Brandon Sanderson’s Mega-Kickstarter • Hacker News Board

Re: Brandon Sanderson’s Mega-Kickstarter

#51

Post by runevault » Thu, Mar 03, 2022, 6:44 PM UTC

karaterobot wrote: post #40

runevault wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't really a nail in the publishing industry's coffin. The number of authors who can do this and even do okay let alone insane amounts of money is miniscule. If you don't already have a huge name, making people even aware a book exists is HARD. Some writers have managed indie only by being found by someone with a big enough audience to catapult them into making very very real money, but it isn't the norm. The…

The way this would hurt the publishing industry is by taking away their cash cows. As I understand it, publishers are effectively funded by a handful of successful books, and bankable authors. This money lets them release books by many other authors, who are less successful. If the "big name" writers left traditional publishing, the whole model implodes: new writers, or niche writers, wouldn't have as many opportunit…

A lot of the authors who matter most here (and there are ones way bigger then Brandon like King and Grisham) likely don't care about putting in all the work for a few more millions of dollars when they already make 7-8 figures per book. A LOT goes into arranging print runs, managing all the extra goodies he's adding as bonuses at the higher tiers, and so on.

Writers who need extra stuff to make a name and convince people to notice them is one thing. When you already make insane amounts of money it becomes less worth it.

Also I wonder if less nerdy/technical fan bases than SFF would be as inclined to even get involved with Kickstarter.

Re: Brandon Sanderson’s Mega-Kickstarter

#52

Post by VikingCoder » Thu, Mar 03, 2022, 8:13 PM UTC

rk06 wrote: post #46

VikingCoder wrote: post #39

...I kind of wish Sanderson would switch to Patreon... I pay him money every month, and he gives me books. This model clearly wouldn't work for GRRM, but for Sanderson, it seems like it'd be great.

You mean something like serialised novels? I know there are Chinese and Korean web novels. I don’t know if it is popular enough in western world

Well, if you're familiar with Sanderson's novels, I just mean those. He's writing several series at once, and produces novels for them at a blinding pace.

Re: Brandon Sanderson’s Mega-Kickstarter

#53

Post by gaws » Thu, Mar 03, 2022, 10:00 PM UTC

Traster wrote: post #5

This is such a funny takeaway, basically it's "As long as you're extremely popular already, it basically doesn't matter what you do on your kickstarter, your fans will buy it anyway" - which is both true, and totally useless advice.

> it basically doesn't matter what you do on your kickstarter, your fans will buy it anyway

Absolutely. Brandon Sanderson has a rabid fanbase who will purchase anything he publishes, even if it's a pile of shit.

Re: Brandon Sanderson’s Mega-Kickstarter

#54

Post by throw0101a » Thu, Mar 03, 2022, 10:33 PM UTC

runevault wrote: post #3

h2odragon wrote: post #2

Was a time George R. R. Martin could've pulled off something as splashy. Doubt he could do it now. I wonder if this will be the inflection point in Sanderson's career, I can already hear the "everything sucks" critics sharpening their knives over the amount of money raised. He could drop something with the impact and longevity of "Lord of the Rings" and there's still gonna be people bitching about that much money for…

This isn't really a nail in the publishing industry's coffin. The number of authors who can do this and even do okay let alone insane amounts of money is miniscule. If you don't already have a huge name, making people even aware a book exists is HARD. Some writers have managed indie only by being found by someone with a big enough audience to catapult them into making very very real money, but it isn't the norm. The…

> If you don't already have a huge name, making people even aware a book exists is HARD.

The reason why Cory Doctorow gives/gave away his books for free (earlier in his career?) is because obscurity is a bigger problem than piracy for most authors.

If people are pirating your books that's a "good" problem to have because people are actually aware of you and your work.