Author Archives: Pat

As I sit down to write this, it’s 3:00 in the morning. So late on Monday that it’s really Tuesday morning.

Not just any Tuesday though. It’s giving Tuesday, which means I’m supposed to write an inspiring blog about the Worldbuilders Fundraiser.

You see, last year I wrote a blog about my mom, and Haiti, and Heifer International….

(You can read the blog here if you like. It was pretty good.)

…and we had our biggest fundraising day ever.

Of course there were extenuating circumstances. Last year we had unexpected access to matching money. That was a big motivator. We geeks love a power multiplier.

The result? We raised $200,000 that day.

So my team is expecting me to write a really great blog today. Something that will delight and inspire you. Something that will draw you in. Make you enthusiastic. Rile you up. Break your heart. (But in a good way.)

And I’ve been rooting around inside myself for it all night. Looking for that blog. Looking for something to say. And I just can’t find it.

I got nothing.

*     *    *

Part of the problem is that I can’t announce a big BIG one-day-only matching-money extravaganza! A tight timeline is compelling. Anyone who has ever backed a kickstarter knows a ticking clock can light a fire under the most reluctant of asses.

But here’s the problem. Last year, when Heifer gave us access to matching money, we impressed them. And while I was excited to raise that $200,000, I told them I felt bad springing it on my people halfway through the fundraiser.

“I feel like it abuses their trust a bit,” I explained. “What about the people that came in and donated early? They weren’t holding back. They didn’t wait to see if there was a better charity deal hiding around the corner. I just said to them, ‘Hey guys, come with us, and we’ll make the world a better place,’ and they did. But now some of them feel like they missed out on getting their donations doubled….”

I explained to Heifer that I didn’t think surprises were good in the long run. They work wonders in the moment, but next year people will worry if they donate early, they might miss out later….

“But if you give us money to match donations at the beginning of the fundraiser,” I told them. “I’d like the world on fire. My people would go crazy for that.”

But here’s the funny thing. They did. They gave us $1,000,000 of matching money.

And so we launched with it.

And you guys did go crazy for it. We’ve used $340,000 so far, and raised more than $680,000. It’s our best year ever…

But as a result, I have no surprises.

I have nothing shocking to unveil for you today.

But I *can* tell you a story.

*     *     *

This is Klang Savuth and Kid Moa:

(With their son Ky Damkoeung.)

In 2014, they were subsistence farmers, which means they grew just enough to feed themselves if things went well. They didn’t have a reliable source of income, so when they needed anything beyond the bare necessities, they had to borrow or beg.

In 2014, Heifer International gave Klang and Kid 20 chickens and some vegetable seeds. Then Heifer gave them the training and tools they needed to use them, because that’s what Heifer does.

Today, their flock has grown to over 200 birds. They used the profit from their chickens to buy a pig, and now they own 23 pigs. They’ve opened their own general store.

They have a beautiful garden that makes more than enough food to sustain them. And Klang continues to attend Heifer training courses and plans to buy more land. She wants to start a fish pond and build a biogas digester that will turn her animal’s waste into better fertilizer clean methane for light and cooking. They don’t have access to electricity.

And you know what? They’ve given 30 chickens to another family. They gave that family training and tools, too.

(Because that’s what Heifer International teaches people to do. They call it Passing On The Gift.)

In two and a half years, this family has gone from desperately poor to thriving. They’ve gone from needing help, to giving help.

Heifer International does this all over the world. Nobody is better at it.

*     *     *

Do you know how much it costs to give a family chickens?

$20 dollars.

*     *     *

Last week, the Worldbuilders team sat me down and told me that this is a bad year for charities. Fundraisers everywhere are running at all-time lows. They explained to me that with Brexit and the US election, the economy is uncertain. That makes people reluctant to donate money.

My team told me this very gently. And I know what they’re doing. They’re preparing me for the fact that maybe we might not use up all our matching money. More importantly, they’re preparing me for the fact that this year, for the first time in the history of Worldbuilders, our fundraiser might be *smaller* than the previous year.

And I’m not surprised. I don’t follow global economy stuff, but I know people. And I know that since the election, I have felt… devastated. Numb. I am worried for my country, and I am worried for my world.

Pretty much everyone I know feels this way. And many of my friends feel even worse. Less that a week ago, I had a nightmare about nuclear war. My first in 30 years.

This is part of why it’s hard for me to write to you today. How can I infect you with enthusiasm when I’m having trouble finding it myself?

For many of us, it is not easy to be hopeful right now. We hurt. And when we hurt, we curl in on ourselves. It’s natural. Instinctive. It’s an animal reaction to pain.

Charity is the opposite of this. Charity is an act of reaching out.

But where do we find the hope?

*     *     *

I don’t know how to fix the world. But look at this.

Look at him. Look at how happy he is. And you know why? He has clean water to drink.

Heifer International can give a whole town clean, accessible water.

Know how much it costs to give a community full of children clean water?

It costs $300.

*     *     *

A lot of you have been leaving comments with your donations. These little stories keep me going. They are much-needed injections of hope in a time when I need to be reminded that people are good. I can’t thank you all enough for this, (and I hope you all win fabulous prizes in our lottery.)

Let me share a few. Here’s one from Josephine:

I just want to say THANK YOU PAT, for opening my eyes to how EASY it is to make a great difference in other people’s lives, even as a poor student, whose bank account is below 0 every month, just by giving just a little bit – I will forgo the Christmas shopping and instead do homemade gifts.

From Melissa:

I’m broke. Like, really, really broke. But I have food and shelter, so some of my money is going to help someone else who needs help.

And there are some that make me smile a big, foolish, joyful smile, like Julia’s:

I am 10 years old and this is my first time donating to WorldBuilders.  It is such a nice thing to do.  I really wanted to use my own money to buy a family an animal.

I see see a lot of you feel the same way I do, like Paul:

Thanks for keeping positivity and hope in this world. The country is a little short on both right now. 

Like Benjamin:

Doubling what I had planned to donate because I’m frustrated with recent events and want to push back against the darkness. Thanks for being a force for good!

And people like Alyssa make me cry:

Yesterday I was reading The Name of the Wind from inside the adult ward of a mental health facility. Three days ago, I genuinely had no will to live. Today, my partner led me home, and we’re donating a goat to a family that will use it well. My heart is brimming with gratitude. Thank you, World builders, for giving us the opportunity to help. Thanks to Pat for the gift of your words.

*     *    *

I sometimes write about a girl. This girl is alone, living in darkness, working tirelessly to make the world better, one small piece at a time. The darkness constantly surrounds her. But she keeps working, even on bad days, and she always brings her own light.

She is braver than I am. And better. And she never gives up.

So. It’s Giving Tuesday.

What are you going to do?

pat

So… I don’t know if you guys have heard about this Overwatch thing. It’s a little shoot-em-up style game made by some indie game developer or other.

If you listen to my podcast with Max Temkin, you’ve definitely heard of it. Max has been singing a song about Overwatch for ages now, trying to seduce me over to the dark side. And a couple months back, I finally gave in.

But that wasn’t enough for Max. Then at some point in the podcast he said our two companies should go head-to-head in a match. Cards Against Humanity vs Worldbuilders for charity. And I laughed and said sure. That would be fun. Whatever.

But then our people got talking, and things started to snowball…

And that leads to today. With me announcing the first (and maybe only ever) Worldbuilders Overwatch Tournament for Charity. Yeah. Let’s go with that name. That acronym shouldn’t be confusing at all….

We have 8 teams representing diverse groups from all the four corners of the geek world:

• Team Worldbuilders
• Team Cards Against Humanity
• Team Secret Hitler
• Team Loading Ready Run
• Team Badali Jewelry
• Team Waffle Media
• Team Penny Arcade
• Team Geek and Sundry

(Art by the amazing Kevin Budnik)

Next week Tuesday (November 29th) our first round of matches will begin. Each team will spend the time between now and then trying to rally their communities to donate on their team pages. Because for each match, the team with less money will have to play with a handicap. Like having everyone on their team play as Junkrat. Or making everyone play support characters. Or not lettting anyone play genji. Ever. Because I hate Genji so much. So so so so much.

For example, the first match next week Tuesday at 5:30pm CT, Team Secret Hitler will be playing Team Penny Arcade. Whichever of them raises less money will have their entire team playing Soldier 76. I’m pretty sure no one wants that, so they’ll be constantly battling to make sure they don’t lose.

It’s gong to get pretty ridiculous.

Here’s the tournament bracket.

(click to embiggen the glory)

Each game will be watchable in multiple places. And I’m pretty sure at least one of them will be on my very own twitch channel, where I will be blowing myself up constantly as Junkrat. So if you want to make sure you catch the show, you can go and follow me there now.

Using our first game as a reference, If you want to watch the Team Penny Arcade captain’s stream and hear all of the team’s talking in group chat, you can watch on their Twitch channel. Same holds true for Team Secret Hitler. (You can find all of the teams’ Twitch channels on the Worldbuilders Overwatch Wesite)

Or, if you want to watch in Spectator Mode and see the match from both sides you can tune into the Worldbuilders Twitch channel, where we’ll have the lovely Amanda hosting and commentating on all of the matches throughout the tournament.

All of this information is visible on the website we made to track the tournament. We kinda banged it together quick, but it gets the job done by showing each team’s current total, along with links so you can support your favorites by donating.

(Like so.)

Also, did I mention that any donations you make on those team pages will be doubled thanks to the fact that we have access to a Million Dollars of matching money?

(It will.)

Also, every $10 dollars you donate gets you an entry in our fabulous prize lottery. Which at this point has more than 1,600 books, games, and cool geekery worth more than $60,000. (With more being added every day.)

I hope y’all have a happy Thanksgiving tomorrow. With an amount of family that is sufficient to your particular situation and desires.

Know that I am endlessly thankful for all of you. And for the geek community that comes together every year to make Worldbuilders a success.

Here’s the link to the page where you can see team standings and donate.

May the best team win.

pat

P.S.

(Please donate to Worldbuilders because seriously, I can’t play any support characters…)

Hey there everybody,

Over the weekend, Worldbuilders hit 150,000 dollars.

That’s cool enough in its own right, but if you consider the fact that all donations are being matched dollar for dollar…

(Like so.)

… it means we’ve actually raised over $300,000.

Needless to say, this is our best launch ever. And we’ve passed three stretch goals, including this amazing video the folks at Heifer International made to celebrate.

I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever enjoyed watching a video more….

The amount of money we’ve raised is going to do an amazing amount of good. It’s enough for 15,000 flocks of chickens that will help families increase their gardens’ productivity by eating bugs, to say nothing of eggs they can eat and sell for extra income. It’s enough to provide 1,000 communities with clean water.

And this is just our first week….

*     *     *

Back when I started all this, Worldbuilders was nothing more than me desperately offering up signed books and posters in an attempt to get people to donate to my favorite charity.

These days, we have so many authors helping out. Not to mention dozens of sponsors who donate thousands of games and books for us to give away. This year, in just our first week, we have more than 850 prizes worth more than than $33,000. And for every $10 bucks you kick into the fundraiser, you get another chance to win things like this:

I will never get tired of showing off this beautiful Tak set from Wyrmwood. I’m already jealous of the person who wins it. (P.S. That person can be you if you donate.)

But even though the fundraiser is a lot bigger than me these days, I still like to do my part and throw some of my own donations into the mix.

• Auction: My own personal Flow Hive of Shame.

As I wrote about on the blog a while back, I bought a Flow Hive.

The marketing sold me on an easy-peasy way to harvest honey without any of the usual work involved. But then I did my research and found out that if lazy, irresponsible people like me get into beekeeping, the hives can go bad and potentially do a lot of harm not only to the bees in the hive, but the whole local bee ecosystem.

So I’ve decided to auction this hive off to someone who will love it, and hopefully use it responsibly, too.

The money from this auction (and all the other auctions) will be doubled with our magical matching money. Then we’ll send it off to Heifer, where they can use it to train, educate, and buy beehives for people who will use them for extra income, honey, and to improve pollination of their gardens and crops.

If you’re interested in beekeeping and want to help me offset this bad decision, you can bid on it right here.

• A full set of my favorite fantasy books.

(click to embiggen – Rachel had to stand on a stool to get all of them)

A few years ago, someone asked me what they should read while they were waiting for my next book. So I posted a blog listing my 40 favorite fantasy books and/or series are. Books that everyone should read if they wanted to consider themselves well-versed in fantasy.

The clever among you will note that this picture contains a lot more than 40 books. This is because I cheated and used entire series as an entry. Like the Dresden Files, which I’m absolutely gooey over. (Currently 15 books.) Or Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Series. (38 books.)

I gave one of these away a couple of years ago, but we have another available this year. Some of these books are out of print, or at the very least VERY hard to track down. I want to bring them to as many people who haven’t had the luck to read them as possible.

So this is going into the lottery where anyone can win them so long as they donate at least $10 bucks.

• Signed First Edition Name of the Wind. Lottery and Auction.

I still remember when I sold these online for 60 bucks and felt *really* guilty about it, like I was committing some sort of fraud.

Then came the time when we were selling them in the store for $700 each, but we had to stop because we ran out. Last year we auctioned one for $2,500. Every year people seem to be willing to pay more and more. And I can’t imagine what will happen to the price if a movie ever comes out.

Still, I have handful of them squirreled away. And for Worldbuilders, I’m willing to give up a pair. One is going into the lottery where anyone who donates can win it, other copy is going up on ebay.

• Signed & Doodled College Survival Guide. Lottery and Auction.

These are even more of a rarity than first editions of NOTW. This is a collection of humor columns I wrote for the college paper back when I was a student. This edition is annotated, and illustrated by my longtime friend Brett Hiorns, who now works with us at Worldbuilders.

This book was put together by a small press in 2005. Back before anyone cared who Patrick Rothfuss was. There were only 500 printed, so they’re impossible to find. I’ve put two of my remaining copies into the fundraiser, one in the lottery and the other up for auction right here.

• Signed, doodled, First Edition copies of The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle: The Thing Beneath the Bed. One in the lottery and one in an auction.

The Princess books are probably my favorite pet project. I worked on them with my friend Nate Taylor, who also illustrated The Slow Regard of Silent Things. We’ve been the ones printing them fora couple of years now, and they’re on their 6th or 7th printing.

These, however, are first printing copies, signed by me, and signed and doodled by Nate.

These aren’t all that easy to come by, so I’ve put one in the lottery, and the other is up for auction here.

• One Favor from Pat Rothfuss. One in the lottery and one in an auction.

I’ve auctioned off favors in the past, and it’s gone over extremely well. Here are the details:

This is a 10 karat gold ring redeemable for one (1) favor from Patrick Rothfuss.

Possible uses for the favor include:

Asking Pat to insert your name/likeness into a future book or story.
Asking Pat’s assistance in wooing the object of your affection, preferably from under a balcony at night.
Asking Pat to read and critique your unpublished manuscript (or your published one, if you really want.)
Asking Pat give a reading/workshop at your local library or University.
Asking Pat to give a reading/workshop at your house.
Asking Pat to give a reading/workshop in your bedroom.
Asking Pat to help you move a particularly heavy couch.
Asking Pat to follow you on twitter and post kitten pictures to you.

This favor has no expiration date. It can be traded, transferred, sold, or lost. In essence, the ring *is* the favor. You give the ring back when you cash in your favor. So if you lose it, you’ve kinda fucked yourself.

The nature of this favor is fairly open-ended, though some negotiation may be necessary depending on the nature of the favor. Certain ethical or legal restrictions may apply (though not as many as you might expect.) Under no circumstances will Patrick dance for you. Carnal favors must be approved by Pat’s girlfriend in advance. If you win this favor in the auction, and for any reason I cannot fulfill his obligation to you, I will personally refund your winning bid in exchange for the ring.

In the past these have gone for more than $15,000. But I’m putting on into general the lottery where anyone who donates at least $10 can win it.

Or, if your dark heart is full of a desperate need for something only I can provide, you can go over here and bid.

And may god have mercy on my soul.

• 3 Silver Court Rings – Same Place, Same Time rings. 

This is something new I’m trying out this year. Rather than continuously giving away gold rings that lay out there in the world, filled with a terrible potential to ruin my life. I commissioned some silver rings from Badali. These won’t give you any sort of favor. But if we’re in the same city, at the same convention, or somewhere convenient like that, I’ll carve out some time to grab a coffee with you, or maybe play a quick game.

Also. How fucking cool do these look? I love them. I think they turned out great.

I’ve put all three of these into the lottery, where every ten dollars you kick in gives you a chance to win.

*     *     *

• Update on Neil Gaiman’s Stretch Goal.

Our $1 million goal is to have Neil Gaiman read to us again. And you get to vote on what he reads:

But of course, this only happens if we hit 1,000,000 dollars. So keep donating….

• Streaming on Twitch:

As many of you already know, to help promote Worldbuilders, I’m livestreaming on my Twitch channel every day of the fundraiser.

• Mondays: 1:00-4:00 pm CST
• Tuesdays: 4:00-7:00 pm CST
• Wednesdays: 4:00-7:00 pm CST
• Thursdays: 4:00-7:00 pm CST
• Fridays: 2:00-5:00 pm CST
• Saturdays: 2:00-5:00 pm CST
• Sundays: 2:00-5:00 pm CST

And when I say, “every day” what I really mean is “almost every day.” I will happily sacrifice my health and mental well-being to the fundraiser, but Sarah and the kids have requested that they have their dad back for Thanksgiving. So I’m not having scheduled streams on the 23th-25th. Though I will probably log on later in the evening those days (After 10:00 CST, when my kids are in bed.)

Also, starting today, we’re taking votes on what I should do when I’m streaming.

This is going to be a little different than last year, where winner took all.

Instead of just doing whichever option raises the most money, it’ll be based on percentages. Let’s say that Witcher raised 75% of the money for the day, Goat Simulator got 20%, and Q&A got 5%. I’ll spend 75% of the stream playing Witcher, 20% playing Goat Simulator, and 5% doing Q&A. This way, every vote counts, and everyone gets what they want, at least a little bit.

While I’m planning on continuing to play Witcher, I’m also open to suggestions of other games. I’m probably going to do a parenting Q&A stream with some other geek dads. And a Mental Health Q&A with some authors.

If you have any other ideas, leave them in the comments below.

Thanks for coming along on this ride with me, everyone. And thanks for helping make the world a better place.

pat

Today’s blog continues two of my favorite Worldbuilders traditions, professional critiques of manuscripts and people getting to make guest appearances in upcoming books.

Let’s jump right in.

• Critiques

This is something I would’ve killed for when I was first sending the book off to publishers. The opportunity to have your manuscript read by a skilled editor, agent, or author is huge. It doesn’t just have an impact on your book, this sort of feedback can help you develop your craft as well.

We always put a bunch of these up for auction, and this year is no exception.

But even better, this year we have critiques available in the lottery, too. Back when I was in college I couldn’t have afforded an expensive auction. So now I’m delighted to give unpublished writers a chance to win a professional critique by donating to the WriMos for Worldbuidlers team page. For every $10 you donate, you’ll get the chance to win a critique, as well as all the other goodies in our prize lottery. Even better? More critiques will be added as we hit higher donation totals on that team page team.

So, if you want to jump in on that option in the lottery, donate right here. If you’d like to be a little more certain that you’ll get a critique, then this next section is for you. We have sixteen different critiques going up in the auction.

A NOTE BEFORE YOU DIVE IN: We’ve made each critique expandable here, so if you’re interested in one, you can click on it to expand out more information. PLEASE READ THIS INFORMATION CAREFULLY.

Everyone is offering something a little different. Each author, editor, or agent is handling their auction in their own way…

• Everyone has different skills, and they’re each offering something different.
• Critiques are for different lengths of manuscript. From 7,500 to 150,000 words.
• The professionals below are busy people. Critiques will have to fit in their schedules.
• When auctions mention “X pages” of a manuscript, that’s standard manuscript format.
• Most importantly, it’s important to realize that what you’re getting here is a critique. You’re not buying an introduction to someone’s agent or editor. You’re not winning representation with an agent. Or a foot in the door with an editor. That’s not what’s on the block. You’re getting writing advice from a professional.

Also, I’d just like to point out that all donations to Worldbuilders are being doubled right now. So if you were looking for an excuse to be generous. This is it…

Okay. Enough preamble. Let’s get to the auctions.

• Copy Edits and Fact Checking

This is slightly different than a critique of your manuscript, and so we’ve separated it out a bit.

A copy edit is a really big deal, and honestly something that most people don’t think about. Most authors don’t get this chance until their book has already sold, but it makes a huge difference in the readability of a manuscript.

• Tuckerizations

What is a Tuckerization, you may ask? Well, it means different things to different people. Historically, it’s called a Tuckerization because Wilson Tucker used so many of his friends’ names as characters in his stories that it became something of an in-joke. Nowadays, it’s the chance to make a cameo appearance in a story. An author will take your name, or maybe your personality, or your physical description, and use it for a character in their story.

Maybe it’s not your name. Maybe it’s a sister’s, or a friend’s, or that kid you spent a lot of time with in kindergarten before he moved away. Maybe you only *start* with your name, but the author changes it a bit to fit in with the culture of the world you’re being put into. If that happens, you collaborate with the author and reach a solution you both like.

Whatever the case, it’s a chance to be a part of something really cool. It’s a chance, in some ways, at literary immortality.

We have ten tuckerizations available below, but they’re all a little different, so read carefully.

***

So, we’ve got a lot of options for you there, folks. Take your time, click around, and see what option tickles your fancy the most. Maybe make a list of the top 3. These auctions will be ending at slightly different times, so if you miss out on one, you can still go for another.

And if all of them slip past you, don’t forget that you could win a manuscript critique in the lottery if you donate to the WriMos for Worldbuilders team page. All hope is not lost.

More coming soon…

pat