{"id":441,"date":"2022-03-02T13:41:21","date_gmt":"2022-03-02T13:41:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jcmberne.com\/?p=441"},"modified":"2022-03-02T16:44:47","modified_gmt":"2022-03-02T16:44:47","slug":"brandon-sanderson-hasnt-changed-publishing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jcmberne.com\/brandon-sanderson-hasnt-changed-publishing\/","title":{"rendered":"Brandon Sanderson Hasn’t Changed Publishing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Brandon Sanderson has mildly shocked the publishing world with a huge announcement this week and people are jumping over themselves to argue that he’s changed the publishing world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you aren’t familiar with it, you should go see his video<\/a> explaining the event – Brandon himself has asked us not to spoil the news, and allow him to reveal it his way, and I’m not going to go against him on this. So watch, then come back here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brandon Sanderson is one of the most popular and bestselling writers in fantasy fiction. He got his big break when he was chosen to finish the Wheel of Time series after Robert Jordan passed away, but in all fairness he might have reached these heights even without that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He’s also been traditionally published – by that, I mean his books come out through major publishing companies (unlike, for example, me!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m glad you asked. Why yes, it is! <\/p>\n\n\n\n There’s nothing hugely original about using a Kickstarter to try to get a book (or a series of books) published. It’s been a tried-and-true method for self-publishers to raise money for print runs so they can sell books. Some of Brandon Sanderson’s personal friends (Howard Tayler) have used this method, going back many years. This part of it isn’t new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What IS sort of new and interesting about Brandon’s approach is that, usually, people going through Kickstarter are the people traditional publishers WON’T touch. Generally, if someone like Brandon, a proven bestseller many times over, had a book to make available, they’d have their agent shop it around the major publishers and SOMEONE would want it (often many someones, which results in a bidding war). There’s no REASON to go to Kickstarter for Brandon Sanderson. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Kickstarter and other methods of self-publishing are almost always reserved for the people who CAN’T get traditional publishing contracts (again, like me!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Self-publishing is a lot of work. Brandon is going to have to form his own team to contact printers, distribute books, rent space in a warehouse, do marketing – all the things that publishers are good at doing. He’s going to have to learn a whole new set of skills or (more likely) hire people who have those skills, and that’s a huge investment of time and energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There IS an advantage, though: money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He may (or may not) be motivated mostly by money, but there’s no doubt that he could potentially make a lot more money selling his books this way than he could if he went through, say, Tor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n You have to understand that book contracts can get a little complicated, BUT it boils down to this: over the long term, an author is bringing home a certain amount of money per book sold. Multiply that by sales, and you get a rough idea of what they make (yes, there are advances that don’t earn out, but then your next advance is a little less, and over the long term you VERY roughly approach this number).<\/p>\n\n\n\nWho is Brandon Sanderson?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wait, Isn’t a Kickstarter SELF-Publishing?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Why Would Mr. Sanderson Self-Publish?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n