I’m up in the north woods right now, a lovely place, isolated. Great for a little family vacation. It’s the sort of place where you can only get cell phone reception if all the local bears are standing in the right places so the radio waves reflect the signal in the right way.

But it’s hell on internet, too. Not only do I have to leave behind my lovely clicky keyboard behind, but I have to use a borrowed computer. Last night I typed up a post three separate times, only to have my dad’s computer erase it, rather than saving it.

This I do not love.

Anyway, I’m at the local library right now, and I’m posting to let y’all know about some reading and signings that are coming up in the next couple weeks.

*     *     *

Note: This first event is in less than a week. Tell your friends….

Next week I’ll be in Reno for Worldcon. (My schedule for the convention is posted on the events page and on facebook.)

But since I’m going to be in the area for the first time, I thought I’d do a signing for people who live nearby but are unable to attend Worldcon.

So Sundance Books & Music is hosting the event which will be held next door at the Nevada Museum of Art. I’ll be doing my standard reading, Q&A and signing. The store will be selling my books and you can contact them at 775-786-1188 or on their website or facebook. I’ve put up a facebook event as well if you’re interested.

[Edit: Because the theater we're having the reading in only has about 200 seats, the bookstore is suggesting that you call ahead and reserve your place. That way you can be sure to have a seat waiting for you when show up.]

RENO, NV
August 18 at 6:30pm
Sundance Books & Music
Reading/Q&A/Signing
Nevada Museum of Art
Wayne and Miriam Prim Theatre
160 West Liberty Street
Reno NV 85901

*     *     *

The last weekend of August, I’ll be doing an “Author vs. Author” event at McLean & Eakin Booksellers with Ernie Cline, whose first book, Ready Player One, is coming out on the 16th.

It’s Awesome. How Awesome?

This Awesome:

(Click to embiggen.)

The bookstore is requesting reservations for this (free) event and you can contact them at 231-347-1180.

And there’s an Awesome poster.

Details:

PETOSKEY, MI
August 27 at 6:30pm
Reading/Talk/Q&A/Signing
McLean & Eakin Booksellers
307 E. Lake St.
Petoskey , Michigan 49770
Facebook event

*     *     *

Since I was going to be driving through the UP on my way back from Petosky, I thought I should take the time do do a signing. Luckily, the lovely people at Snowbound Books were willing to accommodate me.

I’ll be doing my typical reading/Q&A/and signing. Hardcovers of NOTW and WMF with be available at the store, as well as copies of The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle. I’ll also have copies of the promotional sticker with me.

For more info, or to reserve a copy of the book, call: 906-228-4448.

Details:

MARQUETTE, MI
August 28 from 3pm to 6pm
Reading/Q&A/and Signing
Snowbound Books
118 N. Third St.
Marquette, MI 49855
906-228-4448
snowboundbooks.com
Facebook event

That’s all for now, folks. Sorry the post isn’t prettier and wittier, but the library is about to close.

New post on Monday.

pat

Fast forward to now, the same people that ran the Fantasy Matters convention just started up their own website, and they asked me if I’d write something to help with the launch. So I wrote a little something that talked about attending their convention back in the day. It was one of the very first that I attended as a professional writer, and meeting Neil Gaiman at that point in my life had a bit of an impact on me.

Here’s a link, if you’re interested in reading it…

In other news, I’m going to be doing a reading, Q&A, and signing up in Rhinelander on the 27th.

This should be a fun event for a couple reasons:

1) It should be cozy. (By which I mean there will probably be less than 400 people there.) That means I’ll have more time to hang out and personalize books for people.

2) Since the second book has been out for a couple months now, I can finally answer questions about it during the Q&A, and maybe read a piece of it, too. I couldn’t do that during my tour for fear of spoilers.

3) We’ve got a nice venue in an auditorium. So everyone can have a seat, even if we get 150 people or so. It’s flattering when so many people show up to an event that it’s standing room only, but I feel bad for the people that get stuck standing behind shelves or sitting on the floor.

4) I’ll have access to a projector, which means I might be able to show y’all some things I don’t normally get to share with people….

Here’s a link to the facebook event, if you’d like more details.

pat

Details on the tour page or on the Facebook event here.

Second, a story.

It’s a story about stories, actually. That hopefully shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to anyone here….

These days, little Oot has all sorts of words. The days of his vocabulary being a handful of words, most of which sound like “duck,” are long past.

What amazes me is how quickly some things are developing.

Today he wanted to make a pillow fort. So we made a pillow fort. Because pillow forts are awesome.

(Box forts are also awesome.)

After the fort was done, he walked across the bed, picked up a book, and brought it back to me.

Oot loves books. Sarah reads to him all the time. I read to him a lot, too, but Sarah beats me out in sheer hours, as she spends all day with him, while on a good day, I’ll only have three or four.

So he brings me a book, but it wasn’t a picture book. It’s the book that Sarah’s currently reading, my copy of Brandon Sanderson’s The Hero of Ages.

He holds the book out to me and says, “Daddie.”

This means many things. His inflection tells me that he knows its my book. But it also means he wants me to read it to him as well. He can say a lot with just one word, and I’ve become very good at interpreting in this last year.

He sits in my lap, and we put the book in front of us. (We only had three pillows, you see, so I was the back wall of the fort.)

I open the book up to the middle and point at the text. “Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Oot,” I say. “He was very nice. One day, he wanted to go for a walk. So he went outside with his momma, and he got in the wagon.”

I know he doesn’t understand all of it. But he can catch the gist. He can use a lot of these words himself. I think it sounds kinda like this to him:

“Xxxx xxxx x xxxx, xxxxx xxx x little xxx named Oot. He xxx xxxx nice. One xxx, he wanted xx go xxx x walk. Xx he xxxx outside xxxx his momma, xxx xxxx xxx in the wagon.”

I would bet serious money this is what it sounds like to him. Because these last couple of weeks, this is exactly what he talks like.

He says: “Ya ya ya ya ya ya ya daddie,” and points at a picture of me on the fridge. He’s obviously saying something about the picture of me, but he doesn’t know that the rest of the words should be. “Ya ya ya ya ya book. Ya ya ya ya ya eyaphant. (elephant)”

Anyway, I’m making up a little story for Oot. After every couple sentences I turn a page, because that’s what happens when you read a book. I know the game. We’ve done this before.

But this time things are different.

“…and he got in the wagon,” I say.

“Dog!” Oot interjects. “Bark.”

It takes me a second to figure out what he’s talking about. We keep his wagon in the garage, and sometimes the next door neighbor’s dog is out there.

“And Oot saw a dog,” I say. “And the dog barked and barked. Then momma put Oot in the wagon and pulled it.”

“Stand!” Everything he says has an exclamation point at the end of it. It’s said with such certainty. These words aren’t exclamations as much as they’re declamations. Assume that what I’m using is a declamation point at the end of his sentences.

I continue: “Then Oot tried to stand up in the wagon, but his momma said, ‘Oh no. Be careful.’ So Oot sat down in the wagon again and his momma pulled it.”

He seems satisfied with this. I turn a page.

“On their walk, they saw a tree, and a rock…”

“Geddit!” he says. “Trowit!” he moves his arm excitedly, like he’s throwing. “Air!”

“And Oot took the rock and threw it through the air.”

“Bird! Fly! Up!”

“And they saw a bird flying high up in the sky.” I pause. “Is a bird big or little?”

“Eeedie beetie,” he says in a high voice, holding out two fingers pinched close together. (itty-bitty)

“What does the bird say?”

“Teet.”

“Does a bird say, ‘Toot?’”

He shakes his head. “No.”

This makes me sad. Birds used to say, “toot.” I really liked that. It was cute as hell…

I turn the page. “Oot and momma go and have some dinner. They have soup and carrots….”

“Candy!” he says. This word is perfectly enunciated, though a little long on the “a” sound. “Caaandy.”

“First they eat soup,” I say. Doing my best to maintain rule of law, even in the story. “First chicken and pickle. Then candy.”

“Choccat!”

I didn’t know he knew that word. He must have learned it over Easter.

“Yes,” I concede, “then they had chocolate. Then they came home.” I close the book. “The end.”

This is how deeply rooted stories are, folks. We crave them before we can walk, and we start telling them before we can talk.

That’s all for now, be good to each other.

pat

Apparently they’re doing research into what happens in creative people’s brains. They’re studying what goes on when we make thinkings. Or whatever. It’s science of some sort.

The important thing is that as an incentive for participating in this, they offered to give me a picture of my own brain.

So I agreed to do it. Partly because… y’know. Science. But mostly because I’m curious as to what my brain looks like. Plus, I’m hoping if something goes wrong with the MRI while they’re scanning me, I might develop superpowers.

The upshot is that I’m taking a quick trip to Iowa City next week.

Whenever I visit a city I’ve never been to before, I try to set up a reading so people in that part of the country have a chance to get their books signed.

Unfortunately, I only got the details of my Iowa City trip finalized today. (Wednesday the 13th.)  Since I’m going to be down there on the 21st, that means trying to set up a signing a week ahead of time.

As a rule, bookstores hate this. They want to set up signings months in advance. It gives them a chance to advertise, put up posters, order books. Stuff like that.

Still, I figured I’d try.

So this afternoon I did some googling. Then I called 4 different stores and talked to 10 different people. There was one store that did events, but they already had something planned Thursday night. Another store was too small. Another store only did signings for sport-related books. Another store just didn’t give a damn….

It’s hard setting these things up. When I call a bookstore to set up a signing, I’m effectively asking the manager if they’d like to do a whole lot of extra work. What’s more, even a well-advertised signing can get low attendance, and I was springing all this on them with barely a week’s notice.

What’s more, I’m a pretty new author. If you read fantasy, there’s a chance you might know who I am. But y’know…. a lot of people don’t read fantasy.

Given all this, it’s not surprising that I wasn’t having much luck finding a venue.

Still, who knows when I’m going to be in Iowa again? So I called one last bookstore: The Haunted Bookshop.

It was a shot in the dark, as I could see on their blog that they’re mostly a used bookstore.

But nobody knows the local book scene better than folks that work in a used bookstore. If they didn’t have any interest in doing a signing, I was hoping they could give me some advice as to where I might be able to find a space at short notice.

So I gave them a ring and told them pretty much what I’ve told you. I’m an author. Research. Picture of my brain. Hoping to find a place for a signing….

Them: Have you tried Prairie Lights?

Me: Yeah. They’re booked. (I was kinda proud of this pun.)

Them: If you do literary stuff there’s a local library with a meeting room you might be able to use…

Me: I’m not really literary.

Them: What did you say your name was?

The thing is, I hadn’t told them my name. I’d skipped it because nothing is more depressing to an author than calling a bookstore, giving your name, and having the person on the other end of the line have absolutely no idea who you are. This had already happened twice, at some of the other bookstores, and I wasn’t looking forward to having it happen a third time.

Me: My name’s Patrick Rothfuss. I only have two books out, and if you don’t read fantasy, there’s no reason that you’d ever have heard of me.

Them: I think you’ll have to do your signing here. Because if you don’t, one of my co-workers will cut my throat.

Me: I beg your pardon?

Them: Your first book is amazing.

Me: You know who I am? Thank god.

Them: What day are you thinking of?

Me: Thursday the 21st. I’m sorry it’s such short….

Them: We can do that. What time would you like to do it?

Me: Well, 7:00 tends to be good because then people can drive in from out of town. But I noticed your store normally closes at….

Them: We can stay open late. How much space do you need?

Me: Since we’re only setting it up a week ahead of time, I’m guessing we’ll only get 60-80…

Them: We’ll move some shit around.

Have I mentioned how much I love used book stores?

Anyway, the end of the story is that I’m going to be having a reading/signing at Haunted Bookshop in Iowa City on the 21st of April.

Here’s the facebook event, if you’re interested. Feel free to invite any of your friends you think might be interested.

I’ll do a reading mixed with some Q&A staring at 7:00. Then I’ll sign books until everyone is happy.

Seating will be limited, but you can show up early to claim a seat if you want. Plus, if you’re there early, you get to browse through the used books. If I can get there early that’s probably what I’m going to do.

In addition to copies of The Wise Man’s Fear. The store will also have hardcover copies of The Name of the Wind and The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle available.

You don’t need to buy a copy of my book to attend. (I know a lot of you already have your copies.) But I do encourage people to buy something at the hosting book store. It’s a nice way to thank them for giving me a venue to meet with y’all while I’m in town.

If you have questions, you can call the store at 319-337-2996.

We are setting this one up on terribly short notice. So if you know of anyone in the area that might be interested, I’d greatly appreciate it if you dropped them a link. It breaks my heart when I get e-mail that says, “I just missed you in [city]! When will you be back?” and I have to tell respond, “Maybe a year or two? Maybe never?”

Sorry to postpone the blog telling the story about the romance convention and my reading with Amber Benson. I needed to post this up first, given how little time we have to spread the word about the signing.

Stories soon,

pat

I set this one up just today, and it’s not even a week away. So if you know of anyone here in central wisconsin who might be interested, I’d appreciate it if you spread the news to them.

STEVENS POINT, WI
April 2 at Noon
Signing at Bookfinders
1001 Brilowski Rd
Stevens Point, WI 54482
Phone: 715-341-8300
Facebook Event

I’ll be hanging out at the local bookstore here in Stevens Point for a couple hours this upcoming Saturday, signing books and chatting with anyone who cares to stop by. Bookfinders will have copies of The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle as well as hardcover versions of The Name of the Wind.

Also, because this is close to my house, Oot might be making a guest appearance.

LOS ANGELES, CA
April 8 at 7:30 PM
Skylight Books
1818 N. Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Phone: (323) 660-1175
Facebook Event

This one is going to be fun, as I’m doing a talk and signing with the fabulous Amber Benson.

Amber has graciously forgiven me for making an ass of myself a couple years back. So we’ll be talking about epic vs. urban fantasy, answering questions, and just generally being cool. Or at least Amber will be being cool, and I’ll be faking it to the best of my ability.

AUSTIN, TX
April 15 at 7 PM
Barnes & Noble
10000 Research Blvd #158
Austin, TX 78759
Phone: 512-418-8985

Facebook Event.

When I did my signing at Murder by the Book in Houston, 50 people must have said that they drove down from Austin to attend. So, since I’m going to be in town for a convention, I figured I’d do a signing for folks that couldn’t make the trip.

Earlier this week, I did a call-in show on WPR. If you’re interested, you can listen to the recording of the broadcast here.

If we could avoid the endless screeling noise in the comments along the lines of, “Why don’t you ever come to XXX?” I’d appreciate it.

Cool news on Friday. Stay tuned.

Thanks,

pat

View Patrick Rothfuss, Wise Man’s Fear, Book Tour in a larger map

This has been a good thing. Your questions made me think about the tour in ways I wouldn’t have considered otherwise. I’ve spent weeks figuring things out, and now I have all sorts of answers for you. Plus a few other cool things that will probably be of interest even if you’re not planning on coming to one of the signings.

Also, for those of you who RSVP’d to the San Francisco event and couldn’t get a seat, we’ve managed to arrange a second event in San Francisco. Details are below in Question #2.

Ready? Here we go.

1. This is going to be my first booksigning and I don’t know the etiquette. Do I need to buy my book at the bookstore, or can I bring a book from home?

Honestly? The polite thing to do is to buy your book at the bookstore hosting the event.

You see, the bookstores hosting me put a lot of time, energy, and money into events like these. They order a BUNCH of books. They bring in extra staff to manage the crowds, set up chairs, and sometimes reorganize parts of the store. If the signing goes late, they have to keep the store open after hours.

Also, you have to remember that while the bookstore loves you, they are also, you know, a store. A store that sells books. They need to sell books to stay in business.

But there are other reasons too. Let’s say I do a signing and the bookstore sells 500 books. That bookstore is happy. That bookstore likes me. That bookstore wants to have me back for future events. Also, my publisher is happy, and they feel like spending the money to fly me out to events like this are a worthwhile investment.

But if I do a signing and sell, say, 20 books, odds are the bookstore won’t be inviting me back in the future.

Ultimately, buying a book at the hosting store is just good manners. They’re putting a lot of work into the event, and buying a book is the best way to show that you appreciate that.

*** There is one exception to this rule. There will be no books for sale at the Library of Congress reading. I’m happy to sign your book. But you’ll have to bring them with you.

Now does that mean you MUST buy a book to attend? Well, not exactly, read on…

1b. Pat, I called the bookstore and they said if I didn’t buy a book there, I couldn’t get anything signed. But I’m planning on buying your book March 1st, then driving three hours to get to your signing on the 10th. I’m a poor college student. I really can’t afford to buy a second book…

When I got the first message like this, I was surprised.

Needless to say, this isn’t the sort of policy I feel good about. The main reason I do these readings is so I can meet up with fans. I don’t want anyone getting turned away because they can’t afford to buy a book. (Or a second book, as with the example above.)

So I called my lovely PR team. They, in turn, called all the stores.

As a result, I’ve been reassured that nobody will be turned away from any of the events simply because they aren’t buying a book at the store.

That said, you can probably expect the hosting bookstores to give some preferential treatment to the people who buy at least one copy of the book in store. For example, they’ll probably get to go through the signing lines first. If we get huge turnouts, people who buy books in store will probably get first dibs on seating. Stuff like that.

1c. Can I get more than one book signed?

Yes.

The number of books you can get signed varies from store to store. Some stores will let you take three items through the line, some stores will let you bring five. If you want more books than that signed, you’ll have to get back in line.

For specifics, I’d suggest calling the store and asking them.

What if you’re picking up books for eight of your best friends? Well, odds are you’ll still be able to get them signed. The main reason I’m doing this tour is to sign books. My intention at each event is to sign books until there are no more books to sign.

I will only stop if I need to catch a plane, if the store needs to close, or if I collapse from exhaustion. That’s my plan.

2. I just found out that your reading in San Fransisco has limited seating! I e-mailed them 6 hours after you announced it, but all the seats were already taken! I was going to drive there with my girlfriend as her birthday present! Is there anything I can do to get us in? Anything?

I got a lot of messages like this. A lot.

The truth is, we were caught off-guard at how many people responded to the event. We weren’t expecting such a big turnout.

As soon as we realized the problem, we started trying to figure out some way to get more people in. The fabulous folks who run SF in SF tried to find a bigger venue, but there wasn’t anything available. We couldn’t do an afternoon event because I’m not even going to be in San Francisco until 3:30 that day.

Still, I felt really bad that so many people were going to be disappointed. So I worked with my PR team and the folks at Borderlands Books to create an overflow event. Something to give the rest of the people chance to come see me and get their books signed.

So. We are holding a second event in San Fransisco. It will be DIRECTLY AFTER the evening event on March 3rd.

It will, in fact, be my first-ever midnight signing.

The second event will be held at:

• Books will be on sale at Borderlands Books, right next door.

• First come, first seated.  There will also be standing room and, once the cafe is at capacity, there will be overflow space at the bookstore. We can’t guarantee that there will be enough space to accommodate everyone.

Edit: * The Cafe will be closed between 9:00 and 10:00. But at 10:00 they’ll be back up and running, so you can show up, grab your seat, and grab some coffee in preparation for the event.

• If you don’t have a seat at the event at SF in SF, YOU SHOULD COME TO THE MIDNIGHT EVENT INSTEAD. Only people with tickets to the SF in SF event are guaranteed to get their books signed there.

• Each person will be able to get two books signed. People wishing additional signatures will have to go to the end of the line and may or may not be able to get additional books signed, depending on how late the event continues. (I do have to catch a plane in the morning, you realize.)

• There is no need to RSVP for this event and no seats will be reserved.

It’s entirely possible that I will be wearing my footie pajamas for this event, as I’ll be giving up a couple hours sleep to make it happen. It’s also fair to say that I’ll probably look a little wild around the eyes. But that’s half the fun of a midnight signing, isn’t it?

My sincerest thanks go out to the folks at Borderlands for helping us pull this together at the last moment.

Thanks so much, guys.

3. Can I get my picture taken with you at the signing?

Normally, my answer would be an unqualified yes. Anyone who’s glanced at my facebook page, has seen ample proof of the fact that I’m not camera shy.

(Yes. I’m wearing a kilt.)

However, there are certain logistical problems with me taking pictures with everyone at these bigger signings. Simply said, photos make a long signing even longer. But what usually happens is that you hand your phone over to someone else to take the shot, then we pose, then the person can’t figure out how to use your camera. Then you explain to them that it’s the button on the side….

You know what I’m talking about, right? We’ve all been there.

But let’s do some simple math. Assume that 200 people show up to my signing, and I take *just one minute* with each of them to shake hands, exchange a few words, then sign a book. 200 people at a minute each means that the signing is already more than three hours long.

That’s not even counting if people have more than one book. Or if people ask me for personalizations. If we add another 50 people taking pictures on top of that, the signing will suddenly be five hours long.

So my answer to this is… Maybe. We can probably snap a quick picture. But don’t be offended if we have to skip it if the line is really long.

4. Will you sign copies of The Name of the Wind?

Hell yes. Just because I have a new baby doesn’t mean I don’t love my first baby.

5. Will there be hardcover copies of The Name of the Wind available to purchase at your signings?

Almost certainly. But if you want to make sure you get one, the smart thing to do would be to call the bookstore and reserve a copy.

6. Will there be copies of The Princess and Mr. Whiffle available at your signings?

Maybe. Very maybe. Most bookstores only know about me because of The Name of the Wind. If you want to buy a Princess book, I’d suggest you call the store and try to reserve one. If they don’t have one in stock, I’m sure they’d be happy to order one in for you. Bookstores love selling books, you know.

6b. Will I get a special promotional sticker if I buy a copy of the Princess book at the store?

Good idea. I’ll throw some of those in my luggage. So yes. You can have a sticker.

7. Can I bring you cookies or some other sort of treat?

Let’s be clear here. I’m not posting this question as a desperate attempt to cage cookies off of everyone. I’m posting this question because at least five or six different people e-mailed me on the subject. So I figure it’s a legitimate FAQ.

The short answer is that yes. You can bring me cookies. That’s very sweet of you.

The long answer is that if you do bring me cookies. Please don’t be offended if I give some of them away. This tour is going to be kinda rough on my system, so I’m going to try and eat healthy. If I eat a dozen cookies at each signing, it’s going to ruin me.

7b. Do you have a cookie preference?

Chocolate-chip cookies are the favored kind of cookie. Raisin cookies are for people who secretly hate themselves. A real cookie shouldn’t have fruit in it. A real cookie is bad for you. It is like a delicious nail driven directly into your heart.

8. Do you hug?

I have been known to hug.

That said, you might want to refer to the logistical issues I mention up in question #3. It might have to be a short hug.

And watch those hands.

9. I want to buy a Kingkiller t-shirt to wear to your signing, but I can’t find the link to your store, the Tinker’s Sack. What’s the URL?

Here’s the link for you.

And by the way, it’s called The Tinker’s Pack. Pack. With a “P”.

The Tinker’s Sack would be a whole different sort of website. I don’t know what they’d sell there, but I don’t think you’d want to buy any….

10. What are your signings like?

First say howdy to everyone and explain some of the ground rules of the event.

Then comes the reading. I read a little something, answer some questions from the audience, then read another little something, then more questions. I do this for about an hour.

Last comes the signing. I pretty much sign books until they make me leave the store.

11. When are you coming to Canada/Spain/Ireland/Estonia?

Rest assured than when I make plans to travel to another country, I’ll post those signings up on the blog as well.

12. I live in Mexico/Germany/Korea/Bulgaria. How can I get a copy of the English version of your book? I want to read the original language.

If none of your local bookstores carry English books, I know that some of the stores that are carrying signed versions of my book are also willing to do international shipping. You could order from them….

13. I won’t have had time to read the whole book before I attend the your event in Portland. I’m looking forward to hearing you read, but I hate spoilers. Do I need to be afraid?

I hate spoilers, too. So you don’t need to worry about me giving away big secrets like the fact that Kvothe is really Kaiser Soze.

14.You’re coming to my town, but I’m going to have to miss your signing by just a couple hours because of attend class/go to work/catch a plane/etc.  Can I meet up with you a little earlier and have you sign my book?

I’m sorry. But my schedule is way too tight to do anything like that. A lot of times, I won’t even be flying into town until a couple hours before the signing.

But if it’s your hometown, you can just call the bookstore and reserve a copy. Whenever I do a signing, the bookstore has me sign a bunch of books for people that couldn’t make it to the event.

15. Will you personalize my book to me? To my dad? To my girlfriend?

Yes. Yes. And yes.

However, I probably won’t have time to write anything really lengthy in the books. (See the Answer to #3 for the reason why.)

That means personalizations will probably have to be limited to a name and just a few words. No really long quotes.

16. Will you Sign my Nook/Kindle/E-reader?

Yes. This is something that I’ve done before.

That said, you might want to check out the answer to question #1 up there. Showing up with your kindle is just the same as bringing a book from home.

17. I have an important question. About how tall are you?

I am one thousand feet tall.

18. Is it really surreal that people are taking days off of work to come see you?

Yes.  It is weird as hell.

19.Will your baby be with you at any of your signings?

My accountant has informed me that if I’m going to keep writing him off as a promotional expense, I need to take him to at least one signing.

That means it’s a fairly safe bet that you’ll see Oot in Madison. You might also get to see him in DC, New York, or Boston.

(He’s the one on the right.)

Who’s daddy’s cute little deduction?

20. Mr. Rothfuss, is it better for you if I buy your book at any particular store? Or in any particular way? (Nook? Hardcover?) I love your books, and so I want to support you as much as I can.

Over the last month, I’ve had more than a dozen messages like this. It just goes to prove something I already knew, that my readers are delightfully considerate human beings.

The truth is. I make more money off the hardcover of the book. Also, the more hardcover books I sell, the better chance I have of making it onto the New York Times Bestseller list. That’s kind of a big deal.

For the most part, it doesn’t matter where you buy the book, though I do usually encourage people to shop locally. Because supporting your local economy is a good thing.

If you *really* want to help, you could make a point of buying the book close to the release date. If enough people buy the book in that first week, I might get onto the New York Times Bestseller list. That would be really good for my career.

There you are folks. All of the big questions answered.

And for those of you who actually took the time to read all the way to the end. Here’s a little something extra. Over on the Gollancz facebook page, they have a video of me reading a scene from the Wise Man’s fear. I taped it with them more than a year ago when I was in England, so it’s a little different from the finished version. But if you’re looking for a little taste of what’s coming. You can head over there.

And don’t worry, it’s only a small piece in from the second chapter. No big spoilers. It isn’t until the third chapter that we learn that Kvothe’s dad isn’t really dead, he was merely horribly wounded and now serves as the strong right hand of the empire, Darth Vader.

Share and enjoy,

pat

But first I need to you take a look at this:

That’s a screenshot of the product details on the Amazon page for The Wise Man’s Fear.

It doesn’t look like a lot at first, but there’s a cool piece of info there.

No, I’m not referring to the mammoth listing of 1008 pages. (Which isn’t true, anyway. The book is actually a mere 992 pages.)

Neither am I attempting to draw your attention to the fact that it’s coming out on March 1st. (Which is pretty cool in its own right.)

No. I’m referring to that bit at the bottom. Where it points out that right now, the sales rank of The Wise Man’s Fear is #8.

That means out of all the books on Amazon right now, only seven other books are doing better than mine.

Here’s a picture of Amazon’s top 10 list:

Yeah! Suck it, Rumsfeld! And you up there! Yeah you, arty-looking book with the parasol! I’m coming for you next!

Okay. Enough of that. Now some serious business.

Today I was hoping to post up the FAQ that would answer (most) everyone’s questions about the upcoming tour.

Unfortunately, on Monday I was brought low by a bout of food poisoning. I won’t trouble you with the details. But suffice to say that I was brought very low. Very. VENI VIDI VOMI.

So today, I’m just going to give one urgent update and one strong piece of advice.

The Urgent Update:

If you’re planning on attending my reading in San Francisco on March 3rd, you’ll want to e-mail them right away and reserve your seat.

You need to drop an e-mail to March32011@gmail.com telling them you’d like to attend. Give your full name. They’ll bounce you back an e-mail confirming that you’ll be able to get inside, and that e-mail will effectively serve as your ticket to get in the door.

Now if you don’t really care about the reading and all you really want is to get your book signed, you don’t need to drop them an e-mail. In that case, you can just show up the address around 9:00 instead of 7:00. Borderlands bookstore will be there at the theater, selling books, and I’ll be there, signing them. No ticket required.

The Strong Piece of Advice:

A lot of people have e-mailed me, asking if there are any particular rules for attending my signings. They wonder if they need tickets to attend, or if they need to call ahead to the bookstores to make sure there will be X copies available for them when they show up.

Here’s the simple answer. I honestly don’t know. Each bookstore does things a little differently.

I do know three things though.

1. Generally speaking, it’s considered polite to buy a book at the place that’s hosting the event.

2. Generally speaking, bookstores love it when people pre-order books.

3. It’s probably safer to call the store and see what their plans are for the signing, rather than be caught by surprise the day of the event.

So here’s my advice.

If you go over here to the Tour Page, you’ll see I’ve added phone numbers for all the bookstores on the tour.

So, if you’re planning on driving three hours to come to my signing in City X, you might want to give them a ring and make sure you don’t need to reserve a seat first. Even if you know you’ll be able to get a seat, it might not hurt to call and see if they’ll reserve you a book.

That way, not only will you have a better idea what to expect when you show up to the bookstore. But depending on how many call to ask about the event, the bookstore will have a better idea of what to expect in terms of attendance.

You see? Everyone wins.

Just in case you missed it, here’s the link to the tour page with the phone numbers again.

Share and Enjoy,

pat

I’m used to being actively involved in my book. I tinker with it endlessly. I revise and edit, constantly trying to make it just a little bit better….

But now The Wise Man’s Fear is out of my hands. I’m helpless. All I can do is wait and see how things turn out. Will people like it? Will it get good reviews? Will people actually buy the book?

It’s nerve wracking. Normally I have pretty strong nerves. Despite this, mine are being wracked. Perhaps even racked. I’m not sure which.

For example: a couple weeks ago, I had a nightmare about my upcoming signing tour.

Normally I don’t worry about signings. I’ve done a lot of them over the last four years and, generally speaking, I really enjoy them.

If 5 people show up, we just hang out. I do a little reading and answer questions. I tell stories. We chat about books, or publishing, or writing, or the world I’ve created.

This was the end of a signing I did in a small town in England. Only about 8 people showed up, so after I signed books, we went to a nearby park and enjoyed the weather.

If 80 people show up to a signing, I do pretty much the same thing. Except then I do it while standing behind a podium.

This one is from Amsterdam. If you embiggen it, you can see Sarah sitting in the middle of the crowd, pretty as a flower. At this point, Oot was just a tiny little bump in her belly.

My expectations for signings are always pretty low. That’s because when I was first published back in 2002, I did a few signings of the Writers of the Future Anthology that had my first published story in it.

Now in some ways these signings were cool. They were my very first signings, after all. I was feeling pretty good because something I had written was actually in a book. I was really for-real published.

But mostly, those early signings were lessons in humility and desperation. I would sit at a card table in the entryway of a Waldenbooks in some local mall and try to smile for two hours while everyone avoided making eye contact with me. If I was lucky, one of my friends would stop by and chat with me for a while, helping pass the time. If I was really lucky, someone would buy a book out of sheer pity.

In 2007 when The Name of the Wind came out, things were a little different. My first reading/signing in Madison was very well attended, with almost 100 people. (Admittedly, a lot of those were friends and family.)

Then, a couple months later, I went to Chicago and four people showed up.

But it didn’t get me down. Why? Because four people up is a treat compared to sitting at a card table in the mall for hours while people avoid you. Four people is delightful compared to that.

What’s your point, Pat?

My point is this: Over the last couple years, all my signings have purely recreational. I’m just there to hang out with fans. That means it doesn’t matter if we get two people or two hundred. I’m still going to have fun.

But the upcoming signing tour is different. This is kind of a Big Deal. The publisher is paying to fly me around and put me in hotels with the hope that people will come out to the bookstores, listen to me, and buy the book.

This makes things more of a high-stakes situation.

Which is probably why I had a nightmare about my upcoming tour.

In my dream I was in Seattle, at the first stop on my tour. I was pretty excited, because it was the big day. March 1st. My book was about to come out, and we were expecting it to be a pretty big event.

In fact, it was such a big event in my dream that the bookstore had brought in another author to do a signing before mine. Sort of like an opening act.

The opening act author was a weird cross between Tobias Buckell and some guy I knew in grad school. He got a pretty good turnout for his signing, about 40 people. A respectable number.

But when he was done reading and signing books, all those people left. Nobody stayed around for my signing. None of my fans showed up. The store was pretty much empty. There was just a podium and ranks and ranks of empty chairs.

When it became clear that nobody cared I was there, I walked around the store for a while, more than slightly depressed and despondent.  Then I found a quiet corner, covered myself up with my coat, and fell asleep on the floor.

When I woke up, the store was dark and I realized they’d forgotten about me and closed the store, locking me in. So I got up and wandered around the dark, empty bookstore, all alone….

Now admittedly, it wasn’t a scary sort of nightmare. I didn’t wake up in a sweat.

But still, you have to admit. It wasn’t exactly a warm snuggly dream, either.

So, moral of the story, I’m a little nervous about book two.

Maybe more than a little.

pat

Some of the questions were easy to answer. Like this one:

• “Will you sign my Kindle?”

Yes.

There. See how easy that was? Good question. Quick answer. Everyone wins.

On the other hand, some questions were harder to answer. Such as:

• “Will you sign my nook?”

Um. That kinda depends. If you mean the e-reader. Then yeah. Sure.

If you mean something else…. Well. Then I’m not sure.

I think I’ll have to check with my PR people. And Sarah. And OSHA.

Seriously though. There were a *lot* of good questions. Some of them brought up issues I hadn’t even thought of yet.

So I need to do some research before I give you any answers. I don’t want to say one thing then change my answer later.

While I’m compiling the list of official answers, here’s a few things that might amuse you.

First, a picture I just re-discovered from the little mini-tour I took last March. I can’t remember if I ever got around to posting it before.

If you’re wondering what my events are like, this might give you a clue.

(Click to Embiggen)

At this particular signing, a lot of people wanted their pictures taken with me, but that was making the line move really slowly. I asked everyone if it wouldn’t be simpler to do a group photo instead, and it turned out there was a cool photographer with a great camera in among my readers.

About two thirds of the folks there wanted to be in the photo. This one was my favorite. We did a standard smiling one too. But that was boring, so we did a few more. The one where everyone made crazy eyes was my second favorite.

In other news, Brandon Sanderson seems to have taken umbrage at the tangible proof of my writing prowess. I wasn’t going to bring it up, but since he already twittered about it, there doesn’t seem to be any point in hiding the fact that the ARC for The Wise Man’s Fear is longer than the ARC for The Way of Kings.

Mind you, these are both the unedited advance copies of our respective works. What’s more, layout counts for a lot in these situations. So I wouldn’t dare imply that my book is, in fact, bigger than his. More majestic, perhaps. But bigger? No. I’d never claim that. That would be gauche.

Lastly, a quick reminder that I will be doing a reading/signing northern Michigan this upcoming Thursday (the 20th). Details here.

pat

Here they are in chronological order.

Week One: The West Coast

SEATTLE, WA
March 1 at 7 PM
University Bookstore
4326 University Way NE
Seattle, WA

PORTLAND, OR
March 2 at 7 PM
Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing
3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd.
Beaverton, OR

SAN FRANCISCO, CA
March 3 at 7 PM
SF in SF Reading Series
The Variety Theater
582 Market St.
San Francisco, CA

LOS ANGELES, CA
March 4 at 7 PM
Barnes & Noble
7881 Edinger Ave.
Huntington Beach, CA

SAN DIEGO, CA
March 5 at 2 PM
Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore
7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA

HOUSTON, TX
March 6 at 2 PM
Murder by the Book
2342 Bissonnet St.
Houston, TX

Week Two: Middle America

MADISON, WI
March 8 at 7 PM
Barnes & Noble
7433 Mineral Point Rd.
Madison, WI

CHICAGO, IL
March 9 at 7 PM
Borders Books & Music
1500 16th St.
Oak Brook, IL

DAYTON, OH
March 10 at 7 PM
Books & Company
4453 Walnut St.
The Greene, Dayton, OH

LEXINGTON, KY
March 11 at 7 PM
Joseph-Beth Booksellers
161 Lexington Green Circle
Lexington, KY

SAINT LOUIS, MO
March 12 at 7 PM
Left Banks Books
399 n. Euclid Ave.
St. Louis, MO

Week Three: The East Coast

WASHINGTON, DC AREA
March 14 at 12 PM
What If Reading Series
Library of Congress
101 Independence Ave. SE
Washington, DC

WASHINGTON, DC AREA
March 14 at 7:30 PM
Borders Books & Music
5871 Crossroads Center Way
Bailey’s Crossroads, VA

NEW YORK, NY
March 15 at 7 PM
Barnes & Noble
267 7th Ave.
Park Slope
Brooklyn, NY

BOSTON, MA
March 16 at 6 PM
Northeastern University Bookstore
Snell Library
360 Huntington Ave.
4 Ell Hall, Boston, MA

So now you know. And knowing is half the battle.

A few notes closing:

• These dates are solid, and won’t be changing unless something strange and/or catastrophic happens. If that happens, I’ll mention it on the blog and update the tour schedule.

• Did you see the first event in week three? Yeah. That’s right. I’m doing a reading at the Library of Congress. How cool is that?

• Yes. I am doing fifteen signings in sixteen days. I expect somewhere around Lexington I’m going to have a manic episode, so those guys at Joseph-Beth are in for one one hell of a show.

• I am considering buying a tuxedo. Or rather, I’m considering buying a new tuxedo especially for one of these events. I like wearing a tux.

• I will be doing most of these events solo. But at some of them I might have Sarah and Oot with me. If this is the case, I will display Oot to you, and you will be required to gaze adoringly at his cuteness.

(Saying “awww” will also be encouraged.)

• I’ve done the math, and with 15 signings, it’s a statistical near-certainty that at some point in the tour I will sing.

• I’ll be posting up information about how you can get a signed copy of The Wise Man’s Fear even if you can’t make one of these events. Expect that blog on Friday.

In other news, for all you Girl Genius fans out there, Phil and Kaja’s new book just came out recently. It’s a novel set in the Girl Genius world.

I have to admit that I haven’t read it yet, but I’m excited to. I ordered my copy just 5 minutes ago because it’s Kaja’s birthday today….

Lastly but not leastly, could we avoid having a bunch of comments on the blog where people say, “Wah Wah! Why don’t you ever come to Hobgen?” (Or whatever town you live in…)

I know that those comments come from a place of love. Or at least from a place of vaguely love-scented narcissism. But honestly, they’re a little disheartening to read every time I post up an event.

Keep in mind that I’ll be traveling 3 solid weeks in March just to meet fans, hang out, and sign books. Unless my mutant power manifests in February and I’m suddenly able to bi-locate or teleport, it is physically impossible for me to do more events.

Rest assured that once my mutant powers develop, I will make every effort to come to Wagon Mound, New Mexico. Until then, you’ll have to drive a bit to see me, or wait until I come to a convention in your area. And yes, when choosing which conventions and signings I attend, I make a point of trying to pick ones in parts of the country (and world) that I haven’t visited yet.

More soon. I’m back in the groove now, so expect a new blog on Friday.

Later space cowboys,

pat