—Breaking News: Brandon will be appearing as a guest on the “Wakin’ Up With Rebecca and Kurt” radio show Wednesday, the 22nd at around 8:30 am. The station is AM 820, and should be available in Utah County and Salt Lake.—

INTRODUCTION

Howdy all! You’re getting this because you signed up for the Brandon Sanderson mailing list on my website. As promised, I try not to spam you with lots of email via the mailing list. My goal is to do about two of these a year. If you want to unsubscribe, there should be instructions at the bottom of this email.

ELANTRIS NEWS

It’s been a big year for ELANTRIS, and I just wanted to share some of our success with you. So far, the book has gone into three hardback printings. In addition, we’ve sold the book to thirteen different markets! They are: North American English (the Tor version you probably read), SF Book Club, UK Book Club, Russian language, German language, Japanese language, French language, Dutch language, Spanish language, Thai language, Czech language, Polish language, and Chinese language!

Everyone keeps telling me that so many sales are amazing for a first time author. It usually takes many years to break in to that many foreign markets. I can only hold this success up to the brilliance of my agent, Joshua Blimes, and the book itself having a wide appeal.

The award nominations are beginning to roll in, and I’m honored to have been picked for a few of them. The Romantic Times Awards picked ELANTRIS as a finalist for the epic fantasy category. Also, the Association for Mormon Letters picked the book as the best novel of 2005. Finally, Barnes and Noble (via their online sf magazine) chose ELANTRIS as the best sf/f novel of the year!

So, I guess I’m saying thanks to all of you who bought the book and who passed the word along about it. For a first novel like this, word of mouth is the prime method of publicity I can hope to get. I owe a lot of this success to all of you!

MISTBORN

My next novel, MISTBORN, is ready for pre-order on Amazon.com. It will be released in July, and is the first in a trilogy. However, I did write the first book to stand alone quite well. It has climaxes and wrap-up similar to ELANTRIS, with a few large questions left open, but all the main conflicts dealt with in one way or another.

I’m really excited for this book’s release. I wrote ELANTRIS back in 1999, and while it was the first book I sold, it has been a long time (both in years and in my progress as a writer) since I wrote it. MISTBORN shows off what I can do right now, and so I’m hoping that the reaction to it is similar to ELANTRIS—only more so! You can read sample chapters of the book on my website.

OTHER PROJECTS

Let’s see . . . what else is up in my life? I wrote a young adult novel entitled ALCATRAZ INITIATED over the summer last year while I was taking a break from the MISTBORN world. (I’ve finished MISTBORN 2, and am almost done with MISTBORN 3.) We’re currently shopping it around. We’ll have to see who, if anyone, nibbles at it! The book is very different from my normal style—I wrote it in a first person, with a humorous tone.

I’ve already got my next two books planned. You’ll have to watch the website, and the ‘Current Books’ section to see if I actually get around to them. The first one is named DARK ONE, the second is called WARBREAKER. Both are stand-alones. That ELANTRIS sequel is also brewing in the back of my mind. . . .

I guess that’s everything. Please have a look at those MISTBORN chapters, and preorder it if you are so inclined. In late 2006, I should be doing another book tour through Utah, Idaho, California, and perhaps some surrounding areas. I’ll also be at Conduit in Salt Lake, as well as Worldcon in LA, this year (where I hope to be nominated for a Campbell award) so look me up if you’re around!

Brandon Sanderson

February 21st, 2006