Context
On February 28th, 2022, a downcast Brandon Sanderson released a short video informing fans that he was launching an important video the next day – and he wanted us to watch it. Speculation was rampant. Sanderson is one of the world’s most popular fantasy authors, with mega-bestseller series such as Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive. Would this announcement jeopardize the completion of those series? Was Sanderson facing health issues?
The next day, he uploaded a video titled “It’s Time to Come Clean.” Clicking on the video, I was terrified. Five minutes later, I was as happy as I could have been.
It turns out that, in secret, Sanderson wrote FOUR secret novels over the last two years – in addition to the novels he owed to his publishers. And he was selling them all through his company, Dragonsteel Entertainment, via a Kickstarter campaign. Sorry publishers.
Supporters were given the choice between eBook, audiobook, and premium hardcover editions – and even some exclusive ‘swag boxes’ for fans with $500 USD or more.
Naturally, the fans went insane. And after the campaign raised $15.4 million USD in the first 24 hours, so did the publishing world at large. At $31 million USD raised to date – the biggest Kickstarter EVER – Sanderson’s stunt has generated a lot of discussion, even appearing on major news sites. Let’s talk about it – specifically about crowdfunding.
Crowdfunding in SFF Publishing
Within fantasy publishing, platforms such as Kickstarter and Patreon have become increasingly successful for authors – and Sanderson’s Kickstarter has centered them in discussion even more so than before.
But how big of a deal is it really? As sci-fi author John Scalzi notes, no one else in the genre is capable of replicating Sanderson’s level of success in crowdfunding. Sanderson has spent decades building a fanbase, a YouTube channel with 350,000 subscribers, and possibly “the largest support team of any novelist in the world.” Authors like Neil Gaiman and George R.R. Martin have the popularity to do this, but not the infrastructure.
All considered, it’s unlikely that any other author will make $31 million anytime soon. But there has been an undeniable trend towards crowdfunding in fantasy and science fiction publishing lately – one that Sanderson’s Kickstarter will only further accentuate.
Crowdfunding Rewards Engagement
Bestseller and Hugo winner N.K Jemisin, for example, makes $5,000 on Patreon each month. Self-published authors such as Michael J. Sullivan have made Kickstarter central to their careers. Even successful traditionally published authors – such as Fonda Lee and Brian McClellan – have dipped into Patreon for side projects ranging from short story collections to podcasts.
In short, everyone’s getting into crowdfunding – traditionally and self-published. Well, not everyone. As much as I love Sanderson’s work, I can’t help but see his Kickstarter success as the biggest example of a growing – and worrying – trend where genre authors are forced to become entertainers and marketers in order to succeed.
Crowdfunding success heavily depends on an author’s internet presence, and their charisma. What about authors who don’t want to be businesspeople? What about authors who don’t have on-screen charisma? Today’s internet culture rewards authors who can play at being influencers, and punishes those who just want to write. Would I like Sanderson’s books as much if I hadn’t watched hundreds of hours of YouTube videos on his channel? Definitely not.
Brian McClellan and his author guests discuss this constantly on his podcast. A recent episode with Evan Winter focuses heavily on “the side of work being a creative professional that distracts us from actually creating” and “how [Winter’s] background in marketing helped him launch his first book.” McClellan himself has also adopted the “hybrid model” that Sanderson advocates, and supports his podcast via Patreon. Even traditionally publishing, authors need to become their own marketers these days.
Christopher Ruocchio, for example, is a traditional published sci-fi author with decent sales, who also runs a YouTube channel, has a Patreon, regularly communicates with fans on Discord, and independently publishes novel-adjacent short stories.
There’s lots to like here, make no mistake. Crowdfunding makes short fiction viable again, and it allows writers to leverage their fanbases to help them quit their day jobs and focus on writing earlier than traditional publishing would allow on its own – N. K Jemisin did exactly this.
But as much as I like seeing authors succeed without traditional publishing, I worry about these new forms of gatekeeping that independent publishing introduces. Some of my favourite authors, like Susana Clarke, would never be able to break into this social-media-centred market today.
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