Worldbuilders only exists today because of the kindness and generosity of my fellow sci-fi and fantasy authors.
You see, back in 2008 when I first stumbled awkwardly onto my blog and asked folks people if they’d like to donate money to Heifer International, other authors contacted me and offered to help. They donated books and spread the word in ways I never could have managed on my own.
Now, years later, the same is still true. Authors help spread the word, they help with projects and stretch goals. And they donate books.
Every single book in this blog is signed (or has a signed bookplate). There are rarities. There is fabulousness. Here you will have the chance to get your grubby little mits on books that haven’t even been released yet. To say nothing of and an assortment of cool trinkets like pens, special tea, t-shirts…
Ah, why don’t I just show you?
The first thing we have today is something we’ve never offered before:
- Auction: Two Tickets to the Red Carpet Premiere of The Shannara Chronicles on Friday, December 4th, 2015.
Shawn Speakman and his wife had tickets to this premier originally, but they just found they wouldn’t be able to go.
Rather than return non-transferable tickets, Shawn talked to the folks at MTV and Terry Brooks, and asked them if they might be able to use the tickets to make the world a better place instead.
Much to our delight, the studio agreed to donate the tickets to Worldbuilders.
So we’re auctioning them off to the highest bidder. This includes the red carpet experience, the two-episode screening, and an after party with those who have worked to bring Shannara to the screen. You’re responsible for your own travel and accommodations, but these tickets will get you past the velvet rope and rubbing elbows with all sorts of fancy folk.
There are more details in the auction description, so head over there, read up, and bid.
- Welcome to Night Vale. Signed by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. 4 copies in the lottery and one for auction.
I’ve loved Welcome to Night Vale for ages now. I’ve gushed at length about the book already on goodreads, and even took a trip down to Milwaukee where I interviewed them as part of their book tour. While I was down there, they signed some copies for the fundraiser.
We’re putting 4 in the lottery, where anyone who donates at least $10 can win them.
And here’s one up for auction, for someone who *really* wants a signed copy.
- Limited edition copy of Unfettered. Signed by all participating authors.
This incredibly rare book is going into the lottery. It’s another publisher’s copy, and it’s signed by all 22 authors (myself included). It had actually slipped through the printing and binding process without my signature, so Shawn sent it back here and just told us to keep it once I signed it, which continues to show what a lovely person he is.
It’s in the lottery, where we hope it delights the person who wins it.
But there’s also one up for auction from the Grim Oak Press donations, too…
- Copies of The Great Way Trilogy Omnibus. With bookplate signed by Harry Connolly. 3 copies in the lottery and one for auction.
“This twisty, subversive novel will win Connolly a whole new set of fans.” — Publishers Weekly
I read Connolly’s Twenty Palaces series and really dug it, which means I’m coveting this new omnibus, which is gorgeous. What’s more, this version is the Kickstarter-exclusive edition. There were only 200 printed, so we’re really lucky to have have three of them for the lottery.
There’s also one up for auction right here.
- Set of Imperial Radch novels Signed by Ann Leckie.
- Another set (with tea) up for auction.
“Unexpected, compelling and very cool. Ann Leckie nails it…I’ve never met a heroine like Breq before. I consider this a very good thing indeed.” — John Scalzi
I’m guessing you already know about these books, as they’ve won all manner of awards. And justifiably so. I read the first one earlier this year, and the fact that I haven’t managed to get around to the other two is ample evidence of my failure as a human being.
Ann was nice enough to send us a full set of signed books for the lottery.
We’ve got another signed set up for an auction, with the added bonus of specialty tea based on the Imperial Radch series. (I would like you all to appreciate that I did *not* make a joke about this being special-tea, even though Amanda encouraged me to.)
Consider rewarding my non-punning by bidding on this auction over here.
- A set of The Demon Cycle: The Warded Man, The Desert Spear, The Daylight War, The Skull Throne, and companion novella Messenger’s Legacy. All signed by Peter V. Brett.
“There is much to admire in Peter Brett’s writing, and his concept is brilliant. There’s action and suspense all the way” — Terry Brooks.
Peter V. Brett is a great guy, and he always stomps out with good donations. This year is no exception, and this set is going to make someone’s day when they win it in the lottery.
- Sets of Fool’s Assassin and Fool’s Quest. Signed by Robin Hobb.
- Same, (plus cool dragon pens) up for auction.
Be glad all of these nifty dragon pens made it into the sets. Rachel desperately wants one of them.
All of the books are signed, and we put one of the sets into the lottery, and one into an auction over here for those of you who don’t like taking risks like this.
- Sets of The Rig and Crystal Force. Signed by Joe Ducie. One in the lottery and one up for auction.
Captain Joe is a beloved member of the blog comments community here. He’s participated in photo contests in the past, and now he’s an acclaimed YA author.
“All the elements of a great thriller are here—sinister villains, a stoic hero with a heart of gold, even mutated sharks…A solid genre outing.” — Kirkus
He gave us a couple of sets of his books, so one set is in the lottery, and the other is up for auction right here.
- 20 copies of Agent Darcy and Ninja Steve in: Tiger Trouble! With bookplates by Grant Goodman.
Grant Goodman is a high school teacher by day, which endears him to Amanda, who taught high school until I stole her away into the glamorous life of personal assistanting and charity.
By night, Grant dons a mask and fights crime on the streets of Gotham.
No. Wait, I got that wrong, it says here that he’s donating all proceeds from sales of his book to Worldbuilders through the end of the fundraiser. AND he’s kicked in 20 copies for us to put into the lottery.
Wow. That’s actually cooler than being Batman. Thanks so much, Grant.
- 3 copies of The Executioness. Signed by Tobias Buckell.
- 1 copy up for auction.
“Even non-sci-fi readers will be bowled over…. Violent, poetic, and compulsively readable” — Maclean’s
This is one of the lovely Subterranean Press versions, so you know it’s beautiful. And Tobias has been awesome to us, so we’ve got 3 of his book in the lottery, and there’s one signed copy up for auction here.
- 4 ARCs of Promise of Blood. Signed by Brian McClellan.
- 1 signed ARC up for auction.
“This book is just plain awesome. I found myself enjoying every moment of it. Innovative magic, quick-paced plot, interesting world. I had a blast.” –Brandon Sanderson
Brian was kind enough to send some of his ARCs over, so we’ve put 4 copies of it into the lottery. For the collectors out there we put one up in an auction, too.
- A set of Shadow Ops: with signed bookplates from Myke Cole.
“A military fantasy that combines intense personal anguish with elements of actual horror.”—Tor.com
Oh Myke Cole. You’re the bee’s knees. I liked his first book enough to blurb it, and they just get better from there.
Here’s a complete set of his series, all signed. He’s also a part of the Cards Against Humanity pack we released yesterday. He’s a huge supporter of Worldbuilders, and we love the fuck out of him. (Amanda wrote that. But I’m leaving it in here because… well… it’s true.)
- Kushiel’s Dart. Signed by Jacqueline Carey. Auction also comes with Kushiel’s Chosen (signed) and a Litographs t-shirt.
“A very sophisticated fantasy, intricately plotted and a fascinating [book].” —Robert Jordan
Jacqueline made it pretty far in her reading of Fox in Socks, which has impressed everyone here in the office. Plus, she donated signed copies of her books, and then a Litographs t-shirt based on her series.
We’re auctioning off the set with the shirt, so you can bid on that over here.
- Twelve Kings in Sharakhai in various formats. Signed by Brad Beaulieu. One hardcover up in an auction.
Brad has been published for a while now, but this newest book was picked up and published by DAW, so he’s a part of my extended family.
He sent us a bunch of different copies of his book, including US and UK editions, plus US and UK ARCs, and audiobooks. All of that’s going into the lottery, but we pulled aside one of the US Hardcovers to auction off, as well. To bid on it, go right here. It’ll make the world a better place, and you’ll get a beautiful new signed book.
- Copy of Star Wars: Heir to the Jedi. Signed by Kevin Hearne.
“Utterly compelling . . . [The novel] plants readers in Luke Skywalker’s boots in the early days of his heroism, during the weeks after he blew up the Death Star.”—New York Daily News
Kevin Hearne: Thriller dancer, mead drinker, and published part of the Star Wars cannon. We’ve put this into the lottery, and it could brighten your day if you make a donation or $10 or more to the team page.
- 2 full sets of Iron Druid Chronicles, including ARCs of Staked, which comes out January 26th. All signed by Kevin Hearne. One auction of the ARC Staked.
This is a hilarious amalgamation of US and UK editions, combined to make 2 complete sets of the series. Will it be “color” or “colour” in the next volume? Who knows!
The big deal here, though, is that all of these come with signed ARCs of Staked, the newest novel in the series, which won’t be out until January 26th. The people who win them in the lottery might not get them in time, but the person who wins it in an auction definitely will. If you want to be the person guaranteed to get a sneak peek at the latest Iron Druid book, be sure to go bid right here.
- Auction: The Everything Box. Includes hand-written notes. Signed by Richard Kadrey.
Have you read anything by Richard Kadrey before? if not, you need to fix that. And conveniently enough, we have a great deal here for you.
This is an ARC of Kadrey’s newest book. It comes with a bunch of his hand-written notes about the novel that he used while he was writing. And this book doesn’t come out until April 19, 2016. You’ll have it so early you could read it multiple times before it actually hits shelves.
Something like this being up for auction is not just cool, it’s amazingly unprecedented. I know you want it because I know *I* want it.
So you should head over and bid on it here.
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There you go folks. Many lovely books. And for every 10 dollars you donate on the Worldbuilders team page, you get a chance to win.
In other news: this afternoon, I’ll be livestreaming a reading of my Night Vale/Lake Wobegon mashup fanfic, since we blew past that $200,000 stretch goal yesterday.
We blew past a lot of stretch goals yesterday, so we’ll be scrambling to post those up in the next few days. If you want to make sure you don’t miss them, you might consider subscribing to the Worldbuilders YouTube channel, where pretty much all of our video stuff lives.
A lot of auctions are ending this weekend, including the professional read & critiques of unpublished manuscripts. You can see a listing of everything that’s currently being auctioned off over here.
Lastly, I’ll be doing a writing Q&A on Twitch on Saturday at 2pm CST for those of you who are interested, and then those auctions end on Sunday night at various times after 7pm CST.
Let’s keep making the world a better place. You know what to do.
