Fantasy author raises $19 million on Kickstarter in two days to self-publish new novels

Brandon Sanderson asked folks on Kickstarter for $1 million to self-publish four novels he wrote during the pandemic. They funded him in 35 minutes.

Two days later, Sanderson’s campaign has topped $19 million from more than 76,000 backers — and he’s still got 28 days to go. It is already the most-funded Kickstarter for a publishing project, eclipsing a previous Sanderson campaign that raised $6.7 million.

A prolific sci-fi and fantasy author, Sanderson is best known for creating the Cosmere fictional universe, in which most of his novels are set. This includes the “Mistborn” series and “The Stormlight Archive.”

Additionally, he helped finish the final three novels in Robert Jordan’s “Wheel of Time” book series, which was recently turned into television series by Amazon.

Sanderson’s Kickstarter offers backers four new novels, three of which are set in Cosmere, as digital e-books, audio books or physical copies based on their donation level. People who spend over a certain threshold will also receive eight monthly “swag” boxes of items related to Sanderson’s work.

As the owner of a small book company named Dragongsteel Entertainment, Sanderson used Kickstarter as a way to drum up enough funds to have enough books available to meet demand and so that he could offer a year-long subscription box service.

Many artists have turned to Kickstarter to fund projects and assess consumer demand. It’s clear that readers want more from Sanderson.

“I started this all off by doing my best to surprise you,” Sanderson wrote in a Kickstarter update Wednesday. “Now you’ve turned it back on me … This is incredible, overwhelming, and a little unbelievable. I went to bed last night hoping people would enjoy my little reveal and woke up to a phenomenon.”