Author Report - Brandon Sanderson
Today we had another great author and speaker on campus. Brandon Sanderson came and talked mostly about how he became a writer and how he got published. He answered a lot of questions about the industry and his books.
One of the things he mentioned was that most authors start in obscurity, and it's really hard to get noticed. Most first books sell really poorly. He said that surprisingly, one of the factors that can increase sales is to simply put more of the books on the shelves of bookstores. He didn't make much from his first sale, only a ~$5K advance. He wrote 13 novels before finally selling Elantris, which we all got a copy of. He also is currently working on the Mistborn Series.
He's always loved "Epic Fantasy" and believes in creating strict rules of magic with serious limitations.
When asked about breaking thru to be published, he gave me some advice I actually hadn't heard before. He recommends networking at SF conventions. I need to do homework to find out who will be there, and try to catch up with them in bars or other places. Interesting. I actually met my wife for the first time at a SF convention...
Well I can't wait to read his books. He's great in person and if you get a chance to see him you should.
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