It’s a pretty, pretty book. And if you think the front cover looks nice, you should see the back….
Now that, my friends, is how you blurb a book. I’m all blushy.
The book has improved, cleaned up text. An introduction, an author’s note (by me), pronunciation guide, and several appendixes about things like the currency systems, the calendar, the Aturan Empire, etc etc.
Also? It has more than 20 illustrations from Dan Dos Santos like this:
And this:
And two new maps from Nathan Taylor like this:
And the appendixes are further illustrated by Nate Taylor like this:
So… yeah. That book. That is the one I’m talking about.
Here’s the dates for the very short book tour I’m doing:
Tuesday, October 3: Seattle, WA
7 PM: Reading, Q&A, and Signing with University Bookstore
The Worldbuilders Party is an amazing time where you can buy tickets to play board games with cool folks like Naomi Novik, Trin Garritano, Myke Cole, Peter V. Brett, Holly Frey, Amy S. Foster, and lots more.
That’s all the planned events for now. Sorry if I’m not hitting your hometown, but there’s only so much touring I can do at this point.
If I’m not coming to your neck of the woods, you should contact your local bookstore and pre-order one. (It might work better than just showing up and hoping they have it in stock.) Sometimes bookstores don’t realize how many of you there are, and how enthusiastic y’all are….
Anyway. It’s super late right now. And I’m pretty tired. I need to get to bed.
A while back, I wrote a blog where I talked about the results of the election, and talked about how I was thinking of starting up an activism newsletter. When 2500 of y’all signed up for it in just a couple days, it let me know that people really wanted help engaging in productive activism and getting reliable news.
Since then, I’ve been assembling my team of People-Who-Are-Smarter-Than-Me (TM) to make this happen. I want the newsletter to be smart, easy-to-interact-with, and efficient. I want it to be useful and exciting. Something you’ll look forward to showing up in your inbox. Something you’ll tell your friends about.
But that takes time. And despite the fact that the newsletter isn’t up and running yet, there are important things happening.
Specifically, there are elections happening. And if you care about changing things, you have to get out and vote.
(Actual Footage.)
2. Elections
If you live in Wisconsin, like me. There are elections today. And one of the big things up for grabs is State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Given that the current secretary of education is an embarrassingly unqualified billionaire heiress who was appointed due to the fact that her family donates millions to politicians… well… it’s pretty important that we get qualified people into positions of power on the state level.
(By the way, Tony Evers is the guy who has my vote. He’s been doing the job for a while and comes highly recommended by my teacher friends.)
But it’s not just happening here in Wisconsin: there are four seats in the house of representatives up for grabs over this next month. Given what’s going on in our country right now, that’s a *huge* deal.
And here’s the thing: spring elections have *really* low turnout. You can make a huge difference with just a few votes.
How few? Well, I have a friend who was once elected to a seat on the city council. You know how many votes it took?
Eight. And she didn’t win *by* eight votes. She got Eight. Total. Votes.
But that was enough. And she got in.
That’s why I’m reaching out today. Your vote is a big deal. And if you take a step even further and clue in your friends and family, it can make a HUGE difference.
So. Below are a list of elections that are happening soon. Some of them are happening TODAY.
Most of the elections are regional, and you’ll need to look up whether or not your county or city is one of the regions. A few of them are statewide, but the provisions on each ballot will still be different depending on where you live.
ALL of them are important. People on school boards have a *huge* impact on local education. Primaries are a *big* deal.
If you’re one of the people who’s lucky enough to get the chance to vote today, take the time to look things up and do your research. My team worked hard all day to try to find government websites that would give you the information you’ll need, but I’m gonna tell you the truth: some state websites are not good. Many haven’t updated since the November election.
(We’ve added this to the list of issues we’re going to try and address in the newsletter in the future.)
For the regional elections. You’ll be much better off looking up information on your city or county website. Or you can do what I do, and call up someone who you you trust and respect, and ask their opinion. Have a conversation and become more informed. (Also it’s a nice excuse to catch up with a friend.)
We’ve done our best here on kinda short notice. But this list isn’t perfect. If you don’t see your state on this list, but you know there *is* an election coming up, drop us a line we’ll keep things updated.
3. A Second Chance…
So here’s the thing, if you signed up for the newsletter. I just sent something very similar to this to your inbox. It’s probably sitting there right now, in fact. Waiting hopefully for you to click it.
If that’s the case, why am I repeating it here?
For one, to give those of you who didn’t know about the budding mailing list another chance to sign up for it here:
I’m also repeating it here because… well… even if you didn’t sign up for the newsletter, voting is still important.
What’s more, I don’t know how many of you might have missed that blog. Or how many of you might have particularly aggressive spam filters. Or how many of you might simply ignore a kinda rando message showing up out of nowhere…
I will say this though. When we get the newsletter up and running, I won’t be duplicating what it does here. So if you want to be involved, hit that form.
One final thing: If you’d like to help us get this mailing list off the ground, send an email to us at activism[@]patrothfuss.com with “STARTUP” in the subject line and we’ll get in touch.
That’s all for now, folks.
Thanks for taking the time to go out and do good in the world.
So it’s been pretty quiet here on the blog since the fundraiser ended. Partly that’s because I’ve been trying to focus my energy on laying in some infrastructure in my life so that I can be more productive (and that tends to be boring to blog about.)
But don’t assume that silence means inactivity. Home office here has been a whirlwind as my team has been working on fulfilling the Tak kickstarter, drawing prizes for the worldbuilders lottery, and shipping the everyday store orders in the Tinker’s packs.
(And because I know people will ask in the comments: if you missed the kickstarter, you can order Tak over here in the Tinker’s Packs and yours will ship as soon as the Kickstarter is fulfilled. Which will be super soon.)
Does that sound like a lot of packaging? Because it is.
(Seriously, you can barely move in HQ right now)
But while some of our quiet is due to things being busy, it’s not the entire reason for our silence over here. The truth is, pretty much everyone I know is pretty emotionally distraught over things happening in the world right now, Worldbuilders employees included.
I’ve collected a good team over the years. They’re intelligent, empathetic, good-smelling people. They’re socially aware, and politically active. They wouldn’t work here if they didn’t care about making the world a better place.
And… well… not to bullshit around. But we’re all kind of scared right now. There are things happening the the US and around the world that make us very worried for our country and our people.
But when everything seems awful, what do you do?
Well recently, someone sent me a link to this, telling me that it’s helped them recently.
It’s a part of a blog I wrote years ago. At the time I was talking about charity, but that particular quote rings even more true these days than it did then.
Because the simple truth is this: When things are bad, all you can do is what you can do.
Which is perfectly accurate but also kinda useless in terms of a strategy.
As I mentioned before, pretty much everyone I know is freaked out right now and feeling some version of, “I have to do something, but what?”
Part of what I’m doing to help is that I reach out to my friends to see how they’re doing. I try to console or comfort if I can. I give them someone to talk to. And if they’re looking for it, I give some advice….
But honestly? I’m calling because desperately looking for help myself. So if my friends have good strategies, I steal them or pass them along. I pick their brains because most of the people I know are smarter than me in at least two or three different ways.
So with the hope that it might be helpful to some of you out there, here’s what some of my crew is doing these days….
Brett – Do Research & Talk to People
One of the frustrating things about media today is that most people tend to filter their news through Facebook and Twitter, neither of which are ideal venues for nuanced discussion or information dissemination. It drives me nuts to see bad, lopsided, or blatantly spun “news” get shared and retweeted without a second thought. I know I can’t change minds, but at least I can try to get people thinking about the news they share.
I’ve been researching quotes, statistics, and claims put forth in memes and shared blog posts from both sides of the partisan divide since before the election, posting links to reliable sources that either support or refute the information. Snopes is a good, easy-to-digest source (yes, I know, “scandal” and all that, but it doesn’t affect the reliability of the data they compile), but links to the Associated Press and Reuters are solid, as is NPR. If there are several sources that have the same information, find and link to all of them. I usually have several browser tabs open on my phone, just in case I need to look something up.
People will argue with you. They’ll post their own sources and memes to persuade or deflect you, or just to assert their point of view. That’s great–you get to do more research, and you’ll have a better understanding of how they view the issue.
Stuff to watch out for:
1. Topic drift. Stay on target, address only the claims put forth in the original article or meme. If someone tries to argue with you by bringing up something that’s tangentially related or used to deflect (“Trump will release his taxes when Clinton releases her emails”), remind them that you are discussing only the original topic. Stick to your guns, but stay calm.
2. Be patient. Don’t devolve into name calling or one-upmanship. You are trying to give accurate information, not start an argument.
3. Ask for counter-arguments from other valid sources. This will start a dialogue and give others a chance to defend their beliefs with their own evidence. Encourage them to keep explaining their point. If it turns out they’re right about something, let them know.
4. Be open to the possibility that you might be wrong. If you’re wrong, it’s not a character flaw. You might not have the whole story. You might be too close to the argument to see it objectively. These are emotionally-charged times, and we’re all human. If someone you disagree with turns out to be right, admit it and thank them.
5. See things from their perspective. It’s very likely that you both agree on the big picture, but disagree on the source of the problem and the solution needed. The more you listen to someone explain their position, the better understanding you get of how they reached it.
6. Be cool. Be Zaphod Beeblebrox cool. Don’t resort to name calling. Don’t start your own topic drift. Don’t bring up old stuff. You’re better than that. You have access to facts and data the likes of which we’ve never had before this day, and you can use it to build your platform, argue your case, and–probably not change anyone’s mind, but get them thinking. And that’s what we want: we want people to start really thinking about stuff.
TL;DR: Fight “alternative truth” with solid facts from reputable sources. Stay cool about it. Understand that you probably won’t change anyone’s mind, but you might get them to start looking up facts for themselves before they click Like, Share, or Retweet.
Amanda – Write Letters to Your Representatives
I’ve been feeling very helpless for the last few days, and most of my coping mechanisms haven’t been all that great.
Stressed? Me? Whatever gave you that impression? There’s nothing stressful going on in the world! pic.twitter.com/d7MFqj3W0a
But there’s a lot of productive things that can be done, and while I’m kind of exhausted these days, it’s important to funnel this destructive energy into the policies I disagree with, and not, you know, myself.
I remembered a video I watched from Hank Green this last summer, and I’m using it to have a system to write to my representatives.
This video was made shortly after the Pulse shootings this summer, so it’s focused on LGBT and gun control issues, but you can use this script to write about anything that’s important to you.
Representatives are much more likely to respond to a hand-written letter than an email or signature on an online petition. I actually got a letter back from one of my representatives, and while he didn’t change his vote, he thanked me for my honesty and he gave me a genuine and thoughtful response. He really read my letter (or a staffer did, but still, *someone* did), and it had an impact.
So imagine if he had been inundated with these letters. Maybe we can make a real difference. And making your voice heard is what democracy is about.
Though, honestly, a letter is great, but a call is better.
Nicole – Call Your Representatives
It seems like there’s something new happening every day that needs our attention, and with the list of points to discuss with your representatives only growing longer, it’s getting harder to keep it all straight.
It’s overwhelming, to be sure, and while it’s got me feeling like this uphill battle may never be over, I realize now more than ever that giving up is not an option. The more issues that need to be discussed, the more important it is that we discuss them.
I’ve started using 5calls.org to help me stay organized in my effort. While their list of issues that need attention may not be 100% complete, it’s a great place to start, and a great resource for phone numbers and even provides talking points and scripts.
The best part of this site is that it prompts me to make another call immediately after I finish one, which helps me maintain my momentum once I get started.
Amanda Again – Take Care of Yourself
The hardest part of this whole thing, for me, has been the incredible desire to disengage. Bad news just keeps coming through, and we need to be constantly vigilant to stay on top of it.
But then my beloved Jenn tweeted something out that I really needed to hear.
So I’ve had a game night or two where we’re not allowed to look at our phones. I’ve been reading a book and watching TV in the evenings rather than going on social media. I play Stardew Valley and revel in the simple living in that little town, flirting with every.damn.body.
I don’t take whole days off yet, but I’m considering it. One a week maybe.
And then, once I’m feeling a little bit better, I see what else needs doing. I look up phone numbers, I read multiple stories from a variety of sources, and I try to make sure I’m informed by more than the inflammatory stories that happen to line up with my beliefs.
***
My people are good people. I love them with big love.
But the fact remains, I don’t know what *I* should be doing.
Part of the problem is that I have a lot of resources, and that gives me a lot of options. I have money. I have a platform from which to speak to many people. (This blog, for example.) I admire the hell out of the folks who call and write letters. But I wonder if that’s the best thing for *me* to do with my time and energy.
I feel like there are a lot of people out there that want do do something. They want to make a difference, but don’t know the best way to do that. I feel like there are people out there who want to stay informed, but who are becoming emotionally exhausted by Twitter. People who want to want to be active, who want to help… But who aren’t sure how. They don’t know where to start. Or once they start, they don’t know where to go next….
For over a month now, I’ve been wanting to start a newsletter for people who want to be activists, but could use some help getting started. Or people who *are* activists but want to up their game. People who only have thirty minutes a week to spare, and want to use that time to the best effect. People who want help staying informed without burning out and being overwhelmed.
This idea keeps rolling around in my head. A mailing list that gives people tools and tricks for effective activism.
I have a list of people I’ve already been reaching out to, just exploring. Just seeing if they might be interested in helping me put this together. Folks who are smarter, more informed, and more organized than I am. People with good brains and kind hearts. Experienced activists of many stripes.
And yeah. I don’t need another project. Believe me. Nobody knows that better than I do. I’m too busy. I’ve got too many irons in too many fires.
But what’s happening right now is really important. And besides, I wouldn’t do this myself, I’d bring someone in to orchestrate it, because I suck at organization.
So. Here’s the question. Is this something y’all might be interested in?
If so, enter your e-mail into the form below. If only 8 people sign up, I’ll breathe a sigh of relief, send everyone a polite thank-you, and walk away from the idea.
But if 500 people are interested… well then I might start putting my team together. A 1000 people? Well, that means there’s a pressing need for activism advice out there. And I could help make that available to people…
So… yeah. If you’d be interested in a mailing list about political activism and things going on in the world, drop your e-mail here. Rest assured that if this moves forward, you’ll be able to choose your level of engagement. I can’t imagine sending out more than one email a week at the most…
So… yeah. There’s that. If you’re interested.
I hope y’all are doing okay. Take care of yourselves….
Yesterday I wrote a blog about a little girl named Charlotte. About how she is holding an Geek-Themed internet concert on behalf of Worldbuilders, and encouraging people to sing.
Which isn’t to say her first goal wasn’t admirable, given what a Heifer can do for a family:
(Did you see my awesome segue there?)
And as a reminder, every dollar in the fundraiser is being doubled. That means if you give enough for a family to receive a heifer, you’re not just going to improve their life forever. You’re effectively donating enough for two heifers, which means you’re twice as awesome, and you’re doing twice as much good in the world.
Also, have I mentioned that if you donate, you can win cool prizes? I’m pretty sure I might have brought that up a couple times over the last month.
***
Ever since I started Worldbuilders (accidentally) back in 2008, my brethren and sistren authors have been amazing in their support of the charity. They boost my signal on social media. They write blogs in support of Heifer, and perform silly stretch goals. They donate critiques and cameo appearances.
And, of course, they send us books we can give away to donors.
Without getting all maudlin here, it’s meant a lot to me over the years.
A lot of times…. well… I feel like I’m not a very good author. Don’t get me wrong, I know I’m good at putting words together. I’m good at telling stories. But I also know I’m kinda shit at doing those things on a consistent schedule.
To put it differently: I’m pretty good at writing, but I’m not very good at being a writer.
Despite this, I’ve met with a ridiculous amount of success. And that makes me feel like… well… it makes me feel like kind of an asshole. Because pretty much every other author I know is better at sitting down, producing text, and getting books out into the world than I am.
The fact that so many other authors come in and with this project…. It’s really kind. Authors whose books I love. Authors whose minds I admire and envy. Authors who consistantly do what I cannot. It’s so flattering that they would take time out of their busy lives to help.
And it’s more than flattering, really. And it makes me feel welcome. Like I’m really part of this community despite the fact that I only *barely* do enough to keep my union card.
Whatever their reasoning, I’m proud and excited that so many of them are willing to come and help out. This year we had over 40 different authors contributing to the fundraiser, donating well over 500 books.
(I’m horrified that I might have left someone’s name off the list. If I did leave your name off, I’m sorry. Please know that I still love you. I’m just so tired and frazzled at this point in the fundraiser. If it helps, know that I just now, in this final pass on the blog, saw that we’d left off Gaiman’s name. (I just added it.) So if anything, know that if we glitched on this list, you’re in the same brainspace I reserve for Neil, who I love and admire beyond all words.)
Some authors donated an entire series, so that a new reader would have everything they could want in one prize.
(Like Brent Weeks)
(Or Martha Wells)
(Or Kristen Britain)
A lot of our authors sent us a truly ridiculous number of books. We’re always happy to have a couple of books, especially because most authors who send us their books are going out and buying copies to send to us. Most folks are lucky to get a few author copies written into their publishing contracts, but those usually go to family and friends. What we get from authors is almost always above and beyond that.
We have shelves full of author donated books, and individual authors take up entire sections of our wall.
Like this shelf full of books from Brad Beaulieu.
Or this one full of cool stuff from Holly Black.
Or this practically-unknowable shelf of books from Paolo Baccigalupi.
If that wasn’t enough, some also sent rare, limited, or otherwise fancy editions that we’ve thrown into the lottery for you. We received ARCs, numbered editions, and books that have been out of print for a while. And a truly astonishing number of them to boot.
There are so many books that if I tried to show them all here, the blog would be twenty thousand words long, and… well… knowing me, I wouldn’t post it until 2018.
But you can see all of them if you go visit the Worldbuilders’ Lottery Library page….
* * *
Only a few days left, folks. All of the auctions we’re going to have up are live, including some other author-donated books for those of you who don’t want to take your chances in the lottery.
Hey folks, Worldbuilders Team here! Pat is currently out in Seattle for the Child’s Play dinner, but he asked us to hijack the blog and do another recap of what’s been going on in the fundraiser so far.
As we write this, we’re sitting at over $1.45 MILLION, something we never could’ve imagined before, and it’s significantly because of our matching money.
We’re so grateful for this matching money, because it means we’re able to do twice the good. Plus, it means every donation you make gets us closer to the next stretch goal twice as fast. If you donate $20, we get $40 closer.
We’re blowing by stretch goals, and you can see which ones we’ve hit and the ones we’re still hoping to hit right here. Every one of them is clickable, so click around to your heart’s content…
$100,000: Pat’s New Website Launches
$200,000: Heifer does Animal Cosplay
$300,000: Worldbuilders Happy Dances
$400,000: Seth Fishman hosts an Agent Q&A
$500,000: Shawn Speakman Reads as Gollum
$600,000: Myke Cole & Robert Bennett Cluck Carols
$800,000: Sherwood Smith hosts an Online Workshop
$900,000: Pat Pronounces Kingkiller Names
$1,000,000: Neil Gaiman Reads For Us
$1,100,000: Paul and Storm sing to Pat
$1,200,000: Anton Strout writes Kvothe D&D Fanfic
$1,300,000: Delilah S. Dawson & Sam Sykes Genderswap Fanfic
$1,400,000: William Alexander Kermits Midsummer Night
$1,500,000: Pat Writes a Rat Queens Story
$1,800,000: Oot Explains Advanced Chess
$2,000,000: Pat Rothfuss does a Q&A on Book 3
One of our personal favorites was our happy dances when we hit $300,000–mostly because we love doing happy dances.
We’ve all been dancing around the office pretty much ever since, mostly because we don’t have any reason to stop.
In addition to your donation pushing us closer to stretch goals, though, you’re also getting entries into the lottery. Every $10 you donate gets you just a little bit closer, and we have more than 5,400 individual prizes in the lottery now.
We just realized that. Guys, we have over 5,400 prizes!
As a reminder, a majority of the lottery and auction items aren’t being posted about here on Pat’s blog. Instead, Pat has let the Worldbuilders Team share a lot of that information on our website.
For example, last week we posted up literally THOUSANDS OF GAMES from Mayfair Games, Fantasy Flight, Wizards of the Coast, and Settlers of Catan, just to name a few. That was on top of all of the games we already had from Cheapass Games and Pathfinder.
So yeah, we’ve been showing off A LOT of stuff on the Worldbuilders Blog.
The photos below show off the broad categories, but you can click on any of color images to check out the blog post and/or the section of the Lottery Library we’ve featured so far:
The black and white stuff is coming soon!
There’s already over $160,000 worth of prizes in the lottery, and a LOT more is going to be coming in this last week. Remember, if you want to know about ALL OF IT, check out the Worldbuilders Blog or the Lottery Library. Both of those will show you all of the coolness.
The last round of auctions are also going live tonight, so if you want one last opportunity to get your hands on some rare, limited, or otherwise specialty items, swing over to the eBay page and see if there’s anything you’re interested in.
Our deadline extension brings us through December 19th at 11;59pm PST, and now we’ve got enough time to show off everything else that’s coming. There’s a fair amount, including a story about a certain beloved book, so keep an eye out….
Hey everyone, Amanda here! Pat’s off on a trip to San Diego for the fabled San Diego Comic Con, and since he’s already hit the road, I’m here to present to you his schedule so you can hunt him down like the pokemon that he is. (Note: Please do not actually hunt Pat. Or tell him I said this.)
He’ll be lurking around San Diego a little bit today (Wednesday) but he doesn’t have an official events until Thursday afternoon…
Thursday, July 21
1:30pm-2:30pm: Nerd Trivia, Author Edition, with Pierce Brown, Romina Russel, Chuck Wendig, Sam Sykes, Cecil Castellucci, V.E. Schwab, Camilla D’Errico, and Duane Swierczynski. Held in the Horton Grand Theater, 444 4th Ave.
They’re actually holding a drawing for Panel tickets in the morning, from 9am to 10am in the Salis Pavillion, so if you want to get in on this, be sure to head up there Thursday morning.
Pat’s not technically performing at w00tstock, but he’ll be around, and even without him in the show, you should swing by if you have time. It’s the best thing to do in town, and I’m not just saying that because Hank Green is on the lineup this year (though that is part of it, since I’m a huge Nerdfighter).
w00tstock is a variety show that really caters to the geek community. Folks like Joel Hodgson, Cameron Esposito, Rhea Butcher, and Travis McElroy will be there, just to name a few. There are a lot of videos available online from previous years, including a couple of time Pat’s been there and done some reading.
Tickets are available here, so you should check it out if you can.
Friday, July 22
11am-12am: Q&A with Ben Hatke, Room 4 1pm-2pm: Spotlight on Patrick Rothfuss, Room 6A
Hank Green is going to be interviewing Pat, and goodness knows what they’ll end up talking about, but I’m fairly confident it’ll be entertaining, at the very least.
5:30pm-6:30pm: Signing autograph area AA21
Saturday, July 23
12pm-1pm: Signing, autograph area AA08
Sunday July 24
12pm-1pm: Signing at Badali’s Booth, #532
This signing requires a FREE time ticket, which you can pick up at Badali’s booth anytime the hall is open, from Preview Night until just before the signing starts.
***
It’s going to be an awesome con, and everything on Pat’s schedule looks like it’s going to be a good time.
In a couple of weeks, Pat will be headed out to GenCon with the Worldbuilders team in tow, and that schedule is already posted for your perusal a few blogs back, or you can just click here to check it out.
So for the last two years, we’ve run a summer fundraiser for Worldbuilders called Geeks Doing Good. It tends to happen near the begining of June, and it only lasts for a week.
*Because* it only lasts for a week, it can be easy to miss. So today I thought I’d throw y’all a heads-up about it launching next week.
It’s especially important for me to give y’all some advance notice this year, as I’m going to be traveling back from Phoenix ComicCon with my family on the 6th, so I won’t be able to make a lot of noise about the festivities here on the blog until Tuesday or Wednesday.
For those of you who are new to it, Geeks Doing Good is an opportunity for Worldbuilders to experiment with some new merchandise and team up with cool people like Jim Butcher (like we did last year, and are again this year). We also sell unique experiences that might not be right for everyone, but are *perfect* for others (like the chance to go on the JoCo Cruise, or play games with authors or members of the Worldbuilders team at Gencon).
So yeah. Today I’m gonna give a little taste of what’s to come so you’re more likely to jump on board and/or help us spread the word when we pull the trigger on this next week.
Here’s a tiny piece of what’s on the docket:
So Many Shirts
As of right now, we’ve got a confirmed shirt with Jim Butcher, Sam Sykes, Kurtis Wiebe (of Rat Queens) and me. Also, because people have been asking for it, we’re going to do a brand-new Worldbuilders t-shirt, too.
You can grab any of these, or pick up a t-shirt 3 pack and get a discount while picking a few of your favorite designs. (Or get three of the same shirt. Or get two of one shirt and one of another. Or whatever. What I’m saying here is that you have a lot of options. We’re giving you options.)
We’ll also have a new shirt from Litographs, this one inspired by The Name of the Wind. We can’t show you the art quite yet, but it’s a beautiful thing to behold.
A New Hoodie
After how much everyone loved the Eolian hoodie last year, we figured we should do another one. This one is a pull-over, rather than a zip-up, to really show off Sarah Hartwick‘s “Ivare Enim Euge” design.
Bumper Stickers
Folks have been asking for a way to show off their Worldbuilders pride, so we took a suggestion from the crowd and produced a few different Worldbuilders Bumper Stickers.
(I’m the one that suggested “Totes M’Goats”)
Many, Many Other Things
There will be other items familiar to those of you who have seen our prior fundraiser: Digital perks, game bundles, custom jewelry, cool books, and even a cabin on the JoCo Cruise.
I’d show you pictures of all the products if I could, but I know it’s better to wait until we actually launch the fundraiser. So instead, here’s a teaser collage. Clever viewers of the sort that like to dig though my books for clues will probably be able to make some educated guesses about what a lot of these things are.
To see the full list in all its glory, you’ll have to wait until we go live on Monday. I won’t be blogging about it until Tuesday or Wednesday, but if you want to be notified as soon as launch, you can sign up for such a notification right here (which, conveniently, will also be a link you can follow to the campaign itself once it launches).
Thanks for being awesome…
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P.S. As a reminder, I’m currently out at Phoenix Comicon (My schedule is here), and if anyone’s around and willing to help us by volunteering at our Mega-booth, (#740) they can contact the lovely Thera on Twitter.
P.P.S. My family will be with me on this trip. So be aware that if you see in public with a kid, that’s probably not the best time to approach me. Yes. My children are adorable. But they are not part of the convention attractions. Please be gracious and give us some space.
What’s more, when I’m with my kids, please be aware that I’m being a dad, not an entertainer, convention guest, or autograph machine. If you’d like to hear me talk about writing, see me read my stuff, ask me a question, or get something signed you should *really* consider going to one of the events we’ve scheduled for those specific purposes. Don’t try to do it when I’m trying to have a quiet moment and some ice cream with one of my sons…
