Utah-based author Brandon Sanderson, who recently announced the upcoming edition of four new secret novels, has set himself the goal of raising $ 1 million in 30 days using Kickstarter.
He achieved his goal in 35 minutes and continued to climb to the most successful day in the history of Kickstarter.
Two days later, the prolific science fiction and fantasy author received more than $ 19.5 million from nearly 80,000 supporters, and we think there are 28 days left.
Brandon Sanderson’s unique relationship with fans
What works for Sanderson is his unique relationship with his fans, Kristen McLean, executive director of business development at NPD Books, told The New York Times.
- “Publishers need authors to be entrepreneurs these days,” McLean said. “This will simply build his profile and continue to drive sales of all his books in the background.”
What Brandon Sanderson says
Sanderson is best known for creating Cosmere’s fictional universe, in which most of his novels unfold, and for helping complete the last three novels in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series.
Sanderson started his own book company, DragonSteel Entertainment, with 30 employees and has a warehouse near his home in Pleasant Grove, Utah. He began self-publishing e-books in the early 2010s and ran a Kickstarter test campaign in 2020 to fund a leather-bound reprint of one of his books, according to The New York Times.
Sanderson does not want to disturb traditional publishers, but only experiments with the possible.
- “My goal in all of this,” Sanderson said, “is to see what’s possible.”
Sanderson’s Kickstarter offers supporters four new novels, three of which are being developed at Cosmere, such as digital ebooks, audiobooks or physical copies based on their level of donation. People who spend more than a certain amount will also receive eight monthly boxes of items related to Sanderson’s work, Deseret News reports.
Sanderson announced his Kickstarter with a YouTube video posted on March 1.