve spoken before about the benefits of a supporting membership to Worldcon. This is the membership you buy if you’re not actually planning to attend, but still want to vote. It costs £25/$40 (until the end of February, when the rates go up), and along with that you get the voter packet, which historically has contained electronic copies of every nominated fiction work (but whether all works are included each year is up to the authors and publishers). So it’s a fantastic deal, and you also get to be part of a grand tradition in science fiction and fantasy. (Note: Only supporting or attending members of this year’s Worldcon in London will be able to receive the voter packet and vote on the final ballot.)

Shadows for Silence

This year, I have a few works that are eligible. The first I’d draw your attention to is “Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell,” my story in the anthology Dangerous Women, edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois. I think this is my strongest short fiction piece of the year, and it is eligible in the novella category.

As I did last year with The Emperor’s Soul, I will send an electronic copy of “Shadows for Silence” to anyone who is eligible to vote or nominate for either the Hugos or the Nebula Awards. So if you had a membership for last year’s Worldcon, or if you’re planning to attend this year, please drop me an email at ebooks@brandonsanderson.com requesting an ebook of “Shadows for Silence” and saying which Worldcon you’re a member of (or saying you’re an active SFWA member), and we’ll respond with a copy of the story.

Other Eligible Works

Writing Excuses Season Eight is also eligible in the Best Related Work category. We won last year, which was thrilling. Thank you all for your nominations and votes! (I believe we won by three votes.)

“Lift,” which you can read for free here, is eligible in the novelette category. Though it is part of Words of Radiance, it also stands on its own, and is worth consideration.

Both Steelheart and The Rithmatist are eligible in the Hugo novel category and are, I believe, eligible for the Andre Norton Award.

I also have other shorts eligible in various categories, but I think the ones listed above are the stronger works.

The Wheel of Time

The final item I want to talk about is a little more tricky. Others have been posting about this online, and I thought I should mention it. One feature of the Hugo Awards is a rule that exists to make certain a longer work which is serialized has a chance at an award if the serialized version was overlooked. In short, if no smaller piece of a large work has ever been nominated, the larger work is eligible once completed.

That means the Wheel of Time, as a whole, is eligible for a Hugo Award in the novel category.

This is both awesome and a little frightening. I’m certain I don’t have to make the case to you why I think that Robert Jordan’s masterpiece deserves award recognition. It was the driving force in fantasy for over two decades, deeply influencing an entire generation of authors. Beyond that, I believe it has great literary merit. Robert Jordan did incredible things with worldbuilding and character viewpoint. He was one of the most skilled writers of this genre who has ever lived.

I’m quite close to this topic, however—probably too close to speak without deep bias. I try to avoid campaigning too much for my work to gain award attention, instead limiting myself to posts that explain what of mine is eligible, then letting the pieces speak for themselves. The Wheel of Time puts me in a strange position, then, because I’d want to talk all day about how awesome Robert Jordan is—yet at the same time, I’ve now been involved in the series on a fundamental level. So…yeah. Conflict of interest.

So, I’ll stop here, by posting Guy Gavriel Kay’s toastmaster address at the World Fantasy Awards the year Robert Jordan died. He made some wonderful points.

Some Words of Caution

Now, above, I said this eligibility is something both awesome and frightening. Let’s get into the frightening part. I’ve posted about my love and respect for the Hugo Awards. This award has a great deal of history and integrity attached to it. It is a Fan-voted award—but I use that capital letter intentionally. It’s not voted on by fans of a specific work, but Fans of the genre. People who want to see science fiction and fantasy progress, succeed, and improve.

I have little doubt that the Wheel of Time community could “buy” this award for their series. In so doing, they would make the award meaningless. The Hugo Award works because such a large portion of the voting audience takes it so seriously. This award really is what we make of it. It belongs to us.

And so, I give a charge to the Wheel of Time fans who might be reading this and considering the Hugo Awards for the first time. We want you to be involved. We love new blood, and new enthusiasm. However, agreeing to nominate and vote for the Hugos is a responsibility that should not be taken lightly. If you decide to join in—and I sincerely hope you will—please nominate liberally. But when it comes time to vote, please vote only in categories where you have read the majority (preferably all) of the nominees. And please vote only for the piece you work is the best work. Don’t vote by author; vote by work.

This doesn’t mean you have use anyone else’s criteria for determining the “best” work. Follow your heart. For some of you, that will mean voting for the work that is the most fun. For some, it will mean choosing the one with the most literary merit. Personally, I try to find the work that walks a line between the two, having a solid and engaging narrative but also advancing the genre or doing something impressive with it. (Redshirts, last year’s novel winner, is a good example of a work that does this for me.)

Pick your own criteria, but read before you vote. The last thing I want to hear about is a ballot box filled with people who listed “The Wheel of Time” or some of my solo works, but nothing else.

Conclusion

That said, if you are eligible to nominate and you weren’t considering The Wheel of Time, do be aware that that it is eligible. It is certainly deserving. I can’t think of a series in our genre since Tolkien that has inspired so much devotion, passion, imitators, and discussion—all without ever receiving a single Hugo nomination. This is our last chance to fix that.

I’m personally very curious to see what happens if it does get a nomination.

Brandon

All, I’ve got some fun news for you here in the holiday season. I have not one, but two different stories coming out today. The first is Mitosis, a novelette set between books one and two of The Reckoners. If you enjoyed Steelheart, I think you’ll enjoy this story—but I do have to warn you that it includes major spoilers for Steelheart itself, so I’d avoid clicking that link unless you’ve read the novel. (And if you haven’t, you can find it here!)

The second short is available exclusively in George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois’s Dangerous Women. Two years ago, George asked me at a convention if I’d consider doing a short for one of his anthologies. I was eager to say yes—he and Gardner have a reputation for putting out some of the finest anthologies in the business, and it’s an honor to be invited into one of them.

The resulting novella, called “Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell,” is set in the Cosmere but not on any planet you’ve seen before. I talked a bit about my inspiration for this novella here, and you can read a short piece of it here. I’ve put links for places you can buy the entire anthology here. The narration for this novella in the audiobook version of the anthology is provided by the talented Claudia Black.

Thanks, as always, for your support.

Best,

Brandon

Lots of news for you today! First off, I’ll be doing two Magic: The Gathering drafts this month that you can sign up for if you’re local to Utah. I’ll be at Epic Puzzles & Games in West Valley this Thursday, and I’ll be at Dragon’s Keep’s Orem store on the 21st. See the links for details.

I’m happy to say that I have two books up for votes in the first round of this year’s Goodreads Choice Awards. Steelheart is nominated in the category of YA Fantasy & Science Fiction, and you can vote here. And the final volume of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time, A Memory of Light, is nominated in the Best Fantasy category. You can vote for that here. Additionally, Steelheart and The Rithmatist were both nominated for YALSA’s Best Fiction for YA.

Amazon has launched their Kindle MatchBook program in the US, which allows you to get ebooks for a reduced rate if you’ve bought the print version of a book from Amazon. You can read more about it and see your own list of eligible titles here. Now, I’ve long been in favor of offering a good way to get an ebook along with the print version of a book, and Amazon’s program is a good first step. Tor has decided to do a pilot program with MatchBook that includes three of my books: Mistborn: The Final Empire, Warbreaker, and The Way of Kings. All three Kindle versions are available for $2.99 if you buy or bought the print version from Amazon.

I’ve also included the ebook of my Hugo Award-winning novella The Emperor’s Soul in the MatchBook program for free. Legion is eligible too, but the MatchBook option will only show up if you previously bought the hardcover from Amazon, since it sold out and they don’t have any more copies. And as always, if you bought the print book of either novella elsewhere, I’ll give you the ebook for free if you email. Details on that are at the bottom of the page here.

Writing Excuses has posted two episodes that I haven’t mentioned on the blog. First is an episode with Wesley Chu about realistic melee fighting. And next is one of the biggest luminaries we’ve ever had as a guest: Tom Doherty, publisher of Tor, talked with us about publishing.

My assistant Peter has uploaded another of my Twitter posts archives. This one is for October and includes that massive fantasy chat I did with Christopher Paolini.

Way back in March I announced a convention exclusive hardcover of my novelettes Firstborn and Defending Elysium.

Well, since convention season is over, you can now order a signed & personalized copy of the hardcover in my store. And did you know you can buy signed hardcovers of all of my books that have been out for at least a year, plus signed bookplates to put in your own books? I also have jewelry, T-shirts, prints, and decals.

My store manager Kara has also given me this year’s deadlines for ordering from the store if you want your items to arrive by December 24th. These are:

• December 1: International orders. (This is a “best-effort” date: International shipping is unpredictable, but this date matches recent delivery times.)
• December 7: Jewelry and personalized books
• December 14: T-shirts, prints, and “signature only” books

One last bit of news that should make fans of Farscape and Stargate: SG-1 happy: I recently found out that Claudia Black will be the audiobook narrator for my novella “Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell” that is appearing in the upcoming Dangerous Women anthology edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois. That book comes out in just one month, but I’m not sure if the audiobook comes out at the same time—it’s not up for preorder yet on Audible. You can read an excerpt of my story here.