So You Want to Be a Hero?

A while back, I said I’d be giving people a chance to get their names into my second book: The Wise Man’s Fear.

I’ve finally managed to work out all the details. So we’re going to do our best to kill two birds with one stone.

You want to get your name into book two….

…and I want to raise money for Heifer International.

So, as a prologue to this year’s fundraiser, we’re going to have a raffle.

There are three ways you can get your name into the book. Pay attention.

Option One: The Regular Raffle.

You buy chances to win, like raffle tickets. Tickets will be 10 dollars each.

That means if you donate 30 dollars, your name gets thrown into the drawing three times. Simple.

However, if you want to be a big spender and donate fifty dollars, you get a free ticket. So fifty bucks gets you six tickets total.

At the end of the lottery, I’ll be drawing a winner from these tickets. If you don’t win, your ticket will enter a second drawing combined with the free entries. (See below.) What this means is that every ticket you buy gets two chances to win.

You have two ways to buy tickets:

  • To Buy Your Tickets by Mail:

You only need two things.

A check, made out to Pat Rothfuss. Signed by you.

A 3×5 index card that looks like this:

(Click to Embiggen)

Remember folks, I have to read these. That means you should probably print instead of using cursive. It doesn’t need to be pretty, just legible.

And you see what I did up there? Where I wrote an “a” then wrote over it and made it a “u?” That’s not very clear, is it? I should have used some white out, or done something else rather than leave it ambiguous. That would have been the smart thing to do…

Lastly, mail the check and the card to:

Pat Rothfuss
PO Box 186
Stevens Point, WI 54481

  • To Buy Your Tickets Online:

[EDIT: Woo Hoo! After a relatively painless review process, the online option is back! Thanks for being cool about this, Paypal!]

Because international post is slow and expensive, I decided to make a paypal option available. (You can use the three custom buttons below to donate.)

Note – Tickets through paypal will actually be $11 each. This is because paypal takes a percentage of all the money it helps transfer. And, to be completely honest, because it’s going to be a bit of a pain for me to sift all these digital entries onto paper tickets.

(Click the picture to be cool and donate 11 bucks.)

However, if you donate an even 50 bucks through paypal, I’ll cover the extra fees myself, and you can still have six tickets.

(Click to be awesome and donate 50 bucks.)

If you’re feeling extraordinarily extravagant, you can donate as much as you like with this button. (Keeping in mind that it should probably be some multiple of 11 or 50.)

(Click to be a rockstar and donate according to your desire.)

Remember: when you submit your paypal order, you need to include all the information you would have written on the note card.

DO THIS BEFORE YOU COMPLETE YOUR DONATION! After you donate, there’s no way to go back and add this information.

Your phone number.
Your name.
Your e-mail.
The name you’re hoping to get into the book.

Option Two: The Poor-Boy Raffle.

I spent nine years as an undergrad, so I know what it’s like to not have a lot of folding money. This is the option that will give everyone a chance to throw their hat into the ring, even if they can’t afford ten dollars for a ticket.

To get into the free option, you just mail a 3×5 note card, filled out just like the one above.

To this address:

Pat Rothfuss
PO BOX 186
Stevens Point, WI 54481

And that’s it.

After I draw the winner from the paying option, I’m going to take all the non-winning tickets from that raffle, combine them with the free entries, and draw a second winner.

Important: If you buy a ticket, I will automatically enter you in the poor-man’s raffle.

That means if you buy a ticket, DON’T don’t send in an entry for the poor man’s raffle too. This will only waste your time and anger me.

Option Three: The Cool Name Option

If I look through the entries and see a suggested name that looks cool to me, I might tweak it a bit and use it in the book.

Simple as that. I’m always on the lookout for cool names.

FAQ:

When is the raffle over?

One month from now: November 15th.

What are the odds of my winning the raffle?

Just like all raffles, that depends on how many tickets you buy, and how many people enter. But it should be obvious that you’re (roughly) twice as likely to win than if you use the free option.

Edit: As of October 27th, we had raised a little more than 8000 dollars.

That means if you buy a ticket, your odds of winning are roughly 1 in 400. (Because I’m drawing two winners.)

Or, if you donate fifty bucks and get six tickets, your odds are about 1 in 70.

Those are pretty good odds.

Also, if we get a bunch more people participating. I’ll draw an extra winner from the group that paid for their tickets.

That means it won’t hurt your odds to spread the word to your friends. More participants will actually lead to more chances to win.

Can I use my own name as the one I want in the book?

Of course. I’m guessing this is what most people want. I’m just leaving the door open for people to suggest other options.

If I buy more than one ticket, should I send in more than one card?

No. There’s never any reason to send in/fill out more than one card.

Does this mean book two isn’t finished yet?

*sigh* Yes. That should be pretty obvious. I couldn’t add things if it was finished. The revision process for a book this big takes a long time, and I’m still fixing things. Adding more awesome. Taking out things that aren’t quite awesome enough. Making sure everyone’s eyes are the right colour. That sort of stuff.

So if I win, I get to put whatever name I want in your upcoming book?

No. What will happen is the two of us will have a talk about how your name, or a variation of it, will fit into my book. Something that will make us both happy.

Read this blog for details and reasons why.

Will I get any control over who I am in the book? Will the character with my name look like me?

This will be part of our negotiation. If you really want to be a student at the University, and your name will work for that, we can make that happen. I might be able to tweak their appearance a little so it’s closer to yours, too.

The short answer is that I’ll do what I can to make you happy. But the book comes first, and I’m the final arbiter of what goes in and what doesn’t.

Will you be doing this again for book three?

I don’t know. A lot of that depends on how well this raffle works. If people are excited and we raise a lot of money, then I’ll probably do it for book three.

On the other hand, if the response is small, and the whole thing ends up being a pain in my ass, there’s a real possibility I won’t do it again.

So all of the money you raise from this is going to charity?

Yes. All this money will be going to Heifer International. This raffle is actually just a warm-up to the bigger fundraiser that I’ll be running on the blog next month.

If you’re curious, you can look at last year’s fundraiser HERE.

What’s to keep people from swamping the free option with multiple entries?

There are several things that I think will keep this from being a severe problem.

1) Human Decency.

My readers are generous, kind human beings. Only a rapacious fuckwit would try to game the system on a charity raffle.

2) Human Laziness.

There’s no online option for the free drawing. I doubt very much people will be filling out dozens of note cards by hand and sending them all in.

3) The name and phone number required with each entry.

I’m using phone numbers to catalog and organize the entries. That means I’m just going to throw away multiple free entries that have the same phone number, or those with no phone number at all. It’s the classic “one entry per household.” Except in this case it’s not a house, it’s a phone.

And yes, I know it’s not a perfect system. But it’s the best we can have without going to ridiculous lengths.

Are these prices in American dollars?

Yes. Foreign payments are one of the mail reasons I’m including a paypal option. Paypal will convert from your currency to US dollars.

If, for some strange reason, you want to send me a foreign check you need to do the following.

1. Figure out how much you want to donate.
(Let’s say you live in London and want to donate 50 dollars.)

2. Add three dollars. Because that’s how much my bank charges me to cash a foreign check.
(That makes your total 53 dollars.)

3. Convert this into your local currency.
(53 dollars = 32.96 British Pounds.)

4. Write your check out for this amount in your native currency. My bank can’t cash it otherwise.
(So you write me a check for 33 pounds. Rounding up because you’re a generous human being.)

Keep in mind that the raffle will be happening pretty soon after November 15th, and international post is slow. So if you’re going to mail me a check, do it sooner rather than later.

I was really looking forward to this being an auction. I’m all full of money and was willing to pay whatever it takes to get my daughter’s/husband’s/dwarven monk’s name in the book.

I’m willing to entertain the thought. If you really want an auction, let me know in the comments below and I’ll think about setting one up, maybe in conjunction with the other auctions we’re going to be running for the main fundraiser in a couple weeks.

More FAQ over here.

I’m excited, folks. Let’s do this.

pat

This entry was posted in book two, cool things, Heifer InternationalBy Pat133 Responses

100 Comments

  1. An Albino Druid
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 6:50 AM | Permalink

    I don’t want to say it, so I won’t. But I am, and I feel really good about that!

    Anyway, this is fantastic, Pat, and has really made my finals week better.

    I will be giving you some notecards, soon!

    -Albino Druid

  2. Nick
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 7:00 AM | Permalink

    Excited, and will soon be searching my pocketbook for whatever loose change I can scrounge up. It’s a good cause, and a good story!

  3. Jillian
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 7:01 AM | Permalink

    Soooo…. I’m guessing you mean US dollars? Will I just have to figure out what USD10 is?

  4. ReticentPurple
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 7:03 AM | Permalink

    I’m still flip-flopping between the “but I’m a poor student” argument and the “yeah, but I could probably scrape up $10” one. Which is a huge part of why I think it’s awesome that you’re giving everyone a chance to enter! Now to pick a name..

  5. Allen
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 7:18 AM | Permalink

    What are the chances you’ll do this for book three? I’m shiping out to basic training Nov 17, and as such I am flat broke until Jan. (this won’t stop me from entering the poor man’s raffle and trying to scrape up ten bucks)

  6. Moqs
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 7:18 AM | Permalink

    DUDE BRING THE AUCTION ON…I NEED TO GIVE MY PARENTS A REASON TO BITCH AT ME EVEN AFTER I MOVED OUT BECAME WEALTHY AND NOW SUPPORT THEM…LOL…i mean im proud of myself for a 23yo to do is pretty sick nowa days

  7. Pat
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 7:21 AM | Permalink

    Good questions. (About book three and the foreign currency issue)

    I’ll post up answers to them in the blog itself.

  8. Ryan
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 7:34 AM | Permalink

    Donation is in and fingers are crossed.

  9. Captain Joe
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 7:50 AM | Permalink

    Oh yeah!

    Bring on the sweet, sweet charity.

  10. Juan Gómez-Jurado
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 8:00 AM | Permalink

    Hi Pat! This is Juan. I’m really all full of money and I want to pay whatever it takes.

    Seriously. All for charity.

    Well, and my name in the sequel to my favourite novel in the last ten years is a plus, too.

    So what about the auction?

  11. Anonymous
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 8:02 AM | Permalink

    What if:
    …it’s a character in one of my own fiction novels? Will this draw up any legal issues down the road? (Really big ‘what if’ but you inspire me so much I can’t help but think about winning this raffle)

  12. marky
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 8:03 AM | Permalink

    My wonga will be winging its way to you, as soon as I can think of a name.

  13. Grant
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 8:15 AM | Permalink

    I really, really hope that’s a Quest for Glory reference.

  14. Steven
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 8:29 AM | Permalink

    Expect my check in the mail shortly. It’d make my lifetime to be famous, if only by pseudonym in a fantasy novel.

    Also, from your sample note card, I think http://cutiepiephoto.com/ is going to love all the phone calls they get, haha.

    Now, to find a single 3×5 card…

  15. matt
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 9:05 AM | Permalink

    Pat,

    For the internation people who would like to do this but have an easier time for both you and them, all of the larger internation bank usually offer 1 of 2 things:

    1) International money orders, they pay in their own currancy and the fee for the conversion to USD. You would then not have to pay the 3 dollar fee from your bank and the readers would not have to do math :p

    2) International checks for their personal accounts. They are cleared through a US bank and can be written in USD, once agian they pay the fee when it clears their bank, you do not…since it is written in USD they do not have to do any math.

    Both of those options also ensure that if the currency market changes from when they write the check to when you get it…you are not losing/getting less/more money.

    Matt

    ~~also a currency converter we tell our customers to use (I work for a bank) is

    http://www.xe.com/ucc/

  16. Nic
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 9:24 AM | Permalink

    it’s not a monday!

  17. Anonymous
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 9:42 AM | Permalink

    Does this mean book 2 is not even written yet ?

  18. Armin
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 9:50 AM | Permalink

    Hi Pat,

    I’m in on it.

    I paid (donated?) by way of paypal. Good thing for me that the USD is worth next to nothing currently ;)

    Wouldn’t it be a good idea to include the Timezone in the paypal notice. I didn’t so as to stick to the requested information.

    cheers
    Armin

  19. Captain Joe
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 9:52 AM | Permalink

    anonymous said: Does this mean book 2 is not even written yet ?

    Yeah I’m pretty sure that is exactly what this means…

    God damn.

    Here ya go, buddy.

  20. Nik
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 10:52 AM | Permalink

    If we are an international payee do we still need to send over a 3×5 card?
    Also if we’re an international poorman is there an alternative to sending the 3×5 card?
    I’m officially an international poorman until the end of the month when I should be able to scrape together enough for a paypal payment, but postage on the 3×5 card kills it!

  21. Amber DeGrace
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 12:23 PM | Permalink

    Heifer International is a great charity – I’m looking forward to sending in my entries with my kids’ names. They are pretty damn great names.

  22. Anonymous
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 1:07 PM | Permalink

    Thanks to Captain Joe’s answer. Some people will never get it.

  23. Tom
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 1:13 PM | Permalink

    I think you need to add a character called “Rapacious Fuckwit” as well as whoever wins the contest!

  24. Anonymous
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 1:18 PM | Permalink

    Ok, maybe a stupid question, but if we buy 2 or 3 tickets, then should we send 2 or 3 notecards filled out?

  25. cdfranck
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 1:21 PM | Permalink

    WooHoo! I’ve thrown my nameinthe hat! Good luck everyone!

  26. Elicius
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 1:36 PM | Permalink

    I think I messed that ‘donation’ up a little, as I sent it off, thinking I’d be able to add my details on the next page. Garsh darnit.

    Is the info PayPal gives enough to be entered mister Rothfuss?

    *Sitting cross legged in his kitchen, thoroughly hoping so [but if not, at least he gave to charity]*

    Elicius.

  27. Anonymous
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 1:43 PM | Permalink

    Is there any sort of receipt that donors will receive for tax purposes?

  28. logankstewart
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 1:47 PM | Permalink

    Awesome. I’ll have a check and index card in the mail soon. I hope we succeed in raising as much (or more) money as we did last year for such a great cause.

    Thanks, Pat.

  29. Lea
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 2:08 PM | Permalink

    Count me in!! :D

  30. John
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 2:39 PM | Permalink

    Hello Pat,
    I’m currently serving in Iraq and do not have a phone number that I can be reached on. Would an e-mail address work just the same? If so can you please contact me @ [email protected]. Thank you for your wonderful book and time.

  31. Vulpes Fulva
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 2:57 PM | Permalink

    I’m so excited. With an upcoming wedding, I’ll have to debate with my fiancee how much money I have to donate. She’s all for charities, so maybe we can do $50.

    Wow, if I actually won, and got to talk to you about book stuff, and the name of my (our) choice being in book two… I am certain it would take me at least 5 minutes of waaargarrbl speech before I could string together anything logical. I would probably be extremely excited and would speak with such a high-pitched voice it might rupture your eardrum.

    But then I would settle down, because, Pat, you would exert your interstellar cool upon me, and I would chillax, so to speak. Then we would negotiate, and a new life would be borne.

    I just got the most wonderful word verification ever: sunbacon. How freakin’ awesome is that?

  32. Steffi
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 4:03 PM | Permalink

    So if 14USD are ~9 Euros, do I transfer 9 Euros via PayPal and PayPal then converts it into Dollars for you?

  33. Mossy
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 4:13 PM | Permalink

    anonymous said: Does this mean book 2 is not even written yet?

    It has been. It’s also undergoing a massive amount of editing and revision, though. It will not be very hard to insert a minor character with one of these names, or to change an existing minor character to the suggestion.

    Ooh, I’m excited.

  34. Witt
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 4:47 PM | Permalink

    Hey Pat,

    If we don’t have any 3×5 index cards handy, would it be ok for it to just be on a sheet of lined paper?

    Thanks a ton!

  35. Julia
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 4:49 PM | Permalink

    I think this is great. Not only do I have a chance to see how my name would be Rothfutised I can also spend money on something that doesn’t leave me with sinking feeling the universe is disappointed in me. Thank you for making the book 2 wait so positive and fun.

  36. DamselDenna
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 7:19 PM | Permalink

    Wow, my name is bad. How presumptuous (Besides I like Fela x10 better!). A-a-anyway…

    paypal helps soo much. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

    PS- Bless Sarah’s heart for being in the middle of everything as you hostage-*cough*- I mean wife. She’s solid gold.
    Best of wishes

  37. Anonymous
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 8:07 PM | Permalink

    This is cool and for a good cause, but why has it updated in my RSS feed like no less then 5 times?

  38. Pat
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 8:14 PM | Permalink

    Sorry. I was having some trouble with the format, and then the paypal buttons weren’t working, so I had to go in and re-edit them.

    Whenever I fix something like that, I have to re-publish the blog. I didn’t know that re-rssed them at the same time.

    Sorry about that, but they were essential changes.

  39. Charles Pike
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 9:03 PM | Permalink

    So, I had the privilege for my name, well its my last name but I go by it, to be used in the first book. I didn’t sign up for it or win anything for it, it was just there. BAm, Pike the bully that kicked Kvothe’s ass a few times, and broke his father lute. When I was reading this I was like ‘awesome!’ then he turned out to be a fuckwit. and I was like “Does this guy know me? Does he hate me? What did I ever do to him?” but I figured it wasn’t me so I got over it pretty quick. But it is still kinda cool when you find your name it a good book. Heh, well thats Pat for the book and cannot await the next one!

    Pike

    one last word

    bearfurg

  40. Anonymous
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 10:03 PM | Permalink

    YAY!!! Thank you for the poor man’s option, ’cause I am BROKE.

  41. Chanelle
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 10:06 PM | Permalink

    Thanks for using paypal too Pat it makes it easier for those of us who are not from the U.S. My donation is in, fingers crossed!

  42. asternquist
    Posted October 15, 2009 at 10:42 PM | Permalink

    So the charity is all noble and stuff but you should have just done a Patrick Rothfuss lookalike contest and the winner is in the book. Simple and we get to see how many of your fans look like you.

  43. Anonymous
    Posted October 16, 2009 at 1:24 AM | Permalink

    why do you spell it “colour” instead of “color?”

    Are you secretly foreign?

    lol just curious

  44. bananajoos
    Posted October 16, 2009 at 3:31 AM | Permalink

    Someone posted my exact question above but didn’t receive an answer yet. I’ll quote them to up the odds of it getting answered.

    “What if:
    …it’s a character in one of my own fiction novels? Will this draw up any legal issues down the road? (Really big ‘what if’ but you inspire me so much I can’t help but think about winning this raffle)”

    Also, I think this is an awesome thing for Heifer International and for your fans as well.

  45. Pat
    Posted October 16, 2009 at 3:55 AM | Permalink

    Fair enough. I’ll answer that question here in the comments though, as I doubt it’s a question that will come up that often.

    If the name you suggest is a character in your own unpublished writing, I doubt there will be any legal issues down the road. Here’s why:

    1. I’ll be putting your character’s name (or a variation of it) in my book. Even if I use some of your character’s description, I won’t really be putting your character in the book. It would be more like your character was an actor playing a part in my book.

    Actually I don’t know if it’s like that at all. But it’s all kinda beside the point because….

    2. The legal issue would have to start with either you or me. If you eventually get published, you’ll have to trust me that I’m not going to try to sue you for using your own character’s name.

    In turn, I’ll have to trust you that you won’t sue me for using it either. Though since you paid for the privilege of having it in my book, I doubt you’d have much of a case.

    3. Even if the name is fairly unique, few people will make the connection between two different books by two different authors in two different worlds. For example, nobody assumed that my Jaxim who worked in the Fishery was the same Jaxim in McCaffrey’s The White Dragon.

    How’s that?

  46. bananajoos
    Posted October 16, 2009 at 4:11 AM | Permalink

    Thank you for the fast and informative response.

  47. Jasmine
    Posted October 16, 2009 at 6:05 AM | Permalink

    wooo
    winning this would be awesome!

  48. Jacob
    Posted October 16, 2009 at 6:17 AM | Permalink

    “For example, nobody assumed that my Jaxim who worked in the Fishery was the same Jaxim in McCaffrey’s The White Dragon.”
    You’d be surprised how much fanfic hinges on that very point…

  49. Anonymous
    Posted October 16, 2009 at 6:20 AM | Permalink

    Pat: Jaxim in your book; Jaxom in The White Dragon. But I did wonder as I read if that was a nod to Ms. McCaffrey.

  50. Zack Truel
    Posted October 16, 2009 at 6:25 AM | Permalink

    I am married, in college, and have a baby on the way, but I am still going to come up with $10 for this raffle and cross my fingers! ;)

    This would be one of the coolest things that has ever happened to me if I won. High hopes and wishes though. I feel like Charlie and the Chocolate factory here. My one little chance compared to all of those that are going to be buying tons of tickets with all that cash. :P

  51. Zack Truel
    Posted October 16, 2009 at 6:38 AM | Permalink

    Donated! All finished! *fingers crossed and waiting until Nov 15th.

  52. Chris
    Posted October 16, 2009 at 11:29 AM | Permalink

    Hey Pat,

    will there be a possibility to see how much has been donated to Heifer? To see:
    a. How much your fans have raised and
    b. to be able to gauge the amount of competition on the lottery.

    This would be really great, i already chipped for 6 tickets and can’t await the drawing day.

    Cheers,
    Chris

  53. Laura
    Posted October 16, 2009 at 12:24 PM | Permalink

    I don’t want to be a hero but seems like a lot of people do. Good luck to you all!!!

    But why would you use YAOI KVOTHE as an example?! (or is it a real email?). I mean, what girl doesn’t like a little boy on boy love/action…but ahhh!!

    oh…wait…I just thought of Kvothe and Ambrose… there’s some possiblities arising….!!!

  54. Laura
    Posted October 16, 2009 at 12:30 PM | Permalink

    oh wait, forgot to mention that those are some really cool drawings!

    Have you ever thought about putting some of them together and publishing?! or posting it free on your blog for poor people like me…

  55. Anonymous
    Posted October 16, 2009 at 1:41 PM | Permalink

    This was asked before, but I don’t believe it’s been answered yet (prove me wrong, children; prove me wrong!).

    If you send in a check for $40, should you include 4 notecards, or just one? I’d assume 4 notecards, to make the random drawing easier, but I’m not 100% certain. Can you clarify?

    I’m surprised you’re going to have to go through all these cards by hand. I’d have thought it would all be computerized and so forth. Anyway, I hope you get enough donations that you have to hire a relative to help you with all the mail.

    –Remo

  56. Geoff
    Posted October 16, 2009 at 1:51 PM | Permalink

    Best of luck Mr. Rothfuss :)

  57. Anonymous
    Posted October 16, 2009 at 1:51 PM | Permalink

    Damn my foreign Canadian money! Now I have to spend $3 extra. This makes me lean more to the poor student side of things. I know I know, $3 isn’t TOO bad, but hey that’s one whole beer at the college pub!

    We should somehow combine our currency…the Canmerica Dollar anyone? It would make my life so much easier while shopping on-line, AND entering a raffle to get my name in a book.

  58. Anonymous
    Posted October 16, 2009 at 2:43 PM | Permalink

    In response to Remo because im secretly Pats PA thats he doesnt know’s he’s hired or that even exists in (oh i wish he knew i existed…) neways thats a bit wierd so…

    Remo… Pat reposted in the blog and said this…

    If I buy more than one ticket, should I send in more than one card?

    No. There’s NEVER ANY REASON to send in/fill out more than one card

    Also im incredibly broke n cant even afford postage from england to you for the poormans option, plus i doubt my name would ever work. But good luck everyone and well done for being charitable.

    Yours sincerely

    Pats secret PA

  59. Chris
    Posted October 16, 2009 at 4:23 PM | Permalink

    The world needs more chibi urchin Kvothe.

  60. Caitrin
    Posted October 16, 2009 at 5:42 PM | Permalink

    Thank you so much for this Pat, I’m really excited to be able to participate!

    <3 Caitrin

  61. Anonymous
    Posted October 16, 2009 at 6:57 PM | Permalink

    Pat,
    my wife found this on her friends facebook page. it made me thing of the begining of your book.here is the link;
    http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1179930101321

    hope you find it as awesome as i did.

    Phil

  62. Trickster
    Posted October 16, 2009 at 7:05 PM | Permalink

    “rapacious fuckwit,” HA!!!! ( new worded added to word bank for later usage) i like that lol….

    and if i was the one who won the raffle i’d want my character to be extremely ugly.. the sore thumb that stands out, out of all the horribly good looking or average characters.. perhaps even bad breath, but i think yellow teeth would be pushing it… clean straight teeth just bad breath…

  63. Anonymous
    Posted October 16, 2009 at 8:33 PM | Permalink

    Thank you, Pat’s Secret PA! I was indeed proven wrong, although I’ll just tell myself I read an earlier version of the blog post–yeah, that’s the ticket!

    You know, PSPA, could just email someone in the US your info and they could send in the Poor Man’s Option for you. It’s only 44 cents, after all. Let me know.

    –Remo

  64. Anonymous
    Posted October 16, 2009 at 11:24 PM | Permalink

    If we are minors sans checking accounts, is it cool for us to pay our parents 10 bucks and get them to write a check out for us? The index card would have my name and my idea for a character, and it would be my money of course, but the check would have my mother’s name.

    Thank you!

  65. Pat
    Posted October 16, 2009 at 11:27 PM | Permalink

    That’s fine. All that matters is the name on the card.

  66. beckiwithani
    Posted October 17, 2009 at 1:00 AM | Permalink

    What a cool contest. Thanks for putting so much work into it.

    A couple of BTWs:

    First, PayPal does provide a donation receipt link when you finish your donation; the earlier commenter who wanted it for their tax records could do this.

    Also, I ran a fairly large charity raffle last year, and what I would do differently next time is use a simple database program to keep track of it all. Each name could be assigned a number (entrants with more than one ticket could be copied into the database multiple times), and then you could use random.org to generate a winner. (As for the database program, Filemaker Bento is fairly user-friendly and you can download a 1-month trial version. Or you could just use Excel.) This feels like it would be more error-proof and less of a paper avalanche than wading through notecards.

  67. Caitrin
    Posted October 17, 2009 at 2:30 AM | Permalink

    Oops, I don’t think I got my phone # on my Pay Pal >.< I didn't c/p all the appropriate questions, my apologies.

  68. Tphall
    Posted October 17, 2009 at 5:01 AM | Permalink

    I’ll give it a couple of days for the Aussie $$$ to go above the US $$$. Then I’ll be able to buy more tickets for Heifer Int. :)

  69. Vae
    Posted October 17, 2009 at 6:12 AM | Permalink

    anonymous – it might help if you READ THE BLOG to get the answers to your question. Pat did a great, and thorough job of putting all the important information in there so we could understand the rules. Just reread the blog, perhaps you missed something.

    And Pat – this is gonna be AWESOME

  70. Anonymous
    Posted October 17, 2009 at 12:12 PM | Permalink

    Hi Pat;
    Excellent cause- you are so creative and imaginative. EXCEPT that I thought the book was written and at the publishers.
    I sure hope you get a ton of money to donate- but waiting for this book- has been too long- I’ve lost all the “ooo what’s gonna happen” in me- So many good wishes- for the charity and everything…

    Albino Druid- I hope your “final weeks” doesn’t imply what it sounds like it implies- positive vibes to you!

    Positive vibes to you too P.R.

    Best to you
    Kerry Morgan
    author: The Astral Avenger

  71. Anonymous
    Posted October 17, 2009 at 12:21 PM | Permalink

    And yeah I get it to the person who commented on that- I saw how TALL the stack of printed papers were that is the printed book before it went off to the publishers. But it takes a wicked long time to go through the publishers and if Pat the and all his brilliance can still put in a minor character then we are even further off than I thought. So that sucks-

    but the charity is awesome and the name in the book thing is excellent and it’s just disappointing to know it’s that far off- Hey maybe amazon was right after all- they just have the year off- LOL

    LOL If you looked up the name of the book on Amazon it said pre order for April of 2009. LOL maybe they meant 2010 :) LOL

    Best to you and yours Pat!

    Kerry Morgan

  72. Steve
    Posted October 17, 2009 at 1:46 PM | Permalink

    I’m late the to the party. I’ve known about the book for a while, but have only just finished it. The good news is I loved it and I have less time to wait for the second book than other people! Fantastic cause, happy to contribute.

  73. Anonymous
    Posted October 17, 2009 at 8:49 PM | Permalink

    Are you going to announce who won and what name you added?

  74. R
    Posted October 17, 2009 at 9:03 PM | Permalink

    Hey, so the charity you’re doing is awesome. It’s made more awesome by the fact that so many people participate.

    So, I’m going to post a link now. I swear I’m not a spambot, but this is (sort of) related…

    http://www.goodsearch.com/

    For every search you do on this engine it donates money to a charity of your choice. I forget what exactly the amount is; it’s not huge, but it certainly adds up.

    Heifer International is one of the charities on there, I believe. If it’s not, they have an option to add charities somewhere.

    back to lurking…

  75. Laura
    Posted October 18, 2009 at 12:06 AM | Permalink

    Okay so I’m entering my name and my sister wants to enter hers too, (she’s at Duke–a few minutes from my house) and I was wondering if we can send both of our cards in the same envelope to save on postage?

  76. Anonymous
    Posted October 18, 2009 at 1:13 AM | Permalink

    Erm this may be a bit presumptive of me to say, but as i already said i am Pats secret PA that he doesnt know exists so….

    He said in the blog that basically aslong as there are seperate numbers it should…he didnt quite say it like that but thats the gist i get tbh…aslong as both donate (unless your doing the poor man option which is cool…i am a poorman) im sure that’d be fine in my (non) professional (useless) opinion.

    However if im completly wrong and im just being over zelous thinking i know stuff i dont…ill resign.

    Sincerely

    Pats secret Pa or PAP for short….

    ps my WV OUGHT to be better than OUGHT

  77. Vinny K
    Posted October 18, 2009 at 1:18 AM | Permalink

    Sounds like a great idea, Pat. You shall be receiving a notecard from me within the next week or two. I wish I could donate, but my finacial situation won’t allow for it, my apologies. May fortune smile upon you.

    ~Vinny~

  78. Anonymous
    Posted October 18, 2009 at 1:43 AM | Permalink

    Could I just send you a ten dollar bill straight up instead of a cheque?

  79. Mr. Spicey
    Posted October 18, 2009 at 12:56 PM | Permalink

    Well, I am in!
    I seriously think you should draw me because it would be a good sign for the international relation between the USA and Germany.

    You have to think about stuff like that, too. My name in your book could lead the way to eternal friendship between our two countries….

    Sven

  80. Seth
    Posted October 18, 2009 at 4:41 PM | Permalink

    Hey Pat,

    Anyway you can give us a play-by-play on how well the donations are doing in terms of money and your general response to the names being sent in? I am so very curious.

    A huge fan,
    Seth

  81. Deathshead
    Posted October 18, 2009 at 5:12 PM | Permalink

    HEY MATE ITS GREAT THAT YOU FEEL SO STRONGLY ABOUT OTHER PEOPLES WELL BEING, I HOPE YOU HELP ONE PERSONS “WHATEVER” IT IS THEY NEED HELP WITH. Judd Dendle

  82. Kyle F.
    Posted October 18, 2009 at 7:20 PM | Permalink

    Is it odd that the first thing I did after reading this was wonder at how ragged Kvothe looks in those pictures? He’s like one of the heifer kids.

    But really, I’ll be sure to try and send some money in. I’ll have to figure out a name to suggest, though.

  83. Matthew
    Posted October 19, 2009 at 1:16 AM | Permalink

    Hey Pat,
    How are you planning on dealing with the taxation issue (for the non-paypal option) if folks are mailing checks directly to you and made out to you? You may want to have them made out to H.I. directly so that their deduction isn’t compromised at all and you don’t risk any tax liability by co-mingling the funds.

    Sorry to bring up a lame tax issue but it’s my day-job.

    -Matt

  84. Nick
    Posted October 19, 2009 at 1:39 PM | Permalink

    @Anon- when we did this charity thing last year, Pat strongly discouraged sending cash. Partly because your letter could be lost in the mail shuffle, partly because Pat wasn’t sure he could be trusted *evil laugh*

    I’m assuming similar rules will apply this time.

  85. Kat Hooper
    Posted October 19, 2009 at 5:20 PM | Permalink
  86. Anonymous
    Posted October 19, 2009 at 5:55 PM | Permalink

    Hey Patrick, I was reading an older blog post of yours, labeled “Concerning Book 2.” I just wanted to say that however long it takes for you to release book 2, the wait is more than well worth it.

    As a female, I have never been so entranced with a male-lead novel as I’ve been with yours. Your story was so intriguing and captivating, and I really admire your writing skills so much.

    I hope that you aren’t getting too much hate mail about the length of time that it’s taking for book 2 to come out. Because great pieces of work take time to create, otherwise they wouldn’t be great.

    Anyhow, just wanted to let you know that there is at least one fan out there who appreciates your hard work and doesn’t mind waiting.

    Happy writing!

  87. JenMo
    Posted October 19, 2009 at 7:22 PM | Permalink

    Can we maybe get an update on how it’s going? I’m really curious about the response you’re getting for such an awesome idea.

  88. Katie
    Posted October 19, 2009 at 8:55 PM | Permalink

    Hooray, I donated. I feel pretty good about that.

  89. Anonymous
    Posted October 20, 2009 at 3:55 AM | Permalink

    Just remember Pat… the longer the wait, the better the work must be. Pent-up demand works great in the free market, but just as freedom extrapolated can become chaos, so unrequented desire extrapolated can become resentful anger. You have set the bar extremely high – I wish you well.

  90. wii controller
    Posted October 20, 2009 at 10:05 AM | Permalink

    Even if I don’t get anything from lottery I am pretty happy about myself that I had donated for a noble cause.

  91. ML Burt
    Posted October 21, 2009 at 3:04 AM | Permalink

    For a few months now, I’ve had a Paypal account that I’ve done nothing with but muse about buying xkcd t-shirts at four in the morning. I figure giving to charity and getting a shot at having a name put into TWMF all in one shot is a pretty cool way to inaugurate my account.

    Here’s hoping we can really raise some money for a worthy cause.

  92. Anonymous
    Posted October 21, 2009 at 1:06 PM | Permalink

    Pat-
    Thanks so much for giving us – the humble reader – a chance to have a chance to really be part of your latest book! I definitely plan on sending in my entry and a donation to Heifer International. Thanks again!

    Carla

  93. Rafael
    Posted October 21, 2009 at 10:43 PM | Permalink

    i love the book. it’s fantastic. thanks!!!
    i’m from Brazil, and all my friends are reading book one now. they love too.

  94. timothy
    Posted October 22, 2009 at 3:12 AM | Permalink

    Hey Pat i messed up i didnt see a spot on the donation by paypal for the name i wanted and what not. what should i do?

  95. Dustin
    Posted October 22, 2009 at 9:31 AM | Permalink

    So, last night I saw an ad on FoodTV with Alton Brown extolling the virtues of Heifer. I think you two should totally collaborate for the charity. The King Nerd of literature meets the King Nerd of television. My brain my explode in nerdgasm.

  96. Scott
    Posted October 22, 2009 at 1:49 PM | Permalink

    Sigh..I’m also guilty of not following instructions. I donated but didn’t read about the note card. Oh well, I donated to a worthy charity but get nothing out of it other than the satisfaction of knowing someone got a goat. Meanwhile I feel like one!

  97. Rickster8bit
    Posted October 23, 2009 at 12:54 PM | Permalink

    I didnt see anywhere in the form to enter our desired name in the book. so i guess it will just have to be my real name heh

  98. Brian Igelchen
    Posted October 24, 2009 at 6:37 PM | Permalink

    Can I still send in my book for signing, as long as I send you something? I remember we could before, but maybe you’re now being flooded with books and don’t want anymore to do with signing them for all I know. If so, can I have your size in sweaters?

    I’ll try to jump into the competition too. If I figure out how checks work, or if paypal starts working again. ^_^

    And about your second book, you’re doing great, keep up the good work, and rock on! (*morale boost*)

  99. Brian Igelchen
    Posted October 24, 2009 at 6:39 PM | Permalink

    Sorry for my grammatical blunder there, this is my second language. xD

    What I meant to say was that if it was possible for me to still send my book for signing, I’d like to have your size in sweaters. ^_^’

  100. JohnD
    Posted October 24, 2009 at 9:40 PM | Permalink

    What a great contest!

    I hope it is HUGELY successful and will send in money post-haste.

    Some folks have asked about “donation” receipts.

    Matt and others have raised various “tax issues” because it’s their day job. They suggest things like making out checks to HI directly so that a deduction can be claimed.

    We need to be very very clear here.

    IRS Publication 526 CLEARLY excludes “Contributions from which you benefit” from deductible items and list charity raffles as an example.

    No matter what tax dodge Matt suggests (ie making out check directly to a charity and claiming it as a donation), if that check gives you the chance to win something that folks perceive as valuable, then you MAY NOT DEDUCT IT.

    This is the case even if you give to charity running a raffle directly even. Doubly so here.

    For folks asking about international deductibility, it’s virtually impossible to take a tax deduction by giving to a foreign organization. You need to give money to a local charity who then can forward it.

    For most, the deduction will be modest anyways :)

    I’d encourage Matt to describe his reasoning for how folks are able to take a deduction for this as I’ve never heard of a raffle or anything else like this being eligible, no matter how you dodge it. The IRS reference is here, and lots more are available.

    I’d encourage people to enjoy the contest for what it is, support a worthy cause, but do not, no matter what you read here, try and write off your raffle entry cost as a deduction :)

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