Our Triumphant Conclusion, Chocolate Malts, and the Name of the World

So it was Monday the 14th, the last day of our experimental IndieGoGo fundraiser.

Things were going better than we’d expected. We were already at $125,000 on Monday morning. And because of generous geeks donating and spreading the word, we’d been raising about $5,000 dollars hour all day.

Around 5:00 PM at the temple, Maria refreshed the page and said, “$170,000!”

We’d just finished up a meeting, so the whole team was there. She looked at us. “I think we’re going to beat $200,000,” she said. Her voice was nervous, excited, but pretty sure of herself. Confident.

I felt obliged to be the voice of reason. Everyone was really excited in the office because we were having an amazing day. But I didn’t want them to set their expectations so high they’d be disappointed. That would be a huge shame, especially as the fundraiser was already an incredible success.

“Things tend to slow down in the evening,” I said. “People are eating dinner and watching TV. They aren’t checking their social media as much.”

I juggled numbers in my head and tested my gut. My team is good, but I’ve been doing this for twice as long as any of them. “I’m confident we’ll hit 180,” I said. “But I’d be surprised if we hit 190. I’d be honestly startled and amazed if we hit 200.”

Looking around, I could tell I’d let the wind out of their sails a bit. I felt like kind of a dick. It sucks being the voice of reason sometimes.

“Don’t get me wrong,” I said. “Y’all have been awesome. This whole thing was an experiment. If we’d only hit $50,000, it would have been a huge success. We blew it out of the water.”

Maria looked at me. It wouldn’t be fair to say that she gave me a rebellious look. It wasn’t really even a stubborn look. Her expression was… pugnacious. “When we hit 200K,” she said, gesturing dramatically. “You’re going to buy me a chocolate malt!”

Her enthusiasm was infectious. Maria radiates optimism. It’s part of the reason I love her.

“I will,” I said, smiling. “If we hit $200,000. I will buy everyone chocolate malts.”

There was a cheer in the office. Everyone loves it when you stand up to the boss.

Amanda posted it to twitter almost immediately.

I came home and made a few more posts on twitter and facebook. Then I tried to catch up on some e-mail, hampered slightly by the fact that I was refreshing the IndieGoGo page about every four minutes.

Much to my amazement, our momentum didn’t slow. The total climbed and climbed.

By the end of the fundraiser, we’d raised $205,000.

Have I said thank you yet?

Thank you. You have startled and amazed me with your awesome.

Thank you. You have reaffirmed my belief that people are inherently good.

Thank you.

*     *     *

Today, because Maria was right, I took the Worldbuilders team to get chocolate malts.

malt2

(Cutie isn’t part of the team, so he didn’t get any.)

If you can’t tell, the mood was giddy with exhaustion and good endorphins. The team really pulled together for this fundraiser. They deserved their tasty beverages.

20140715_165741

(Even the monkey. Especially the monkey.)

In most important ways, this was their fundraiser, not mine. They planned it. Wrote up the product descriptions. They figured out IndieGoGo and promotions and production and fulfillment.

I mention this because it’s behind the scenes, so you would never see it. Events like this resemble an iceberg, you glimpse the the top and think, “Wow, that’s cool.” You support the cause, order something, and receive a package.

And while the top of the iceberg is pretty cool (heh) there’s a lot going on underneath the water that keeps it all afloat.

This time, for the first time, the *vast* majority of that didn’t have anything to do with me. Not only was I not doing it myself. I wasn’t even looking over their shoulders and giving advice.

I couldn’t this time, as I’ve been neck deep in revisions.

There were times I’d come into the office, wild eyed and sleep deprived. Irritable and absolutely burned out because I’d spent the last 30 hours going over copy edits. We’d sit down to a meeting and I’d say something like, “We need to make sure we contact X about the [thing].”

“We already did that,” they would say.

“Okay,” I said. “We also need to be careful [some other thing] doesn’t happen.”

“Taken care of,” they’d say.

“And we need to make sure blah blah blah.”

“That’s a good idea,” they’d say.

“Who’s going to be in charge of that?” I’d ask.

“We did it last week,” they’d say.

I can’t tell you guys how amazing this is. How important it is.

I love Worldbuilders. It’s my baby. But over the last five years it’s devoured a significant portion of my life.

It’s eaten so much of my life that sometimes there’s not enough life left to go around. Sometimes I’ve been too busy and too stressed to be a good dad. It’s impinged on my writing schedule. I’ve lost touch with friends. I gave up tabletop games for the most part. Hell, I haven’t played a computer game or watched a movie in the theaters in I don’t know how long. Since… the last superman movie? Yeah. I guess that makes it more than a year.

The truth is, I’ve let go of these things willingly. Worldbuilders is important. I’m proud of it. It changes lives and quantifiably improves the world. I could never give it up.

But for the last couple years I’ve been dreaming a dream. I’ve been dreaming of having Worldbuilders, a writing career, and a life.

Now it’s starting to look like that might happen. Because of all you lovely people out there and because of the Worldbuilders Team.

Milkshake2

So. Milkshakes all around. Everyone loves it when the boss is wrong. Sometimes the Boss loves it too.

*     *     *

We didn’t do a lot of stretch goals with this fundraiser, mostly because the  timeframe was so tight.

But we did do a few.

  • Fundraiser blooper reel.

I have to say the fundraiser video we put together was my favorite video we’ve ever done. Even if it did feature me being constantly upstaged by a monkey puppet.

Ah… who am I kidding? It’s my favorite *because* it features me being upstaged by a monkey puppet.

As if the regular fundraiser video wasn’t great enough, we put together an outtakes reel which features much, much more of me and the monkey puppet.

Before you watch it, I need you to understand that before filming the video, I’d spent four days locked away with the manuscript of Slow Regard of Silent Things, making final edits and generally working myself down to a bloody nub. I went to bed around 10:00 AM, then woke up four hours later to go shoot the video. I was simply speaking, a shambling wreck.

That’s my only excuse.

  • More blogs.

During our Reddit AMA I tricked Amanda into committing to help me get the rest of the photo contest blogs done: Promises promises

So we’re making a push to get those done too.

  • Freebies in your orders.

Because we hit our stretch goal of $110k, we’re throwing freebies into random orders.

Originally we were going to do this for 1 in 100 orders. But since the fundraiser was such a *huge* success, we’ve decided to do twice as many as that. We’ll be throwing in Magnets, notes from the team, games, coins, and other coolness. There will probably even be a extra few fancy things, just to make it interesting.

  • Frequently A’ed Q’s.

Don’t be a perv, you perv.

There have been a lot of questions coming in since the fundraiser ended. “Where can I get the FIRST Princess & Mr. Whiffle book?” “When will my stuff be arriving?” “Why is everyone on the Worldbuilders team so good-smelling?”

The Worldbuidlers Team beat me to answering those questions. There’s an IndieGoGo FAQ up over on the Worldbuilders website, as well as little blog of their own.

  • The Name of the World.

This is something I’ve known for a while, but I’ve been keeping it under my hat. Making sure I really liked it. Making certain I was sure of it. Names are important things, or so I hear.

But I can’t think of a better reason for letting it out of the bag than the delightful conclusion of this fundraiser.

The world is called Temerant.

Say it with me: Temerant.

Temerant.

WaystonePostcardpat

P.S. I forgot. We’re going to be sending out fancy gold foil stickers with the books and some of the other rewards. (Maybe all the rewards.)

What do you think the stickers should say? “Geeks doing good?” “Summer 2014 – First into the breach!” “I made the world a better place and all I got was this sticker (and some swag)”?

Suggestions welcome below…

This entry was posted in Geeks Doing Good, my dumbness, videos, Worldbuilders. By Pat68 Responses

68 Comments

  1. s.r.r.s
    Posted July 16, 2014 at 7:47 PM | Permalink

    Just to clarify — like Tema and Temic? That’s a satisfying world name.

    (I wish it wasn’t also Latin, but — what does it mean again? Oh…. “They violate/defile/pollute/violate sexually.” … It’s a lovely name.)

    • Valaritas is a tease
      Posted July 17, 2014 at 5:46 AM | Permalink

      Yeah, and in Spanish it kind of sounds like Fearland, fitting weirdly with the second’s book title. It also sounds a bit like Temeria, from the Polish Witcher/Geralt of Rivia series.

      Now that we’re at it, I’ve seen many (I don’t know if accidental) references to other well known fantasy books I’ve read along the years. One of the more obvious ones is the Dena appearing as a bard’s lover (Thomdril Merrilin) in the Wheel of Time, and that’s just an example.

      • Valaritas is a tease
        Posted July 17, 2014 at 6:07 AM | Permalink

        Also from Wheel of Time, the Tinkers/Tuatha’an. Pacific and musical people traveling and living in wagons, despised as bandits. Then there’s the “flame and the void” concentration technique, used by the protagonist, pretty similar to the “spinning leaf” used by Kvothe. Food for thought.

        • elle
          Posted July 17, 2014 at 12:05 PM | Permalink

          1. tuatha is irish for people. tinkers/tuatha’an, travellers in general who like music, dancing, and have a not entirely earned reputation for theft are not only a staple of fiction, fantasy or otherwise, but are based actual real world historical peoples.

          2. meditation techniques used to center the self for martial practices…i find the topic of influence and homage a fascinating one. sometimes it’s direct and intentional. sometimes it’s direct and unintentional. sometimes it’s general and thematic.

  2. Posted July 16, 2014 at 7:50 PM | Permalink

    En Temerant Voistra.

    Very interesting.

    Also–excellent job on Worldbuilders.

    • Gabriel
      Posted July 17, 2014 at 10:45 PM | Permalink

      Nice! I had forgotten about that! So Patrick had this name in mind for longer than I thought.
      It’ll be kinda weird to see this name in Book 3 if it’s mentioned there, since we had no names for 2/3 of the trilogy. And I wonder if the Fae was part of Temerant before the war.

  3. katherineofyork
    Posted July 16, 2014 at 7:51 PM | Permalink

    What a wonderful response, I am so happy for Worldbuilders and for you, Pat.

    I’m especially jealous of all those who got the rings, that was my prime target but was sold out by the time I saw. I cannot wait until the next one!

    • Posted July 16, 2014 at 7:56 PM | Permalink

      There will be more rings available before long in the Tinker’s Packs. Keep an eye out….

  4. pacifist
    Posted July 16, 2014 at 8:05 PM | Permalink

    looks like you accidentally put up the old video instead of the takeouts.

    but, a quick search of youtube brought me nine and a half minute of “Mystery Box” interspersed with a singing piglet :)

    • Posted July 16, 2014 at 10:21 PM | Permalink

      Thanks. Fixed.

    • pacifist
      Posted July 17, 2014 at 5:27 PM | Permalink

      never trust me to write something at 3 a.m.

      it was all good and factual, but I totally forgot to include the important bit:
      Congratulations on being great all of you!
      And Pat, try doing next to nothing more often, it seems to work out great ^.^

  5. Brady Dill
    Posted July 16, 2014 at 8:37 PM | Permalink

    What does ‘Temerant’ mean? What part of the world did it originate in? How does Elodin feel about the name?

  6. ACDragonMaster
    Posted July 16, 2014 at 8:54 PM | Permalink

    For the stickers, maybe something like “Geeks Do a World of Good”? Playing off of both the Worldbuilders and the Geeks Doing Good names….

    Or perhaps a slogan like that encircling an image of some sort!

  7. DuckofDeath
    Posted July 16, 2014 at 9:19 PM | Permalink

    For the sticker:

    How about a round, silver coin-like item with a cartoon pick of a very pleased goat, perhaps raising a glass, with GEEKS DOING GOOD/Summer 2014 marching around the perimeter.

    Now, you’ll need a name for the goat, and a backstory….

  8. Amanda
    Posted July 16, 2014 at 9:19 PM | Permalink

    I love proving you wrong, boss man. You’re pretty awesome, too.

    • SporkTastic
      Posted July 17, 2014 at 11:03 AM | Permalink

      You are all such wonderful people! Thank you for doing what you do!

  9. jimkizer
    Posted July 16, 2014 at 9:37 PM | Permalink

    I’m curious about the song being played in the background of the outtake video. What is it?

    • Brett
      Posted July 17, 2014 at 1:36 AM | Permalink

      If you click on the YouTube icon in the lower right corner to watch the video on YouTube, music credits are in the notes under the video.

  10. elizabifano
    Posted July 16, 2014 at 11:03 PM | Permalink

    Temerant… beautiful. And major props to Steven Halter that was a really quick recall!

  11. tommythecat
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 12:04 AM | Permalink

    For the stickers…

    Geeks Doing The Greater Good
    Geeks Are The Greater Good
    I Helped Make Pat Buy Everyone A Malt!
    I Did It For The Stretch Goals…And Goats…And Chickens…And Heifer

  12. Cybeline
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 12:28 AM | Permalink

    I feel like we wouldn’t be proper nerds if nobody said, “First UNto the breach”. So, there it is ;)

  13. Holmelund
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 1:04 AM | Permalink

    Geeks Doing Good Summer 2014
    Make it an annual sticker so people can get them all by supporting every year :) It will force the OCD inflicted ones of us to keep supporting.

  14. kitty713
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 1:09 AM | Permalink

    I’m all for “Pat Rothfuss thinks I’m awesome” like was mentioned at some point previously.

    I really wish I’d had money for more than a deck of cards but maybe next time!!

    • Camelica
      Posted July 17, 2014 at 1:29 PM | Permalink

      Oh, yes yes yes!
      I want that kind of sticker!

    • flotiste
      Posted July 18, 2014 at 7:58 PM | Permalink

      ^ I would donate again just to get that sticker.

  15. Feififofum
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 2:02 AM | Permalink

    Woah. Dropping a bomb disguised as a feather. This is huge!

    What would Kvothe have learned about the Chandrian and the Amyr if he’d actually found En Temerant Voistra? Why did Elodin doubt it might be in the library? How would you mail a postcard from Temerant to, say, Phoenix Arizona?

    The mind boggles.

  16. Sandhya
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 2:24 AM | Permalink

    I’ve always known you were smart and clever, but any man that surrounds himself with smart, beautiful women is a genius!
    I like Summer 2014 – First into the Breach

  17. Posted July 17, 2014 at 3:12 AM | Permalink

    Temerant … Ooohhhh, so good!

    Great job on the fundraiser, everybody! Props to the WB team, I believe they may actually take over the world one day.

  18. midobal
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 4:34 AM | Permalink

    I just wanted to say thak you for all your hard work (specially to the Worldbuilders team), and for letting us help make the world a better place. I feel proud of being able to take part in these events, even if it’s just a small donation all I manage to make. Also, seeing so many people united for a good cause fills me with joy. Together, we can change the world!

  19. BruceIV
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 5:05 AM | Permalink

    Awesome T-shirt. I did not expect to see my alma mater on this blog (well, it’s the other campus, but they’re both little known and in the middle of nowhere)

    • ErinKAZ19
      Posted July 17, 2014 at 1:29 PM | Permalink

      I, too, was very pleased to see the t-shirt. Gave me the warm fuzzies remembering his visit, how he read his “Princess and Mr. Whiffle” book to us, and imparted all his awesomeness! And…now UNB will be a little more well known, now that Pat has blogged with that pic to the masses :)

  20. Nipper
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 10:39 AM | Permalink

    Geeks doing Good 2014
    Pat Rothfuss thinks I’m awesome
    Geeks for goats – goats for geeks

    It’s great to see that one person really CAN make a difference – especially with cool allies such as the wb-team.

    Thanks for the warm fussy feeling.

  21. SporkTastic
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 11:04 AM | Permalink

    Show-stealing monkey did, in fact steal the show. Once or twice. All I could afford this time around was *massive* sharing, but that I *definitely* did.

  22. Posted July 17, 2014 at 11:06 AM | Permalink

    Thank you, Worldbuilders team, for making it so Pat can write and see his children! We all love him and want him to be happy. >^,^<

  23. Posted July 17, 2014 at 11:06 AM | Permalink

    Well done, Worldbuilders team! I’m glad we planned that whole don’t-kick-in-until-the-last-few-hours-to-score-a-round-of-malts thing out in advance, otherwise we never would have… uh… I mean… wow, great job everyone!

    Looking forward to playing some Pairs, see you at PAX!

  24. Robo
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 11:31 AM | Permalink

    Any time I see a photo of you at home without snow in the background, I’m reminded of the lunar landing.

    It can’t be real!!

    • kitty713
      Posted July 18, 2014 at 12:45 AM | Permalink

      Wisconsin only snows 6 months out of the year… summertimes are pretty hot actually.

  25. chaelek
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 11:43 AM | Permalink

    Just so as we’re clear, the four corners world is temerant, you’re not renaming earth, yeah? I’m cool with either..

    • mmtauff
      Posted July 17, 2014 at 12:09 PM | Permalink

      I wondered this as well. Or rather if the ‘Name’ of earth was Temerant, giving all of us blog followers the power to control the earth. But I tried that and its a no go.

      • chaelek
        Posted July 17, 2014 at 2:14 PM | Permalink

        Your pronunciation must be off. I yelled it and a giant sinkhole formed in Russia. I keep trying to make myself a ring of earth but the soil keeps crumbling.

        • Amanda
          Posted July 17, 2014 at 7:04 PM | Permalink

          I like you.

          • chaelek
            Posted July 19, 2014 at 1:36 AM | Permalink

            I’m just a man. Screaming at a clod of dirt.

  26. feistykitty
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 11:44 AM | Permalink

    I think the stickers should say “Patrick Rothfuss thinks you are special and wants you to have this sticker.” (My mother-in-law did that with some pens. Had a picture of her and father-in-law on it, with that phrase but their names and “this pen”. She didn’t understand why I laughed so hard when we got them.)

  27. Tabz
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 11:53 AM | Permalink

    Temerant I am in you!

    Seriously great job. The Worldbuilders team is amazing you picked a great set of people and they are smart, talented and capiable.

    Good on all of us. 200k in a week? Not many can do that.

  28. jhoffman
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 12:07 PM | Permalink

    San Diego? When are you gonna be in San Diego?! I’m guessing during Comic Con.

    Pat, I was suuuper bummed out when I missed you last time you stopped by Mysterious Galaxy. I was suffering with a pretty serious health condition at the time (which I’m glad to say is now totally under control!).

    Will you be making any stops outside of the convention proper?

    I’d love to meet you and get books signed (what is the etiquette on book signings btw, are people allowed to bring more than one? you’d be my first!)

    • Tabz
      Posted July 17, 2014 at 12:46 PM | Permalink

      I believe Pat is part of w00tstock which is out of the con and tickets are still available (I believe).

  29. Adamus84
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 12:13 PM | Permalink

    “Geeks doing a world of good – tally-ho!” And in the center have Pat striking an epic pose being sure to incorporate the beard… And possibly a goat…. or riding a heifer or pushing over a cow… That would be an epic sticker..

  30. jalkas31
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 12:16 PM | Permalink

    Together We Prevail

  31. Mojojojo449
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 12:34 PM | Permalink

    Is that a University of New Brunswick shirt?

  32. eruvande
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 1:01 PM | Permalink

    I sincerely love the “Pat Rothfuss thinks I’m awesome.” sticker idea. You should entirely go with that one.

  33. Posted July 17, 2014 at 1:13 PM | Permalink

    I would love a “Pat Rothfuss thinks I’m awesome” sticker, but I also like the idea of something like “Geeks for Good 2014”, or something else that would indicate the year.

  34. miceala
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 1:14 PM | Permalink

    Congratulations on – well, EVERYTHING! To EVERYONE at Worldbuilders! You all are a serious kind of awesome :)

    And Pat – congrats on naming the world! Having spent *days* pouring through dictionaries and name lists and baby naming sites just to name *minor* characters, I can only imagine what internal turmoil it took to figure out a name for your books’ whole WORLD. So congrats! It’s a good name, too. :)

  35. Posted July 17, 2014 at 1:31 PM | Permalink

    I’m really happy to see this huge success. And I think you got to make us all feel excited about this, thanks to the enthusiasm from you and the team. Making the world a better place was never so fun!

    Btw, “I made the world a better place and all I got was this sticker” it’s really cool. Simply “Geeks Doing Good” is good too, specially for those who know what is this all about.

  36. Camelica
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 1:33 PM | Permalink

    Temerant… Temerant? Temerant. Temerant!

    It’s just… Right.

  37. akemi
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 1:34 PM | Permalink

    This was amazing, you are amazing, your blogs make my day every time.

    I think I might seriously cry when my rings arrive.

    Remember that I love you no matter what.

    Leah

  38. Havrish
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 1:55 PM | Permalink

    Someone else already suggested combining the names of both organizations to get a phrase to put on the golden sticker. Here is my take on that…

    How about “Geek building a good world”?

    Continuously fantastic and amazing stuff Pat…

    • Havrish
      Posted July 17, 2014 at 1:56 PM | Permalink

      That would be “Geeks building a good world”…

      Typing is hard…

  39. masha
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 2:43 PM | Permalink

    Temerant! I like it. It sits well.
    Also well done with worldbuilders! The teams dedication is amazing!

  40. isaiasw
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 4:28 PM | Permalink

    Amazing results as usual. When is the Tinker gonna sell some official Kvothe cosplay? ;P

    Temerant. Reminds me of temerity. I liked it. I realli liked it.

  41. Kelly
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 8:30 PM | Permalink

    The name of the world sounds a lot like a harsh-tempered or overbearing woman (termagant).

    Love it.

  42. MaxMax
    Posted July 17, 2014 at 9:44 PM | Permalink

    Got me some book bundles! And the name of the world too? That’s just gravy!!!
    And stickers make me smile. A lot.

  43. compelledorphan
    Posted July 18, 2014 at 1:11 AM | Permalink

    Damn damn damn, I just missed getting the Auri preorder. Any chance there will be more preoders in the tinkers pack?

  44. Neville Longbottom
    Posted July 18, 2014 at 12:04 PM | Permalink

    I didn’t get in this time because money’s a little tight right now. My wife and I have spent $1100 on car repairs in the last week. So I didn’t spend the $40 to get the Auri book, I didn’t help anybody but myself, and I don’t get to celebrate along with the post.

    I told myself I didn’t have the money. But I was wrong. I bought premium beer for our camping trip this weekend. I’m having Thai food for lunch.

    As long as there is breath in my body, I promise I won’t let this happen again. I’m giving 5 times the price of the Auri book at the holidays. 10 times, if I can. I won’t forget this…

  45. grinch
    Posted July 22, 2014 at 10:06 AM | Permalink

    Pat is looking…how shall I say…’svelte’… as he raises high his chocolate malt. The poor man is too busy to eat!

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