Thursday, March 28, 2013

2013 Convention Exclusive: Firstborn & Defending Elysium

This year I'll be going to several conventions—JordanCon, Phoenix Comicon, ConnectiCon, and SpoCon (among others not yet announced). Last year I started doing convention exclusives, which I'd been wanting to do for a while—something to make it worth the effort for people to go out of their way to come see me.

This year's exclusive is an Ace Double-style hardcover of "Firstborn" and "Defending Elysium." Check out these photos:



The technical term for this kind of book layout is tête-bêche meaning "head-to-toe," which indicates that the book has two front covers and no back cover; flip the book upside down to get the other story. When you reach the end of one story, the next page is the last page of the other story, upside-down.

Anyway, I've been wanting to get these novelettes out in print form for a while, and due to their length putting them together seemed like the best idea. Plus I've always thought Ace Doubles were cool. (These were classic SF novels put out in tête-bêche paperbacks by the publisher Ace.)

The "Firstborn" cover reprises Donato Giancola's excellent illustration that he painted for the Tor.com version, and the "Defending Elysium" cover features an illustration by Dragos Jieanu (check out his website and his DeviantArt profile). (If you like his stuff, consider donating to the Chance for Life Foundation, a Romanian charity he supports.) The cover design is by Isaac Stewart, and the book design is by Peter Ahlstrom.

I'll bring these to every convention I can this year, starting at JordanCon. The cover price is $17.99. If there are any left at the end of convention season I'll make them available on my website, but con-goers get first dibs. There are a lot more than we had of the Infinity Blade books last year, so I don't anticipate running out too quickly.

See you at the conventions! JordanCon preregistration closes April 1st, and the convention is April 19th through 21st.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Podcasts, STEELHEART & THE RITHMATIST Covers, Writing Video

A couple new podcast episodes for you. This week's Writing Excuses podcast episode is an in-depth discussion of "Deus ex Nauseum," Howard's bonus story at the end of Schlock Mercenary: Emperor Pius Dei. Also, on the Farland's Authors Advisory Conference Calls, artists Isaac Stewart and Ben McSweeney (whose work has appeared in the Mistborn books, THE WAY OF KINGS, and THE RITHMATIST, among many others), joined to talk about how artwork can enhance a novel. You can listen to a recording of the call here.

Tor.com has an article on the science of spren in the Stormlight Archive. It's pretty interesting. They're also giving away ten paperback copies of THE WAY OF KINGS on Goodreads (sorry, US only).

My YA books for this year now have UK covers in addition to the US covers that have been previously revealed. UK covers on the top row, US covers on the bottom row; click on each for the cover reveal posts. THE RITHMATIST comes out May 14th in the US and May 16th in the UK, and STEELHEART comes out September 24th in the US and September 26th in the UK. (In the US, book releases are traditionally on Tuesdays, and in the UK they're usually on Thursdays.) And yes, the ebooks and audiobooks should be available at the same time too.


Here's another video of me writing the Rysn interlude from WORDS OF RADIANCE, the sequel to THE WAY OF KINGS. This video features one song I listened to while writing this section: "Setting Sail" by 2002. ℗ 2011 Galactic Playground Music. Website, Facebook, Amazon, iTunes.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Stormlight 2 Video + Writing Excuses

In this week's Writing Excuses podcast episode, Robison Wells joins us once again to talk about abnormal psychology. There are a lot of depths there to plumb for characterization, so check it out.

My assistant has uploaded another Twitter posts archive. And there's a new video up of me writing WORDS OF RADIANCE, the sequel to THE WAY OF KINGS.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Way of Kings ebook for $2.99, Giveaway, & Tor.com Reread

Today Tor.com announced they're doing a reread for THE WAY OF KINGS. You can read the announcement here.


Buy the $2.99 ebook
here (DRM-free):
Kindle (US)(CA)
Nook
iBooks (US)(CA)
Kobo
Dragonmount

If you're not familiar with Tor.com's rereads, which they've done for The Wheel of Time and other series like the Kingkiller Chronicle, the Dresden Files, and the Malazan Book of the Fallen, it's a regular column focusing on a work in detail, broken down into small chunks of from one to a few chapters. If you like discussing books in depth, the rereads really get down to the nitty-gritty.

The reread for THE WAY OF KINGS will be helmed by Michael Pye of Mad Hatter Reviews. Columns will go up on Tor.com each Thursday, starting March 28th, and each will cover one or two chapters. I'm looking forward to seeing what Michael has to say about the book, as well as reading your comments each week.

In conjunction with the reread announcement, Tor is putting the ebook on sale for $2.99 for a month, so you can get a chance to read it if you haven't already. They're also giving away 50 copies of the paperback in this comment thread. Unfortunately, the contest is US-only, and the ebook pricing varies depending on country too, though it looks like the price also applies in Canada.

Monday, March 11, 2013

Writing Excuses & Writing Video

Just a quick update today. This week's Writing Excuses podcast episode is another brainstorming episode. This time Mary, Dan, and I help Howard brainstorm for a comic. Though apparently the end result was a failure! Check it out.

I've also uploaded another video of me writing WORDS OF RADIANCE, the sequel to THE WAY OF KINGS. Enjoy.

Tuesday, March 05, 2013

Hugo Nomination Deadline + Signed Copies of AMoL

Below I have bookstore listings where you can find signed copies of A MEMORY OF LIGHT (and a few have THE EMPEROR'S SOUL as well). They will ship to you, so give them a call!

This Sunday night is the deadline for nominating for the Hugo Awards, if you're a Worldcon member. The nomination form is here. As a reminder, I will send a free electronic copy of THE EMPEROR'S SOUL to Hugo voters considering what to nominate in the novella category. See this post for details.

And now, notes from the booksellers I stopped at during the tour:

Books-A-Million (757 Brookwood Village, Birmingham, AL 35209)
We have 55 copies at our store in Birmingham. If customers want to purchase one, we will need them to purchase an E-Certificate (or gift card) and call us at 205-870-0213. (We cannot take credit cards over the phone for security purposes). We can ship them directly to them.

BYU Bookstore (Brigham Young University, University Hill, Provo, Utah 84602)
We have about 15 that are signed with numbers and about 15 what are just signed. We will ship them in the order in which we receive the orders, sending out numbered copies first followed by the signed copies. All signed copies have been signed by Brandon, Harriet and Maria. The link to our page is here.

Borderlands Books (866 Valencia St., San Francisco, CA 94110)
We can certainly do mail orders. I think we've got about 20 signed copies left. If you'd like to let folks know, they can call us toll-free at 888-893-4008, or order from us online via Biblio.com using this link.

Bakka-Phoenix Books (84 Harbord Street, Toronto, ON M5S 1G5 Canada)
We definitely have signed copies of AMoL, and also a little signed stock of some of Brandon's other titles (in particular, The Emperor's Soul). They can call us at 416-963-9993, or email. There's also a 'Contact Us' link on our website. We do charge for shipping.

University Bookstore (4326 University Way, NE, Seattle, WA 98105)
I have at least 30 copies of the presigned eds still upstairs. I also have at least 15 or more of the copies signed at the event by Brandon and Harriet. I also have 2 or 3 Legion left, and a stack of The Emperor's Soul.Customers can call us at : 1-800-335-7323, and here's the page for AMOL (you may have to click that link twice for it to work). Customers should be sure to note in the comment box at the end that they want a signed copy.

Mysterious Galaxy (7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., #302, San Diego, CA 92111)
We have a little over 100 signed copies, some of which are also signed by Harriet. 858-268-4747

Quail Ridge Books (3522 Wade Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27607)
We have 54 signed copies. Here is a link to the book on our website. Unfortunately it does not reflect the discounted NYT best seller price which would be $27.99. If they are members of our readers club the price would be $24.49. This price would be reflected in the amount charged. No shipping charges on orders $25 or more. Our phone number is 919/828-1588

The Signed Page
I have a few extra copies of A Memory of Light, the final Wheel of Time book! They are 1st Edition / 1st Printing and are double-signed by Brandon Sanderson and long-time Wheel of Time editor Harriet McDougal!

Toadstool Bookshops (614 Nashua Street, Lordens Plaza, Milford, NH 30355)
We have a dozen signed copies left over in NH after our signing. I might have asked for more, but Brandon looked like he was going to keel over. We do still have several cases of (unsigned) first editions. Someone at the event pointed out that some of our books were 6th printings, which we swapped out to keep the 1st editions going. Calling us direct would be the best: 603-673-1734 EST at the Toadstool Bookshop, Milford, NH. Open M-Sa 9-9, Su 11-5.

Monday, March 04, 2013

Writing Excuses & Stormlight 2 Developments

This week's Writing Excuses podcast episode is a brainstorming session with Howard Tayler. Check it out.

I've decided on a final title for the second Stormlight Archive book. Tor.com has the reveal and my thoughts. They've also announced that Michael Whelan will return to provide the cover art. And I've uploaded another video of me writing the book. If I can finish the first draft in April, the book should come out in November. We'll know in April. I'm hard at work right now.