Category Archives: Nathan Taylor

Numbers, Thanks, and Fancy Covers From the UK…

As I write this, the Narrow Road Between Desires has been published for six days. Not quite a week.

I can’t remember if I’ve talked about it on the blog recently, but the first week of sales for a book are pretty important. It’s sort of similar to how people mention how much money the opening weekend of a movie made: it’s an easy metric that quantifies the movie’s success. It doesn’t indicate how *good* the movie is, mind you. But even so… there’s an implication…

Luckily, publishing isn’t nearly so tied to just a couple days worth of numbers as a metric for success. But even so, the first couple weeks of sales *do* determine if you hit various bestseller lists. Those things, in turn, make a difference in terms of who pays attention to your book, who reviews it, how many copies bookstores order moving into the holidays, etc.

Of course, I don’t know what my numbers actually *are* at this point. But I’m guessing they’re… okay? I’m hoping they’re okay.

The sort of numbers I do have access to are… the same numbers you do. Numbers of reviews. Star ratings on various websites. Stuff like that. And while I don’t obsess over those things the way I *used* to do… I’m only human, so of course I look.

As I mentioned on the blog last week, before Narrow Road was even published, it had more than a hundred one-star reviews which led to it having a stunning 2.1 star rating.

And yeah, that might seem bad at first. But once you realize the *lowest* you can rate a book is one star…. it actually means it’s not a five-star system. It’s more like it’s a four-star system, and the book had a 1.1 star rating…

Which, among other things, shows that math very rarely helps you feel better about people being pissy.

I’ll admit, I wandered back to goodreads a few times over the last week. Much the same way it’s hard to stop touching a bruise once you know it’s there… Imagine my delight when I saw that on the day of publication, about a 150 people who had actually *read* the book left reviews, which brought things up to about 3 stars….

Which made me feel better, until I realized that put Narrow Road slightly *below* TekWar by William Shatner.

And here’s the thing. I’m not throwing shade here. I only read TekWar once, back in the day. And Shatner’s a better actor than I am. But contrariwise, I’d hope that I’m a better writer than him. And if nothing else, I’d hope that my *fourth* book would at least rank a little bit above his first…

Still as Oot says when he’s trying to build something in MineCraft: “Comparators are the thieves of joy.” I know better that to hang my happiness on plaudits from the hoi polloi…

Fast forward to today though, when I wandered over to look at Narrow Road on goodreads I saw this…

And I have to say, that feels a little better. Not only that it’s almost up at 4 stars, which is nice, but that over a thousand of y’all have taken the time to read and rate the book even though it’s only been out for about six days…

What’s more, that puts it slightly *above* Slow Regard in terms of stars. (Which is a better sort of comparison to engage in.) If Narrow Road turned out as well as Slow Regard, well… then I’m pretty happy.

So… yeah. Thanks. Thanks to all of you who have been picking up the book, or leaving reviews, or telling your friends. I really appreciate it.

In other news, check out this hotness:

 

These got released in the UK about a week or two ago, and I’ve been too tangled up in one thing and another to post up pictures of them yet. But honestly? They look gorgeous…

Check out those endpapers, y’all…

And they’re different in the The Wise Man’s Fear:

I haven’t managed to get my grubby little hands on one yet, but I’m hoping it won’t be too long…

And speaking of different covers…

(I stole this off instagram, because the purple suede makes me feel like a fancy prince.)

I always love seeing the foreign covers of my books, and this one I love even more than usual. It’s not just because it’s my baby, and I love it no matter what. (It’s a little that.)

The real reason I love this cover extra much is because Nate Taylor did this art. (Remember him? The guy who did the illustrations?) What’s more, I kinda helped him…

But that, as they say, is another story, and I’ve got to get to bed…

Take care of yourselves, everyone.

pat

Also posted in book covers, cool news, foreign happenings, the business of writing | By Pat60 Responses

Whyfore Art Thou? – An Interview With Nate Taylor

Whyfore Art Thou? An Interview with Nate Taylor.

Pat: So what’s the best part of working with international bestselling author, philanthropist, and bon vivant Patrick Rothfuss?

Nate: Second-hand fame. I get recognized so long as I’m with you, but no one hassles me at renn faires.

Pat: What’s the worst part of working with the world-class hot mess, megalomaniac, sentient dumpster-fire known as Patrick Rothfuss?

Nate: It is pretty annoying when the other super-villains make a power play against you. I get caught in the crossfire, and ninja attacks get old real fast.

Pat: Tell me about it. They keep getting sucked into the engines of my private jet.

Okay, question time. Can you describe what your process is, as an artist?

Nate: Absolutely! It’s like going fishing. You craft a perfect lure, cast the line, and wait for the nibble. You struggle with the catch and reel it in only to find out you caught the wrong fish. Throw it back and try again. Sometimes it’s almost the right fish, and sometimes it’s an old boot. Sometimes the boot kicks you in the armpit and jumps back in the water. Eventually you reel in a glowing Omega Fish that makes you invulnerable for an hour and it was all worth it.

Pat: Is… Is the Omega Fish a finished illustration?

Nate: It is the final form of the Illustration Supreme, a glorious reckoning of science and artistry. So, yeah I guess it could be called finished.

Pat: Can you tell us a story about what it’s like to work with Rothfuss?

Nate: I did a full illustration a couple of years back to prepare for this book. It was of Bast “sneaking” up on the shepherdess. I got friends to pose for reference photos and rendered the illustration in this polished black and white style. It was pretty sleek. But when we started to really work on things together, you said, “This is first-date Nate. This is very careful and reserved. I think we want third-date Nate. Get comfortable and show off what you really want to do.” It was ultimately inspiring, but for two full days I laid on my back and wondered what the hell I really wanted to do.

Pat: Oh god. Did I really say that?

Nate: Pretty much. You even told me to go overboard a little, though not in so many words.

Pat: It was an amazing illo though. Mind if I show it off so folks can see?

Nate: Sure.

Pat: As y’all can see, this one’s from *way* back, before the Billion Revisions… (brief spoiler hidden)

Show

I wrote the first version of the story in just under a month, which is lightning fast for me. It turned out well, all things considered, but I didn’t get nearly as much time to fine-tune as I normally do. Plus that was nearly ten years ago, which is why there was so much for me to improve in this version.

Nate: Now extensive was the revision?

Pat: In terms of the text, I probably re-wrote about half of the original 20,000 word story. Then I reorganized a bunch of things. Added scenes, split some action up. Expanded on the main plot and the main relationship. Added the Embrils. By the end, the whole thing was about 15,000 words longer.

Nate: How long did it all take?

Pat: Between 4-8 months of pretty solid work, depending on how you count it.

Nate: So… it took 8 times longer to revise than it took to write the original?

Pat: Like I said, it depends on how you count it. That includes things like copyedits and page proofs that weren’t part of my one-month draft. It also includes all the art we developed.

Speaking of, how many versions of the shepherd do you think we did, trying to get it right?

Nate: (checks the archives) Five, plus two that were more subtle border illustrations.

Pat: Oof. And that’s not counting the different drafts and tweaks. Then, after everything, we skip it to focus on other images…

Nate: This one was my favorite concept, I think.

Pat: Seriously though. Why do you keep doing this to yourself?

Nate: Seriously then, and this is something I’ve told other artists and writers who have asked me similar questions. “Pat helps me do my best work.” It’s easy for me to fall victim to my own need for speed and call a piece finished just because the shading looks nice. You are good at pushing the details and the thought behind each choice in the image until it’s the best possible version of itself.

Pat: Is there an illustration we abandoned you really wish we could have made work?

Nate: So many. We cut at least 18 illustrations for one reason or another. I think the one I miss the most was a small portrait of Crazy Martin. I love that little portrait of the hulking madman.

Pat: I love doing character design with you. But yeah, I worried it would take too long. Plus, Martin doesn’t actually show up in the book. I know you did 3-4 versions of him though. Wanna show one off?

Nate: Sure.

Pat: Looking at this again, I don’t know what worries me more. The fact that it looks a lot like me… or the fact that it looks a lot like me but younger and probably more attractive.

Which illustration do you think changed the most while we were revising things.?

Nate: We spent a lot of time on Kostrel dancing. We tried Bast facing toward us, Bast facing away, Kostrel facing toward and away, Bast facing away but head turned toward us. Even after we figured all that out, we did so many versions of Kostrel’s angry face.

 

Nate: There were so many versions of the different embrils too, and the Lightning Tree itself… You know what? I think the axe in the stump was the only one I nailed on my first pass.

Pat: Actually, I made us go back to that because I was worried the laces on the neck of his shirt hanging off it might interfere with visual continuity.

Nate: True, one change. That still puts it way ahead of the curve.

Pat: It also provides further proof that I am, in fact, a monster.

Nate: My turn for questions. Why do you keep doing this to me?

I mean, what’s your favorite part of working with Nate Taylor?

Pat: I could go on and on. I’ll keep it to three things though.

  1. You have never once choked me even though I’m always asking for another, another, another ANOTHER revision. You’ve never even gotten notably salty.
  2. When I explain what I imagine for an illustration, or what I’m hoping to change or tweak in the next draft, you for-real understand what I mean. Almost every time. That’s so rare.
  3. When you add some twist or detail, it’s not just something that fits. Not just something I love. It’s usually something I wish I would have thought of first. I feel guilty knowing people tend to assume the clever idea in one of the pictures is mine, when the truth is, it’s actually the pure child of your beautiful brain.

Nate: I feel my head swelling, so help me keep an even keel. What’s the worst part of working with Nate? And you can’t say he’s too perfect.

Pat: I worry that you’ll get tired of my bullshit and find easier work somewhere else. Or that someone else will realize how amazing you are and steal you away…

Nate: I’ve seen what happens to artists when they only work for people who think they poop gold-pressed latinum. I need a challenge. Speaking of, when are you going to tell readers that Bast is Kvothe’s real dad?

Pat: Nate… Don’t tease the poor people.

Nate: Sorry. When do you reveal Bast is Kvothe’s step-dad?

Pat: Book four. Right after the chapter where Elodin punches the moon.

Nate: What was your favorite illustration from this book?

Pat: Oh man. It really changes. The one with the kitten cracks me up. Same with little Pem. You *nailed* the one with Rike and Bast making their deal, too. Your idea for making the dividing lines look like shattered ice was brilliant. I can’t believe you pulled that off.

Nate: I became a student of ice for a week. What’s a book you’d love to have Nate illustrate?

Pat: This feels like a cop-out answer, but I’m really excited to put a bow on our graphic novel of The Boy That Loved The Moon. Does that count?

Nate: Of course! I’m looking forward to showing that to the world. How about a book not written by you though?

Pat: Something Wicked This Way Comes. You’re so good with Characters, I’d love to see your take on the boys in that story. To say nothing of Cooger and Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show.

Nate: You got to show off the area around Newarre for the first time. Was it modeled after a real place?

Pat: It’s not based on a place. But it does have a bit of a Midwestern small town feel though. Mostly because that’s where I’ve always lived.

The old men at the bar always remind me of the Norwegian bachelor farmers from Lake Wobegon though. I remember we were going to take a stab at illustrating those, but we nixed that fairly soon because that one illustration would require doing 3-5 sets of character design for what are, at best, tertiary characters.

Pat: I think that’s all the space we have. Thanks again for chatting, Nate. And thanks for all the hard work you put into this. I’m really excited for people to finally get to see what you’ve done now that they can pick up the book…

Nate: I’m beyond thrilled for people to finally see what we’ve made. Let’s talk more tonight!

Pat: I’m really looking forward to it. You wanna show off some of the new illustrations on the stream tonight?

Nate: New illustrations and old ones too! Though, I should hold some back for later. Don’t want to art dump *too* much.

Pat: That’s fair. And since it’s the first day still, we’ll be keeping the stream spoiler-free. You good with doing some Q&A too?

Nate: I’ve never seen a Q that could stand up to my sculpted A. Sorry, I meant thoughtful A.

Pat: You heard it here folks. Tonight Nate Taylor will tell you all his secrets and teach you how to become a successful illustrator, guaranteed.

Nate: I just found this old wardrobe in an empty room and walked through it —

Pat: No backsies! Talk to you soon!

*     *     *

Nate Taylor has illustrated the books “The Slow Regard of Silent Things,” “The Princess & Mr. Whiffle,” “Sometimes the Magic Works” by Terry Brooks, and the graphic novels “The Briar-Sword Monk” by Shawn Speakman and the upcoming Temerant tale “The Boy Who Loved the Moon.” He has also done art for the games “Button Men,” “Tak,” and “Lords of Vegas: Americana.”

He now lives with his family in the Pacific Northwest where he freelances as a human illustrator, cartoonist, and portraitist.

Folks can find him on Instagram @natentaylor and view his portfolio site natentaylor.com

Also posted in Interviews, Nathan Taylor Art | By Pat34 Responses

Concerning Minecraft, Faerie Bargains, and an Early Peek into The Doors of Stone.

Okay. There’s a story I’ve been wanting to share here for a couple days, but with all the chaos of the fundraiser, I haven’t been able to manage it.

Sorry it’s taken so long, as it’s related to Book Three, and I know that’s something everyone here is interested in to some degree or other.

So here we go:

Once years and miles away, there was a man who loved books, and games , and stories. He did not consider himself wise, but was still wise enough to know he was happiest when he was being a bit of a fool. He was an odd sort, beset by melancholy, and often felt as if he didn’t fit into the world. He was uncommonly lucky, and uncomfortably honest, and he always kept his word.

All of this taken together led some folk to wonder if his mother had been visited by the sort of odd folk who always seem to be showing up in the dark hours just as children are being born. The sort of people that leave no footprints, and speak oddly, so it’s hard to tell if they’re good oracles, bad poets, or merely self-important busybodies who lack proper jobs and have too much time on their hands.

Other people suspected it had nothing to do with events surrounding his birth. Instead they thought perhaps he had a demon riding in his shadow, or a single drop of faerie blood, or that one of his long-forgotten ancestors had lay down among the Gorse…

His name was Patrick Rothfuss. Those who knew him, knew he enjoyed a good wager. But those who knew him better knew the truth, and that was that he *loved* a wager, especially if it was reckless and unwise….

*     *     *

About a week ago, we fired up our yearly Worldbuilders fundraiser.

It’s going pretty well so far, by the way. As I write this, we’re just on the cusp on unlocking a new chunk of Matching Money….

As you can see from this year’s swank thermometer, it’s not just direct donations that will help us hit that goal. We’re also factoring in bids on our vast array of auction items and all the holiday shopping y’all are doing over in the Worldbuilders Market.

And as many of you know, I’ve been doing a lot of streaming over the last week. Talking about the charity. Playing games and doing various promotional events.

None of that is particularly new, of course. I’ve streamed a lot to promote the charity over the last 5 years.

What *is* different is that this year, I decided to kick off the fundraiser with a Marathon Minecraft Stream (TM) where I vowed to keep playing until I beat the Ender Dragon or my actual human real-world body failed me.

(Fig 1. promotional graphic.)

It was just some goofy fun. I enjoy Minecraft, but I’m not great at it. I’ve never beaten the Ender Dragon, or even made it to the end. I’ve never even found to the Stronghold or made an eye of Ender, now that I’m thinking of it.

And I knew it beating the game would take longer than normal because I’d be pausing to give away prizes and talk about charity. And I hadn’t played Minecraft much in the last six months, so I was pretty rusty….

Even so, I was pretty sure I could do it. I mean, I’ve seen people beat the whole game on youtube in under twenty minutes.

I know I’m no speedrunner, it might take me 8-9 hours. But that’s nothing. I’ve streamed 14 hours straight in previous fundraisers. Plus, I knew that me struggling and sometimes failing would be just as fun for people to watch as me succeeding, if not more so….

Fast forward. Charity is going well. Money coming in. People watching the stream. My Minecraft run was…  unimpressive. I was playing the long game, and making methodical progress. Hadn’t died. But I had no diamonds. No enchanted gear. No real lucky breaks. My base was a haphazard hole in the ground. The opposite of a hobbit hole. My farms were like something Dante would have written about if he wanted to scare cows into being better Christians.

Fast forward. More money. More stream. My boys came in to cheer me on. They brought me water and cuteness and comic relief. Perfect pit crew.

Fast Forward: I read the boys their bedtime story live on the stream (a chapter from Something Wicked This Way Comes). Then I went to tuck them into bed and came back to do charity and search for diamonds. I was fully prepared to play straight through the night until I had to drive them to school in the morning, then come back and keep soldiering on until I finally won or collapsed.

Then came the first wager. In a fit of hubris, I bet the chat that I could beat the Ender Dragon before they raised $100,000 on my team page. I dared them. I taunted and cajoled….

…I told them if they won, I’d read them the prologue of Book Three.

And thus the deal was made.

(Would you buy a used car from this man?)

But life is what happens while you were making other plans. My boys had been vaccinated that day, and over the next 4-5 hours, when I went in to check on them, they were increasingly sweaty and restless. So after 12 hours I bowed out of the stream with the blessing of the chat so I could go be a good dad. Because when you wake up sweaty and sick in the middle of the night, it’s nice to have your dad right there ready to take care of you…

And then, packing lunches, and school, and organizing and promoting the fundraiser, and scheduling events and being a dad…

… and I honestly I forgot about the wager.

But forgetting doesn’t make a wager go away. And, to make a long story short, after picking up my playthrough on my stream two days later, I lost.

So I brought to bear the fullness of my power. I summoned up the fullness of my will and wit, my terrible persuasion. All this and more I focused on the folk who were tuned in to the stream. And thus I spoke:

Yes they’d won wager. I would read them the prologue. Absolutely. They had it. Fairly fought and fairly won.

But a prologue. What is that, really? Just a taste. A tease. A paltry page. It’s barely a bite. A meager morsel for those whose hearts are hungry for a story.

Wouldn’t they like a chance to win… more? To wager what they’d won in hope of greater gain? Wouldn’t they like the chance for More? More secrets? More story?

Thus I offered them a second wager.

Their stakes: the prologue they had fairly won.

My stakes: Three things. Three secrets from Temerant:

  • I’ll read the prologue of The Doors of Stone live on stream.
  • I’ll provide a full, self-contained, spoiler-free chapter of Doors of Stone.
  • I’ll share some early, finished pages of my the comic I’ve been working on for years with Nate: the illustrated version of the Boy That Loved the Moon.

This is what I offered the chat of the livestream. A chance not just to win, but to win so much more….

But only if they raised more money for charity. Only if they got the donations on my team page all the way from $100,000 to $333,0000.

BEFORE I beat the Ender Dragon.

And then we took a vote:

I’ll embiggen the relevant portion myself so you can see…

(As you can see, the folks who follow my stream enjoy a wager too)

And so the deal was struck.

And now, even if you weren’t there, you know the story.

And t’know what? As a gesture of good faith, I’ll give you the first page of the comic right here and now, out of the goodness of my heart…

(Never let it be said I do not bargain in good faith.)

So. If my team page hits $333,333 before I beat the Ender Dragon. You win three things.

If I beat the Ender Dragon first, you lose.

That’s the Wager.

I’ve taken a break off from my playthough to manage the fundraiser and run other events. Also, I promised I wouldn’t continue my run until I’d made the announcement here on my blog to let y’all know the whole story. To let you know what was happening. What the stakes were. And as you all know, I keep my promises.

But I’ve done it now. Shared the news. Told told story.

As soon as I post this, I’m jumping back onto my livestream, and will be heading for the Ender dragon with marked determination. Because I *do* love a wager. But I also always play to win.

So. The clock is ticking.

Here’s the link to my Team Page.

Come at me.

pat

Also posted in Beautiful Games, Book Three, calling on the legions, cool news, graphic novels, hubris, My brilliant ideas, my dumbness, My Iconoclastic Tendencies, side projects, Stories about stories., upcoming publications, video games, Warning: Mild Literary Faffery, Worldbuilders 2021 | By Pat39 Responses

Thriving in Winter (And Looking for a Colorist)

So here we are. February.

In my head, it seems like 2018 has barely ended, but at the same time I know objectively that it’s been months since I updated the blog…

Despite the radio silence, things are actually going pretty well here in rothtown. Those of you who have been reading the blog for a while know that things have been a little emotionally rocky for me the last little… forever. But in this case, the quiet was a signal of things getting better, not getting worse.

Generally speaking, things have gone from this…

To this…

If you don’t live in Wisconsin, this might be hard to interpret. But let me reassure you, it’s a vast improvement.

One of the things I’ve been doing is getting my literal and figurative house in order so that I can go back to getting more creative work done. I know this might come as a surprise to a lot of you, but I have a couple ongoing projects that I’d *really* like to finish before the heat death of the universe.

One of those projects is a graphic novel I’ve been working on with Nate Taylor for years and years. He’s such a delight to work with, and every time we collaborate, the result is something so much better than I initially hoped for.

So we’ve been going back and forth on this project for ages, and now that I’ve got more comic experience under my belt, we’ve decided to finally get it done. And since we want to do a couple kinda crazy things with it, we’ve decided to keep the creative control all to ourselves and do it as a kickstarter project. (At some point later this year.)

But here’s the thing: We need a colorist.

So I’m sending up the signal flare here. If you’re a colorist, or if you know someone who you think would like to throw in with us to make something beautiful… here’s what we’re looking for.

*Ahem.*

Elodin Enterprises is a Stevens Point-based company that works with the intellectual property, licensing, and merchandising for the author Patrick Rothfuss. We are looking for an accomplished colorist for an upcoming graphic novel.

(Does that sound super official or what?)

Our ideal candidate is an experienced individual who is self-motivated and committed to clear and frequent communication with the author and artist. The project is already in development, and applicants should be available to start as soon as mid-March and commit to the project through completion.

Relevant experience and skills include:

  • Online Portfolio
  • One or two examples of finished projects
  • Good communicator
  • Video conference capable
  • Availability for a full-time commitment
  • Work quickly, and produce consistently (like 7-10 pages/week)
  • Able to work independently
  • At least 3 solid work references

This work can be done remotely. Pay will be commensurate with experience. Relevant experience is required, as is computer experience.

To apply for this position, please submit a cover letter and online portfolio to [email protected]. No calls, please. We will be in contact after the Application Deadline of March 18th, 2019.

Elodin Enterprises is an equal opportunity employer.

(End official pitch.)

So… yeah. Drop us a line if you’d like to come and make something beautiful.

For the rest of you, I’m so excited to show you all the various delightful things I plan on finishing soon.

See y’all soon. Be good to each other.

pat

P.S. Be cool in the comments, okay?

Also posted in Achievement Unlocked!, boding, calling on the legions, cool things, Nathan Taylor Art | By Pat189 Responses

10th Anniversary Edition: Cover Reveal

Hey there everybody,

As I’ve mentioned before in various places, we’re doing a 10th Anniversary edition of The Name of the Wind later this year.

Today we get to show off the cover:

The art is by Sam Weber, the same guy that did Gaiman’s Norse Mythology,and it’s designed by Paul Buckley, the creative director of Penguin Classics.

The new edition isn’t just wrapping paper on the same old thing though. This new edition of the book has a lot more to offer.

Such as more than 20 illustrations inside by Dan Dos Santos.

A few of those illustrations have been floating around for people to see before this, and I showed some of them off during the recent fundraiser…

But in case you haven’t seen them yet…

Aside from that coolness, the book will also have not just one new map of the world, but two. Both of them much more detailed, and both of them illustrated by good friend and frequent collaborator Nathan Taylor.

There’s also a bunch of supplementary appendices where I go all the way down the rabbit hole and talk in some crazy detail about things like my currency systems, worldbuilding, the commonly used calendar, and the spread of the Aturan Empire. (These are also featuring illustrations by Nate Taylor.)

There’s other stuff too, The folks over at Book Riot talk about some of it too. (They got to show off the cover a little earlier today.)

I’ll go into more exhaustive detail about the contents of the book in a couple weeks, in a blog where I’ll get to tantalize and amaze y’all with some more of Dan and Nate’s beautiful art.

For those of you who are curious, the book comes out October 3rd. If you wanted, you could call your local bookstore and pre-order a copy. Y’know. If you’re into that sort of thing…

And for those of you who are thinking, “Why are we getting this book instead of book three?” I answered that question in some detail in a video Q&A I did for my charity last year.

Here’s a link to the part of the video where I answer to that question.

So…. There you go folks. All the news that I have to share right now.

If any of you have any follow-up questions, you can ask them in the comments below. Or, alternately, I’ll be doing some livestreaming tonight (Friday the 23rd) at about 11:00 CST. If you show up for that, you can ask your question in person, and I’ll probably be able to answer it in a little more detail. (Because talking is faster and easier than typing things out.) After I’m done with questions, I’ll probably play some Fallout….

Later space cowboys,

pat

Also posted in Arts and Crafts, cool news | By Pat75 Responses

Cardboard, Malibu, and News about Tak

Hey there Everyone,

Today I was planning on sharing some of the adventures I had at San Diego Comic Con. I was going to talk about my first year as an official Guest of Honor there, include links to videos of some of my panels, and maybe even fess up to the fact that I drank some rum and did a *little* bit of drunken tweeting.

My standee(Also? My very first Standee. Cartoonified by Nate Taylor.)

But other news takes precedence over a chatting about how I goofed off at a convention. We have some info about Tak, and I owe it to y’all to give you details as soon as possible here on the blog. I wanted to be sure you heard it from me at the same time as James sends out an update over at the Kickstarter.

As many of you know, (because you backed it) we recently ran a kickstarter for Tak.

What you might not know is that James and I had been working together on the project for more than two years before the kickstarter ever launched. We talked about concept. We discussed the shape the kickstarter would take. James playtested the game exhaustively. And we spent a long time bringing together all the things required to make not just the *idea* of a game, but the game itself. We needed art. Boxes. Wooden pieces. Linen Boards. Wooden boards. Different wooden boards. Little baggies. Design for capstones. A printer for the book. Illustrations. Prototypes. Quotes. Etc etc etc.

There’s a ton of little things that go into making a game. And that’s not even counting logistical stuff like warehouses to store stuff, packaging and transporting all the pieces, assembling the game…

And then you haven’t even started the process of fulfilling everyone’s orders. All the picking, packaging and shipping that involves….

kvothe___bast_by_cerseidm-d9s2oyq(No. Not that kind of shipping. The other kind.)

Simply said, there’s a lot of moving parts to make something like this work.

So for months before the kickstarter, we were getting quotes, making prototypes, finding printers and shapers and makers who could turn Tak from a beautiful daydream into a beautiful game. Then we crossed our fingers, pulled the trigger, and hoped y’all would want to be a part of it.

Then this happened.

TakFinal

When I say that we weren’t expecting this level of success, I’m not being midwestern or modest. Yeah, I was pretty sure we’d hit $50,000 without much trouble. But my realistic expectation was that we’d hit something between $250,000 and $500,000. Hell, the contract James and I wrote up between the two of us, didn’t even include terms for anything higher than $700K.

Because of your enthusiasm, we blew the doors off the kickstarter. But some types of success are problematic. There’s a big difference in producing 5000 games, and producing 20,000 games. The scaling breaks down at a certain point.

Recently, we found our wooden piece manufacturer wasn’t prepared for an order of this size. And this isn’t a podunk guy in his garage, either. We’re talking about a professional woodworking facility here. But even though they’re pros, they don’t have an infinite amount of space. The wood has to be bought, dried, stored, milled, and finished. There are a finite number of hands and machines that they can use to perform these tasks.

Early on, James and I agreed that we wanted to produce things here in the US. We didn’t want them made cheap in China in sweatshop conditions. We wanted well-made, craftsman wooden pieces made in a shop that follows good safety regulation and and pays their people a decent living wage. Because of that, we had to accept that things would cost a little more, and take a little longer….

But then the kickstarter pretty much doubled our absolute best case-scenario…

Anyway, I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this. Like so like many other hugely successful Kickstarter campaigns, Tak is going to ship a little late.

And I am so sorry about that. I thought we were pretty much bulletproof. We planned our best plan. We padded our schedule. Even so, we’re going to be late.

The good news is that it looks like we’re only going to be shipping about a month late, which isn’t bad for a kickstarter that raised more than 20 times its original goal. To say nothing of the fact that if you’re a fan of my books, a month is barely even a blip on the Rothfuss Late-o-Meter.

Gech. I just made myself sad with that joke. Again. I’m sorry. I hate disappointing y’all.

The first batch of pieces will be finished the first week of November. After that, the games must be assembled (at the board game plant) and shipped twice (once to the warehouse, and then to you). Which means that our earliest date to begin shipping these rewards will be mid-December.

Most of the other perks we’re making are on schedule or ahead of schedule. But we didn’t collect enough money for shipping to pay for sending everything out separately. With one exception.

DBox5

Devi’s Box and Devi’s Board are still scheduled to ship on time. (Either if you ordered them in the kickstarter directly, or if you upgraded to them in the Pledge Manager.) The reason is that Wormwood is making their own pieces for their board, so they aren’t affected by this production delay. And we always planned on those boards being shipped directly from Wyrmwood Gaming, so the shipping cost was already factored into that item’s price.

And since I’ve mentioned the Pledge Manager, please note that the deadline to update your information and/or upgrade your order is August 5th (about a week away). Not only will that be your last chance to order the kickstarter exclusive stuff, but he more people who complete the pledge manager, the smoother the fulfillment process will go. So if you haven’t gone in and done that yet, please consider doing so.

James has written his own update over on the kickstarter here. So if you’re looking for more info, or if you have questions, head on over there.

Later all,

pat

Also posted in appearances, Beautiful Games | By Pat23 Responses

Slow Regard of Silent Things: Recapping the Tour

When I started my book our for Slow Regard, I had high hopes of writing a few blogs while I was on the road.

Nothing big. Just little posts where I would mention some of the fun things that happened on each particular night. Maybe post a picture or two. Maybe if I was really ambitious, I’d put a cap on some of the blogs I had mostly done.

But no. Eventually, I will learn the truth: I cannot write a blog when I’m touring.

So here’s some highlights:

  • Pre-Tour:

Believe it or not, my signing tour actually started *before* my book came out.

As many of you know, Worldbuilders tried an experimental mid-year fundraiser last year. We ran an Indiegogo for a week and raised over $200,000 dollars.

Among other things, we gave people the chance to pre-order of signed copies of The Slow Regard of Silent Things. And in three days we sold about 1600 of them.

I wanted to make sure those folks got their books as close to the book release as possible. So in the week leading up to my tour, I signed about 2000 books.

20141023_041942

Believe it or not, that wasn’t the hard part. The hard part was bubble-wrapping, boxing, addressing, and shipping those packages.

20141027_024554

You don’t really understand how many 1600 packages are until you see them all in one place. Those shelves up there are stacked three deep, and there are other shelves I’m not showing you here.

Despite the tight timeline, the Worldbuilders team pulled it off. All the packages were shipped off the Monday before the book release.

I’m really proud of the fact. This was our first kickstarter-ish project, an experiment that was vastly more successful than any of us had hoped. I think it says a lot about my team that they put in the extra hours and made sure everything shipped on time so y’all could get your books in a timely fashion.

  • Opening Night: Portland.

Not only was this the first day of my book’s launch. This was my first-ever ticketed event that wasn’t a team-up with Paul and Storm.

The thought of selling tickets to my events seems strange to me. It offends my egalitarian sensibilities. But the simple fact is that you can’t fit 600 people into a bookstore. And even if you could, they couldn’t all hear me do my reading, or see me, or have seats.

So Powells arranged for a venue, and 800 people paid to come out and see me.

.@PatrickRothfuss and Nate Taylor get ready for tonight’s event! #PowellsEvents @MajorSheep pic.twitter.com/ppgUX5o8Po

— Powell’s Books (@Powells) October 29, 2014

It was a posh venue. Ushers and balconies and a delightful sound system. If I’d had my act together, I would have taken a picture of the crowd that showed up. But I didn’t, because I even think of it.

The Doubleclicks where there to open for me, and they rocked the house. I got misty when they sang “Wonder” like I always do. Then they invited me out to play the cat keyboard during the chorus of “I love you like a Burrito.”

Here’s the thing, we planned it before hand. I practiced a couple of times. I went so far as to number the keys on the cat-keyboard.

But I still screwed it up. More than once. Every time, in fact. On every chorus.

It was a great time.

B1FhkArCMAAGSFA

The signing afterwards was lovely, and I was joined by Nathan Taylor, the dashing artist who illustrated the book. Unfortunately, because I’m an idiot, I forgot to mention him to the crowd beforehand.

People brought me art. People brought me hugs. People brought me pie.

The next day I stole the fancy soaps from the hotel and it was off to….

  • San Diego:

The thing I remember most was that there was a really cute baby in the front row. Before my reading I talked to him for a bit, and when he reached for me, his mom let me hold him for a couple minutes. Thank you, baby mom. That meant a lot to me.

There were some awesome D&D players there who asked me geeky questions. They reminded me of me when I was their age.

And this happened.

B1OSAbsIcAAIqQi

That’s right, they’re all wearing cloaks. They all came to the signing from the same college where they have a book club. They call themselves “The Scrivs.”

It doesn’t get much better than that.

  • Seattle:

This was another ticketed event, and another 800 people or so showed up. It was in a church across the street from the University Bookstore.

B1PbkeWIAAA5Kc7

Unfortunately, it wasn’t until I was already there that I realized it would be really funny to go in with a bunch of dry ice hidden under my clothes then cuss a lot and pretend to catch fire. Maybe next time.

The fabulous Molly Lewis opened for me, but I didn’t try to sing with her, as I’ve already screwed that up once before. (I’m pretty sure there’s a video out there of me making a hash of Tom Lehrer’s Elements with her.)

I also learned that Molly is doing a musical called ThanksGiving Vs. Christmas.

Image.axd

If you live near Seattle and don’t go to it, you probably really need to examine what you’re doing with your life. Seriously.

My friend, illustrator and frequent collaborator Nathan Taylor was at this event too, as Seattle is close to home for him. And in a blithering display of lame, I forget to mention it to the crowd a second time.

In an attempt to make it up to him, I’ll mention the kickstarter he just launched.

As for my reading and Q&A, I can’t remember much of what I said. But I do know that I talked about feminism a bit, and at one point I held forth about the several ways that Frogger was sexist.

I felt pretty stupid about that afterwards, until a guy in the signing line said, “I’d never really thought about sexism in games before. But you’re right. Frogger is sexist. That’s kinda fucked up.”

So I’m counting that as a win.

  • Milwaukee:

At this point I’m four days and four cities into the tour. I’m getting around 3-5 hours of sleep a night with supplementary naps on planes and in cars.

Because of that, I remember less and less of the events. I know it was Halloween in Milwaukee, but I can’t bring to mind the costumes except that someone came as Batman.

The other thing I remember is that in the signing line, someone told me that their creative writing teacher required them to go to a reading as part of their class, but that my reading didn’t count, because I wrote fantasy.

I had her record a video where I voice my opinion on the matter.

Here’s the video. It isn’t entirely safe for work, as I remember saying the word “Bullshit” about seven or eight times.

 

Then onward to…

  • Lexington:

The cafe attached to Joseph Beth bookstore changed their menu for the day of my event:

Damfine menu

I’m proud of my addition: the Damfine Apple Pie.

We had about 600 people show up, including two gender-swapped Kvothe cosplayers showed up. That’s never happened before.

B1i14GGCcAAu_TJ

  • Chicago:

People brought me wine and wizard hats,  and after the signing I had dinner with Peter Segal and some new friends.

Other than that, all I can remember is that this was actually in a town called Skokie.

Skokie. It sounds like an adorable animal sidekick from a Disney film.

Skokie.

  • St. Louis: (Fenton) 

The last stop of the tour. It might be unfair to call me a shambly mess, but it wouldn’t entirely be untrue.

Some of my friends who live in the area turned up at the signing, and it almost made me weepy. These are the old friends, the ones I’ve known since college. The people that have known me most of my adult life.

I haven’t been a very good friend over the last five years. My life has upheaved several times in several different ways, and I’ve been endlessly busy with one thing and another. All of that has turned my ordinary bumbling forgetfulness into complete isolationist non-communication that sometimes lasts for years.

Despite this, some of my friends drove miles and miles to visit me. They stood in line for hours. They brought me food and presents. They are better than I deserve.

  • The Reviews:

The best part of hitting a different city every day for a book tour is that I was too busy to obsess about reviews. And when I got home, I was mostly too tired to care anymore if people hated it.

Besides, I’d already heard from many of my readers that they loved the book.

Some of them on my blog:

“Thank you for giving me a moment of connectedness. Thank you for helping me love (just a little bit) a piece of myself that I’ve always hated.”

Some on twitter:

(And apparently I’m some kind of sadist, because when people read my book and cry, I feel strangely proud.)

People have also forwarded very nice reviews written by people I respect.

Like this one from NPR titled: Slow Regard is a riddle wrapped in a Mystery Living in an Underground Tunnel.

And an equally lovely one from GeekDad.

Some people don’t like the book. Or they were expecting something else. There’s a delightful blog about the book called: “This Pretzel is the Worst Lasagna Ever” where they discuss the problem of reader expectation in a wonderfully ridiculous way. Another blog dealt with the same issue with considerably more snark.

Generally speaking, I don’t go looking for bad reviews. I’ve been down that road, and I don’t plan on traveling it again. Besides, I already knew people wouldn’t like this book. I said as much in the author’s forward. And I knew people would be pissed that it wasn’t book three because I have the ability to see into the future and read people’s minds.

When writing The Name of the Wind, I decided I’d rather write a book some people love and other people hate, rather than write a book that everyone thought was pretty much okay. That seems to be what I’ve done here. So I’m happy.

This helps.

#2(Click to Embiggen.)

I’m pretty happy with taking second place after Grisham.

To all of you that came, if we had a moment during my tour and it wasn’t mentioned here, don’t take it the wrong way. I had so much fun with all of you. I appreciate the gifts, the hugs, and the thousand small kindnesses you have shown me. But this blog is already ridiculously long, and I have to wrap things up.

Stay beautiful, my people,

pat

P.S. Stay tuned for the big launch of Worldbuilders on Monday. It’s going to be awesome this year.

Also posted in appearances, the longest fucking blog ever | By Pat35 Responses
  • RSS info

  • Visit Worldbuilders!

  • Our Store

  • Previous Posts

  • Archives



  • Bookmark this Blog!

    (IE and Firefox users only - Safari users, click Command-D)