$15 million for Brandon Sanderson's "lies"

Brandon Sanderson has announced new books and a new plan in a YouTube video. It’s called “It’s Time to Come Clean”, which looks like clickbait, but starts seriously and with sombre tones.

But, then, lightens up with the dramatic and cheerful reveal that the author has written extra books in secret. However, I’m still cautious about calling it clickbait, as Sanderson has clearly dealt with pressure and wrestling options. There are apologies.

Will it end well? That’s too early to tell as Brandon is taking an alternative route to publish and going via Kickstarter.

There are actually four books on offer, three in the Cosmere universe and something entirely new.

Do fans want it? Well, there’s a whole month to run on the project, and backers have now pledged $15 million.

The Kickstarter says;

Our goal is to deliver these to you all through 2023, along with—for those who want it—a swag box of cool items relating to one of my already established worlds or concepts. (There’s one dedicated solely to Hoid, for example.) So please, join us for a Year of Sanderson and experience for yourself the secret I’ve been keeping these last few years.

The Kickstarter is for all four books, delivered in January, April, July and October. Ebooks begin with pledges of $40, audiobooks (which look nearly as popular as ebooks) at $60 and premium hardcover books at $160.

There are shipping restrictions add-ons, and the top tier hits $500. How many backers have gone for $500? At the time of writing, nearly 10,000!

We’re asked to keep the secret, not tell people what’s going on but this blogger thinks the cat is now out of the bag.

Update 4th March 2022: The original post had $5,000 not $500 as the top tier. That’s an odd mistake to make but the Kickstarter now (and probably always did) say $500.