An Abundance of Signed Books

You all have been going above and beyond, with our total creeping ever closer to the $500,000 mark. In the last day alone we’ve raised more than $75,000. That’s enough to buy biogas stoves for 75 entire villages.

YMCA Mbale Branch (21-0510-02)

Around 3 billion people in the world still cook and heat their homes using open fires. By buying stoves for the entire village, you’re improving the health of families who would otherwise very likely develop chronic lung and eye diseases from smoke inhalation in poorly ventilated buildings.

Biogas stoves also mean that children no longer have to gather firewood by hand, saving hours a day, so there is more time for school and homework.

And even more than that, biogas stoves run on animal manure, something that already has to be dealt with. At the end, the slurry in the biogas digester can be used for fertilizer, improving crop yields with little added effort. Nothing wasted, and they provide so many benefits.

And we’ve raised enough to provide that to 75 villages in one day. Imagine what we can do in the 10 days we’ve got left…

* * *

Today’s blog has awesome books from all over the place. All of them are signed, and there are a few very special editions, whether they’re first printings, limited runs, or personally inscribed to Worldbuilders donors.

They were kicked in by publishers, authors, and longtime Worldbuilders supporters, and while the majority of them are in the lottery, where anyone who donates $10 or more has the chance of winning them, there are a few gems that we’ve put up for auction as well, so read closely and see if there’s anything you think you’d like to add to your library.

  • ARCs of The Witches of Echo Park. Signed by Amber Benson, coming out in January 2015.

WitchesOfEchoPark

This is a real treat. Amber is a lovely person, and she’s been helping us out for years, including that time she pretended to be Pat on twitter for a while. Her publisher pitched in a bunch of early copies of her upcoming book, which was awesome.

We’ve put some in the lottery, but for those of you who want to be certain, there’s one up for auction over here.

ShadowsBeneath

Writing Excuses has been around since 2008, and is a great podcast to get into if you’re interested in the many aspects of genre writing. Brandon, Mary, Dan, and Howard talk for 15 minutes or so each week about a different subject that has to do with writing or producing speculative fiction or webcomics.

This anthology is one short story from each of the hosts, and this copy is signed by all four of them. It’s in the lottery, too, so someone is going to get a real treat.

  • Auction: A hardcover set of The Stormlight Archive books: The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance.  Signed and dedicated to Worldbuilders by Brandon Sanderson.

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“Epic in every sense. Sanderson has built a world that leaps to life, a cast of varied characters and a vast history which slowly unfolds with the deepening story of Roshar.” – Guardian

These have been inscribed for Worldbuilders, and in Way of Kings Brandon even claims that the book is almost as epic as Pat’s beard…

These are really cool, and since they’re up for auction, they could be yours if you head over and bid.

  • Auctions: Copies of A Dance with Dragons. One first edition, one deluxe limited edition. Signed by George R.R. Martin.

DanceWithDragonses

“Filled with vividly rendered set pieces, unexpected turnings, assorted cliffhangers and moments of appalling cruelty, A Dance with Dragons is epic fantasy as it should be written: passionate, compelling, convincingly detailed and thoroughly imagined.” – The Washington Post

This first edition (pictured on the left) is really cool and collectible, since it’s signed by George R.R. Martin, so if you’d like to add it to your collection, you can bid for the chance over here.

If you’d rather go full archival collectible, there’s the Subterranean Press Deluxe Limited Edition, also signed, including illustrations from Tom Kidd. It’s a promotional copy of what is now a sold out edition, so if you want one, your best option is to bid on it over here.

Dying of the Light2

As has been previously covered, Subterranean Press makes really gorgeous special editions of books, and Dying of the Light is no exception.

This is actually Martin’s first novel, written before A Song of Ice and Fire. It’s illustrated with full-color end sheets, three full-color plates, and fifteen pen-and-ink illustrations by Tom Kidd. This copy is numbered 233 out of 500, and if you want it, you can bid on it over here.

MarkingTime2

April was kind enough to send us a few copies of the first book in her series. She’s a big supporter of Worldbuilders, and even has an auction going to be Tuckerized in her upcoming book.

If you want the chance at the books, all you have to do is donate on the team page.

  • Auctions: A set of the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy and a copy of Razor’s Edge. All signed by Martha Wells.

MarthaWellsAuctions

Martha Wells is a wonderful, long-time supporter of Worldbuilders. She’s kicked in lots of books in the past, and this year we’ve got a bunch more.

The ones that are up for auction are a hardcover copy of Razor’s Edge, which you can bid on over here, as well as a full set of the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy, which you can bid on over here. All of the books are signed, and donated with love.

  • Razor’s Edge, a set of the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy, Wheel of the Infinite, a set of the Emilie series, and a set of the Books of the Raksura series. All signed by Martha Wells.

MarthaWellsLottery

Martha was particularly awesome and sent more than one copy or set of some things, so we’re also throwing a bunch of her books into the lottery.

Again, they’re all signed, so donating to the team page gets you the chance to get some new books to read if you’ve never picked them up before, or some fancy signed copies to brag about to your friends if you have.

Eternal

It’s always awesome when authors donate copies of their books, especially when they’ve inscribed them. The inscription here is really thoughtful, reminding everyone who wins that these books are physical proof that you changed a person’s life for the better with your donation.

And that’s a really heartwarming thing to know.

Malice2

“With three-dimensional characters, a gripping plot, and a world that became real to me, John Gwynne’s Malice is a great debut. In short, this is the kind of fantasy I love to read and I truly can’t wait for the next volume in The Faithful and the Fallen!” – Fantasy Book Review

We got a couple of copies of this, including a limited edition copy, number 424 out of 500, so we’ve put that one up for auction. If you want it, you can bid on it here.

  • Auction: A notebook full of notes for the upcoming book Killing Pretty by Richard Kadrey.

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This was an absolute treat to receive, and a lot of us here at Worldbuilders HQ have been gazing longingly at it.

You see, despite appearances, this is no ordinary notebook. Every scrap of paper, scribbled note, and printed picture has relevance and meaning to the not-yet-published book 7 in the Sandman Slim series, Killing Pretty.

KillingPretty2

Richard explained the donation thusly:

“I keep a notebook for each of my novels. The books are full of story and character notes, as well as visual reference photos. I finished my newest novel, book 7 in the Sandman Slim series, and don’t need the notebook anymore.”

The book itself doesn’t come out until July of 2015, so the winner of this auction is going to get all sorts of juicy secrets and plot points well before the actual release. There are more pictures of a few choice pages over on the auction, for those of you who are curious.

You know you want it. Bid here. We won’t stop you.

  • Auction: An early manuscript of The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. Critiqued mercilessly by Brett.

Pat02

This is a cool piece of history. Brett read this very copy, making all sorts of excruciatingly honest critiques of the story, and catching a lot of spelling errors. Pat found a lot of this particularly amusing, so you should really go over and check out the auction, even if only to see the photos of some of the mistakes that were made that Brett caught. We’ll just say: “simpathy lamp.”

This manuscript was printed before the folks at DAW got a look at it, so it’s a little different from the finished book, but largely familiar. There are a few passages that have been reworked, rearranged or tweaked, there are a few different names and spellings, and you can see some instances where Pat was playing with different ways to convey magical commands and slang. It of course has random notes here and there, including comments where Brett was confused, disgusted, or bowled over by the story.

As you may also see, this book is hilariously long when printed out on paper. It had to be bound in two parts, because it was just so unwieldy in one.

If you want this rough-draft manuscript, bid on it over here.

*  *  *

We love all the cool stuff that people donate to us every year, and we’re always amazed at the different types of collectible pieces that make their way through our office. It’s exciting to think that some of this stuff will find its way to the right person–the person who will treasure it like it needs to be treasured.

So while we’re getting all this neat stuff into the world, we’re also helping buy a different sort of cool stuff for people who really need it–biogas stoves, for instance.

And that’s the other side of the excitement around here. Seriously. When Amanda did the math for how many biogas stoves can be bought with what we raised in a day, all of us told her she was wrong and had to re-do her math. When we found out she was correct, we just stood there and stared at each other. There are seriously no words for how cool you guys are for blowing our minds like this.

Thank you everyone for pitching in, spreading the word, donating, voting, watching our stretch goals, bidding on auctions, and buying Tinker’s Packs swag. You’re improving the lives and futures of villages full of people.

This entry was posted in Worldbuilders 2014By Amanda8 Responses

8 Comments

  1. Posted December 5, 2014 at 2:40 AM | Permalink

    Thousands upon thousands of excellent books, fascinating and valuable treasures overflowing your shelves and tables, far more items than you could possibly cover in one month’s time… and you featured my tiny donation.

    I’m humbled and honored and kind of freaked out but in a good way. May your days be ever lovely and your toast always land butter-side-up.

    (You still shouldn’t eat it.)

    • Posted December 5, 2014 at 10:58 PM | Permalink

      You should totally eat it. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

  2. Marcus Cox
    Posted December 5, 2014 at 5:36 AM | Permalink

    It’s neat seeing the manuscript pictures and makes me feel a bit better about how terrible I am at spelling. Out of curiosity, what is the note to Sarah on the last page about? Did she go through the document on your computer and correct all these spelling mistakes for you?

  3. Kthaeh
    Posted December 5, 2014 at 2:16 PM | Permalink

    Just when I thought the combination of favorite author and favorite charity couldn’t be any more awesome, Worldbuilders doubles down and gets my favorite bookseller involved. You guys are kind of freaking me out. In a good way though. And making me wonder what other element of awesome will be layered on next year. You’re setting the bar awfully high for yourselves.

    Made my donation for lottery entries today. Then did some shopping at Powells for extra Heifer karma. Voted for Pat to kiss a goat so maybe he won’t have to kiss a llama. I care about you, Pat, and don’t think you should have to risk life and limb due to the whims of an internet poll. If I had to kiss one of those animals, I’d want it to be a goat.

  4. Rita_Monteiro22
    Posted December 7, 2014 at 9:18 PM | Permalink

    Hello Pat!
    I’m so sorry to use your blog to reach you, but I think that no one else can help me but you. I apologize for my bad english as well. Here’s the thing: I’m a huge fan from Portugal and I want to know if (and when) the “The slow regard of silent things” will be translated into portuguese (of Portugal, and not Brazil). Here in my country there isnt any information about it, all I know is that the brazilian version will come out in january, but nothing is known about the portuguese version and that is making me very sad :(
    Thank you for your time and I hope you know anything about it.
    Congrats for your work, I love your books! Take care

  5. katmandu
    Posted December 7, 2014 at 9:21 PM | Permalink

    I am thrilled to have won the auction for the Atticus necklace. It is a great way to fly my nerd flag. I also love the whole idea of world builders. As a matter of fact, everyone on my holiday list is getting donations in their name to Worl Builders for Christmas! Thanks so much for making this possible.

  6. Posted December 15, 2014 at 9:37 AM | Permalink

    I was so excited to actually have a fundraiser page this year. I think I’m at the very bottom, but I’m still there and I’m $100 over my goal thanks to one very kind friend!

  7. rougn
    Posted December 29, 2014 at 2:52 AM | Permalink

    I have been a huge fan of your writings for many years. In fact I picked it up in 2007 and have since then read the books at least once a month trying to figure out all the meanings and clever little double meanings you have made in your sentences. I even went so far as making 2 different notebooks (one for the name of the wind and the other for A Wise Man’s Fear) where I wrote down my theories and diagrammed sentences and connected events together to see how it will be pieced together as i truly loved the unique magic of this world and the method of story telling. In fact this book series was a bonding point for me and my soon to be wife as we talked at great length when we first meet about this series. I proposed to her by hiding the engagement ring inside of a copy of A Wise Man’s Fear. Since then we tackled a few mysteries in the series our biggest one was the lackless box. I believe it was created with magic however for myself i was curious how it could have be made without magic. I believed it was a simple Centripetal Force lock (you have to spin the box to make the nails inside it slide into place so it can be opened). I even made one myself with a seem so hidden i had trouble finding it even though I made it.

    I am also a liked your charity and supported it as much as I was able for the longest time.

    However during the time since I became a fan of your book series I graduated high school…then college…and now I am almost done with my grad school. As you yourself stated in the first book “When you wait a few span or month to hear a finished song, the anticipation adds savor. But after a year excitement begins to sour. By now, a year and a half had passed and folk were almost mad with curiosity. This occasionally led to hard words…..” And sadly it has been 7 years (nearing 8) since I started this series 3 years since the last book came out and not even a whisper of news on the next book series. I fear you might have written yourself into a corner as you wanted it to be a trilogy but between past and present story plot I fear you are unsure how to make it all fit well and flowing in a single book. And because of that your last book is taking awhile to be written which is fine if we knew that was why.

    However after this long without even a hint of what is to come or even if you are still writing the book for me and my fiance we called it quit. We decided that last month we even went so far as to burn our copies of your books so we would not be tempted to read them on a rainy day (yes even the one I used to propose to her with. I deeply regret proposing like that now). The reason why I wanted to wait a month to say all this is simple: For the first time in more then 7 years I have not read any of your works. Nor will I read the third when it comes out because I know you said you want to continue in that world and I do not wish to be stuck waiting another decade for a series to end. As much as I love your work and that brilliant mind of your that created a world I loved more then any other series the wait as turned too sour for me to remain a fan.

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