Pixelated Geek, a website focusing on…well, all things geek, caught up with me at the Orbit Booth at San Diego Comic-Con. Check out the fifteen minute long video interview filmed amidst the craziness of nerdvana. Thanks, Andrew!
For all of you who’ve been interested in seeing me, but who don’t live in any of the cities I’ll be visiting on my book tour, Orbit had the great idea of sending me on The Great First Annual Video Blog Tour. Sure, sure, other guys have done blog tours before, but TGFAVBT is new, different, amazing, novel! TGFAVBT has video.
That’s right. Some other authors might make you read several thousand words of text interview on your computer screen–and then expect you to read 210,000 more words in their book. Sheesh! They’ll tire your eyes out! Not me. Sit back, blink once in a while, look away from the screen for a bit as an Interesting Person walks past you in the coffee shop, and you can still hear the mellifluous strains of baritonal brilliance. Alternately, mute the sound and watch awkward hand gestures! Try to guess the times at which I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about! Imagine the contortions of the video editor, trying to make me look good!
The choice is yours. Personally, I can’t bear to watch. Too embarrassing. Plus, I was there.
Seriously, thanks to my blog hosts, who asked great questions and let me come stomp around their blogs and track dirt in. And thanks to A. at Orbit, who had the idea. This was just us trying to have some fun and hit a bunch of your questions.
Note: We’ll be releasing a new video interview each Monday of August, check here for new links.
Released 8/2: John at www.graspingforthewind.com
Released 8/9: Liviu at www.fantasybookcritic.com
Released 8/16: Janicu at www.janicu.livejournal.com
Released 8/24: The Book Smugglers at www.thebooksmugglers.com
I’ve had some questions about the color quiz above, so I thought I’d answer them in one fell swoop. Orbit came up with the idea with the hope *nudge nudge* that people would share their results and spread the word about The Black Prism coming out on August 25th. I helped with the design of the quiz (based on tests prospective drafters in The Black Prism undergo), and I wrote the questions, answers, and brief description of magic in this new world I’ve created. Then Orbit handled the art and the coding–for which I am forever grateful. For the sake of not having this quiz take too long, things are a bit simplified from what you’ll find in the book, but we hope you’ll really enjoy it!
If you’re curious about how things might have turned out if you answered differently, please feel free to take it more than once.
I’m told I need have no fear: these are “our people.” The demography of geekery. More fanboys than an Apple WWDC. (And a worse wifi connection.)
I’ll be at the San Diego Comic-Con from Thursday, July 22nd to Sunday, July 25th. It will be like this–except with far more midichlorians.
Here’s a list of my public events. Come say hi!
Thursday at 1:30-2:30. Panel in room 24 ABC: Once Upon a Time: Larger-than-Life Heroes and Heroines (with Lynn Flewelling (The White Road), Christopher Paolini (the Inheritance cycle), Patrick Rothfuss (The Name of the Wind), Brandon Sanderson (The Way of Kings), and Megan Whalen Turner (the Queen’s Thief series). This will be my first-ever panel at any convention. Glad I decided to start small. *gulp* Softball questions welcome.
2:30-3:30 Book signing immediately after the panel with (I presume) all the other panelists. (Scheduling at Comic-Con is hard, and often changes. Check here and search “Brent Weeks” to make sure everything’s still where it’s supposed to be. I will update this page if I’m made aware of any changes, though.)
Friday 2-3: Book signing at the Orbit Booth #1116
Saturday 2-3: Book signing at the Orbit Booth #1116
Sunday 3-5: Joint reading/signing/Q&A with Pat Rothfuss and Brandon Sanderson at Borders (668 6th Avenue San Diego CA 92101 619-702-4200). This last event is off-site, so if you weren’t able to get tix to Comic-Con, but live close enough, two-thirds of this event is supposed to be awesome.
Well, you’ve spoken. The Demand It Now Tour voting has closed, votes have been tabulated, bookstores have been contacted, and the winning city is… Orlando, Florida! So, it will either be me and legions of screaming fans (in book circles this is defined as “ten”); or me, the clerk, and one fan who logged in to a lot of different computers to show his enthusiasm. Power to the fan with a muscular clicking finger. May your ip addresses prosper.
Ah, I can see it now…
Props to Parnell for making fun of both himself and something that makes writers wake in a cold sweat.
Seriously, we’re delighted that so many of you wanted me to come to your home town, and even if your city (or country) didn’t snag me, the data will be useful for Orbit when they put together a tour next time. And speaking of Orbit–they not only added Orlando, but they also totally came through by adding ANOTHER top vote-getter to the tour: Denver, Colorado! (That’s Caul-uh-reh (as in rad)-dough, people, not Caul-uh-RAW-dough.)
Ew, I just kind of grossed myself out with the caul thing.
All the tour details are below. Please come. Please drag a friend with you. I’m a nice guy, my wife is nicer, and hey, The Black Prism ain’t half bad.
To celebrate the launch of The Black Prism, Orbit is sending me on a book tour. I’ve been trying to put together a rider to rival some of these. I think I’ll demand Vegemite. I’m a simple man.
August 25(on-sale), 7:00 PM PDT
Borders #152
2605 SW Cedar Hills Blvd.
Beaverton OR 97005
August 26, 7:00 PM PDT
University Bookstore
4326 University Way NE
Seattle WA 98122
www.ubookstore.com
August 27, 7:00 PM PDT
Mysterious Galaxy
7051 Claremont Mesa Boulevard
San Diego CA 92101
www.mystgalaxy.com
August 28, 2 PM PDT
Borders #149
100 S. Brand Blvd.
Glendale CA 91204
August 29, 2 PM CDT
Barnes & Noble #2884
7700 West Northwest Highway
Dallas TX 75225
August 30, 7:00 PM EDT
Barnes & Noble #2704
2418 East Colonial Drive
Orlando, FL 32803
August 31, 7:30 PM MDT
Tattered Cover Colfax Avenue
2526 Colfax Avenue
Denver, CO 80206
www.tatteredcover.com
September 2, 7:00 PM PDT
Borderlands
866 Valencia Street
San Francisco CA 94110
www.borderlands-books.com
September 4, 12 noon PDT
Costco #97
13130 SE 84th Avenue
Clackamas OR 97015
***Updated***
September 7, 7:00 PM PDT
Powell’s Books Cedar Hills Crossing
3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd.
Beaverton, OR 97005
****UPDATED AGAIN****
September 25th, Noon PDT
Borders Store 512
4980 Stockdale Highway
Bakersfield, CA 93309
661-328-9800
****UPDATED ONE LAST TIME****
November 14th, 5:00 pm PST
Sci-Fi Authorfest IV
Powell’s Books Cedar Hills Crossing
3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd.
Beaverton, OR 97005
I’m sneaking in a post while it is still April. My wife would just hate to have another month completely unrepresented in the archives list to the right. So here it is (I’m a little late to my own party)…the first three chapters of The Black Prism. I’m working night and day to get this book in shape for its slated release in late August. Thus the lack of website action. Lest you think I’m frivolously trotting the globe and otherwise goofing off, please note:
(Click to enlarge. Credit: Richard Jones.)
As we shared previously (see the November post about the leak below), the working image for the cover of The Black Prism came out a few months back. Now, I am pleased to release the final cover art for The Black Prism.
Releasing new covers is, quite honestly, tricky. From a business standpoint, you want people who enjoyed the Night Angel books but can’t even remember my name to be able to identify that these new books are Brent Weeks books. At the same time, you want to let people know that this is a new series, that the feel of these books is new and different, and basically (if you’re Orbit) appeal to the greatest audience possible. This is made harder if every Tom, Dick, and Harry now has a cover with a hooded man with a sword. (Orbit appears to have started a small trend with my last covers.) What I really appreciate about Orbit is that they didn’t settle with a “good enough” cover. The last cover looked good, in my opinion. It communicated that this was a Brent Weeks book; and it was visually striking, but it just wasn’t quite perfect for these books. I understood the decision, and focused on making The Black Prism the best book I could.
Then Orbit did this. Very gutsy, very different, very cutting edge. Is it a bit of a gamble? Yes. Do I appreciate that? Absolutely.
Lauren Panepinto is a genius. More about Orbit’s cover launch of The Black Prism here. With non-spoiler-y back cover blurb!
it just feels like one.
I have just made the New York Times extended Bestseller List at #31. (Apparently the Gray Lady didn’t resent that “pencil-necked rube” jibe a few posts back.) There are lists and then there are lists. It’s a little byzantine, so I’ll explain what I’ve learned: The New York Times has bestseller lists for each book format: hardcover, mass market paperback (like mine), and trade paperback (the bigger, more expensive format). They also cover non-fiction and children’s books. Why so many lists? Because there are 172,000 books published every year in the US. And the main list of 15 spots is owned by nice folks named Patterson, Grisham, King, Steele, Picoult, Cussler, Coben, Meyer, and whomever Oprah likes. So in order to add some spice, the NY Times has the extra lists.
This is A Big Deal. Orbit says that according to their official guidelines, I am now “New York Times Bestselling Author Brent Weeks.”
When I graduated from college, I made a bucket list. On it, I believe the first three items were, “Write a novel. Get published. Make the NY Times Bestseller List.” As I got a little older and more mature, I finished the first item and realized how ridiculously improbable the second was, much less the third. My dream became slightly more modest: to just make enough to support my family while doing what I love. So this is surreal. I thought this was the kind of thing you work for a whole career to earn, and I certainly didn’t think I’d hit it with my first book.
I want to thank all of you who forced your friends to read my book. Hitting the bestseller list six months after publication tells me that this isn’t the result of a huge publicity push–not that marketing didn’t have a integral part in this!–but a late peak tells you that people are telling their friends. So you’re responsible for me being able to survive to write more books and live my dream. Thank you. And I want to thank agent Don Maass for taking a chance on me and Devi and everyone at Orbit for working so hard on these books. I also want to thank Borders. They’ve been awesome, and just last week they put up one of those little cardboard stands for me and fellow Orbit author Karen Miller/K.E. Mills. I wouldn’ t have hit the list if they hadn’t. There are supposed to be those stands at every Borders in the country, so I’ll post pictures as soon as I can drive out to my nearest Borders.
Both Orbit and I have been surprised and delighted by the number of comments I’ve been getting. Thank you. It’s important to me that I communicate with readers, and we noticed that the blog-style comment system was making that harder than it should have been. Sometimes people would accidentally comment on an old post where few others would see it, and I wouldn’t know whether I should respond to that comment under the old post where it might not be seen or under the newest post where it would be out of place. Soo…
Orbit has been kind enough to set up a forum for me HERE. Not only will you be able to ask me questions–or see if someone else has already asked your question–but you will also be able to chat about each of the book without worrying about spoiling surprises for others. The forum will start very basic and adapt to your needs, and I will read every post and be an active participant.
So within the next few days, the comments on this page will be disabled–but I want to stress that this is to facilitate communication, not to curtail it. Everything else will continue as before. And thanks for wanting to talk!
