• #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

  • Feb 5 2025
  • Length: 3 hrs and 23 mins
  • Podcast

#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

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  • Summary

  • Brandon Sanderson is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Stormlight Archive series and the Mistborn saga; the middle-grade series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians; and the young-adult novels The Rithmatist, the Reckoners trilogy, and the Skyward 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.Sponsors:Cresset prestigious family office for CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs: https://cressetcapital.com/tim (book a call today)Seed's DS-01® Daily Synbiotic broad spectrum 24-strain probiotic + prebiotic: https://Seed.com/Tim (Use code 25TIM for 25% off your first month's supply)Wealthfront high-yield cash account: https://Wealthfront.com/Tim (Start earning 4.00% APY on your short-term cash until you’re ready to invest. And when new clients open an account today, you can get an extra fifty-dollar bonus with a deposit of five hundred dollars or more.) Terms apply. Tim Ferriss receives cash compensation from Wealthfront Brokerage, LLC for advertising and holds a non-controlling equity interest in the corporate parent of Wealthfront Brokerage. See full disclosures here.Timestamps:00:00 Meet Brandon Sanderson07:10 Soundcheck Fun and Memory Skills11:21 Brandon's Writing Journey and Creative Process25:35 Teaching Creative Writing and Publishing Insights38:08 Brandon's Early Reading Experience44:18 Discovering the Magic of Storytelling45:32 A Journey from C Student to A Student47:02 The Influence of a Great Teacher48:51 Understanding Narrative and Plot56:42 The Art of Character Development01:09:42 Balancing Writing and Personal Life01:24:04 Meeting Editors and Early Struggles01:24:30 First Book Sale and Financial Realities01:25:28 The Danger of the Second Book01:25:49 Hitting the Bestseller List01:26:34 Amazon and the Changing Market01:29:03 Entrepreneurial Shift and Direct Sales01:36:45 Building a Team and Crowdfunding01:42:50 Kickstarter Success and Lessons Learned01:52:22 COVID and Creative Freedom02:02:53 Brandon Sanderson's Colbert Report Cameo02:03:48 Kickstarter Success and Subscription Boxes02:09:01 Test Readers and Feedback Process02:14:16 Warbreaker and Creative Commons Experiment02:22:50 Navigating Publishing Deals and Platforms02:33:26 The Wheel of Time Opportunity02:42:36 The Call to Finish The Wheel of Time02:43:10 Negotiating the Deal02:43:56 The Struggles of Mistborn02:45:02 The Cosmere and Building an Audience02:48:25 The Death Spiral in Publishing02:52:29 Magic Systems and Their Importance03:00:39 Sanderson's Three Laws of Magic03:14:35 The Zero Law and Final Thoughts*For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsorsSign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim:Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissYouTube: youtube.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferrissPast guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, Margaret Atwood, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Dr. Gabor Maté, Anne Lamott, Sarah Silverman, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and many more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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