Tor snaps up Sanderson’s secret books
Back in March, fantasy author Brandon Sanderson blew past Kickstarter's funding records when he announced that he was releasing not one, but four secret books that he had written while the pandemic locked everyone down. His campaign ultimately raised just shy of $42 million, prompting plenty of angst within the book world about what this means for the future of publishing. At the time, more than 185 thousand backers pledged to buy the quartet of books, which would come as either ebooks, audiobooks, special hardcovers, or a bundle of all of them, plus some extra perks. It's an astonishing haul and testament to Sanderson's fan bse, given that the details of each of those books were still secret.
Now, the other foot has dropped, so to speak. On Wednesday the 16th, Tor Books announced that it had acquired the rights to publish a trade edition of each of the books. Where the special editions of Sanderson's books would go directly to backers, it didn't look like he and his company were preparing to set up any sort of distribution or sales after the fact, so flipping those finished books over to a publishing team that can reach even bigger audiences (and bookstores) makes a good amount of sense, especially if there were some fans that wanted to buy one or two, or missed out on the Kickstarter altogether. According to Tor, the books will start rolling out quarterly, three weeks after books have been sent to Kickstarter backers.
Those books are:
- Tress of the Emerald Sea (April 4th, 2023)
Go deeper into the Cosmere universe with this rollicking, riveting tale that will appeal to fans of The Princess Bride. - The Frugal Wizard's Guide to Surviving Medieval England (June 27th, 2023)
Jason Bourne meets epic fantasy in a captivating adventure that throws an amnesiac wizard into time travel shenanigans—where his only hope of survival lies in recovering his missing memories. - Yumi and the Painter (October 3rd, 2023)
A gripping story set in the Cosmere universe told by Hoid, where two people from incredibly different worlds must compromise and work together to save their worlds from ruin. - The Sunlit Man (January 2nd, 2024)
In a future in the Cosmere universe, a perpetual planetary wanderer must decide whether to keep running or stay and make a difference on a struggling planet.
That's all for today: we had our first big snow storm of the year up here in Vermont yesterday, so I'm going to spend some time indoors where it's warm.
Andrew