Hello! Thank you all for your interest in me and my work. I have several points of exciting news for this letter, and not all have to do with my books.

Marriage

If you haven’t heard, I got married on July seventh, 2006, to the beautiful and intelligent Emily Bushman. Emily is a school teacher in Provo, Utah. (She teaches eighth grade English, Spanish, and ESL.) She is, of course, a fan of the fantasy genre—though she’s not quite as extreme as I am. I’m still trying to talk her into going to a science fiction convention. We’ll see what she thinks of the marriage once that happens. . . .

I’m very excited about this event, even though it means quite a few changes in my life. No more staying up until four and five a.m. writing! I also live in a different house, now, so my old address is no longer correct. If you want to meet Emily, she’ll be at my signing tomorrow. (See below.)

ELANTRIS Paperback

Also, if you weren’t aware, the ELANTRIS paperback came out about a month and a half ago. If you were waiting for a cheaper version of the book before you bought it, then your time has come! And, if you already have the book, then every word of recommendation you can offer is extremely valuable to me. Thank you for everything!

ELANTRIS has continued to sell very strongly. The paperback numbers are quite good, and the foreign sales have continued. I think we’re up to fourteen or fifteen of those by now. The Spanish version of the book finally came out, though it’s only being distributed in Spain right now. I’m working on figuring out how people can get it over here. I’ll be bringing a copy with me to booksignings, however, so make sure to ask about it if you come see me.

MISTBORN Hardback

I’d call this the biggest news of the letter, but I think Emily might get a little jealous at that. However, this is certainly exciting, and probably the main reason I decided to send another newsletter.

My newest novel, MISTBORN, is being released on July 25th. That’s less than a week away! MISTBORN is set in a different world than ELANTRIS, and represents—in my opinion—the best writing I’ve ever done. If you weren’t aware, ELANTRIS is a book I wrote around seven years ago. MISTBORN is much more current—I wrote it after I got the book deal with Tor, and is the first novel I wrote knowing that it would be published.

It’s very hard to explain the book. On one hand, it’s a heist novel, with a group of thieves trying to steal from a powerful emperor. On the other hand, it’s a character drama—a coming of age story for a young girl who has trouble learning to trust those around her. It includes the best magic system I’ve ever devised, and (hopefully) enough twists and turns to keep everyone guessing.

I’m really hoping for good sales on this one. In a way, the MISTBORN series (there will be three books) will determine my future as a writer. With my first novel, I had a little leeway—a publisher expects you to be an unknown with your first book, and so sales expectations are lower. While numbers for ELANTRIS were great for a first novel, I’ll need to do much better to make a career out of this! So, please consider picking up a copy of MISTBORN next week.

For those of you in the Utah area, I’ll be doing a special pre-release signing event at the Waldenbooks at the Provo Towne Centre (yes, that’s how they spell it) Mall. It will be on Saturday, the 22nd, from 5pm until I decide to go home! I’ll stay as long as there are people wanting to chat with me or buy books. This is a very special event, with Tor having given permission directly to the store to sell copies of the book ahead of its release date. There will be a prize drawing, sponsored by the bookstore, as well as lots of festivities (including a reading and Q&A by myself.) And, if that weren’t enough, the hardback will be discounted by 15%! You can also, of course, pick up signed ELANTRIS paperbacks.

MISTBORN Tour

Other than the signing on Saturday, here are some of the events I’ll be doing in the future:

Friday, July 28th: Pocatello, ID Waldenbooks 2:00pm.
Saturday, July 29th: Idaho Falls, ID Barnes and Noble 2:00 pm.
Saturday, August 5th: Hill Air Force Base BX 1-3pm
Saturday, August 12th: Orem, UT Barnes and Noble’s 2-4pm.
Thursday, August 17th: 6:30 pm Sam Weller’s in Salt Lake 6:30 pm
Saturday, August 19th: 2:00pm West Jordan UT Barnes and Noble

I’ll be doing other dates in September, I’ll be in Spain in November, and in December I’ll be doing a book tour through California, Oregon, and Seattle. So, watch the website for updates!

Thanks for everything,

Brandon Sanderson
7-21-06