#794: Brandon Sanderson on Building a Fiction Empire, Creating $40M+ Kickstarter Campaigns, Unbreakable Habits, The Art of World-Building, and The Science of Magic Systems

Brandon Sanderson is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Stormlight Archive (amazon.com/Stormlight-Archive-Books-1-4-Oathbr…) series and the Mistborn (amazon.com/dp/B0B4N71QWS/?tag=offsitoftimfe-20) saga; the middle-grade series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians (amazon.com/dp/B074CCKTNR/?tag=offsitoftimfe-20); and the young-adult novels The Rithmatist (amazon.com/Rithmatist-Brandon-Sanderson-ebook/…), the Reckoners (amazon.com/dp/B09C1YZTSV/?tag=offsitoftimfe-20) trilogy, and the Skyward (amazon.com/dp/B07PGLGJBH/?tag=offsitoftimfe-20) series. He has sold more than 40 million books in 35 languages, and he is a four-time nominee for the Hugo Awards, winning in 2013 for his novella The Emperor’s Soul (amazon.com/Emperors-Soul-Elantris-Book-ebook/d…).
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Timestamps:
00:00 Meet Brandon Sanderson
07:10 Soundcheck Fun and Memory Skills
11:21 Brandon's Writing Journey and Creative Process
25:35 Teaching Creative Writing and Publishing Insights
38:08 Brandon's Early Reading Experience
44:18 Discovering the Magic of Storytelling
45:32 A Journey from C Student to A Student
47:02 The Influence of a Great Teacher
48:51 Understanding Narrative and Plot
56:42 The Art of Character Development
01:09:42 Balancing Writing and Personal Life
01:24:04 Meeting Editors and Early Struggles
01:24:30 First Book Sale and Financial Realities
01:25:28 The Danger of the Second Book
01:25:49 Hitting the Bestseller List
01:26:34 Amazon and the Changing Market
01:29:03 Entrepreneurial Shift and Direct Sales
01:36:45 Building a Team and Crowdfunding
01:42:50 Kickstarter Success and Lessons Learned
01:52:22 COVID and Creative Freedom
02:02:53 Brandon Sanderson's Colbert Report Cameo
02:03:48 Kickstarter Success and Subscription Boxes
02:09:01 Test Readers and Feedback Process
02:14:16 Warbreaker and Creative Commons Experiment
02:22:50 Navigating Publishing Deals and Platforms
02:33:26 The Wheel of Time Opportunity
02:42:36 The Call to Finish The Wheel of Time
02:43:10 Negotiating the Deal
02:43:56 The Struggles of Mistborn
02:45:02 The Cosmere and Building an Audience
02:48:25 The Death Spiral in Publishing
02:52:29 Magic Systems and Their Importance
03:00:39 Sanderson's Three Laws of Magic
03:14:35 The Zero Law and Final Thoughts
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