The Incredible Entrepreneur Masquerading as a Fantasy Author

Meet the incredible entrepreneur masquerading as a fantasy author:

A guy who raised $41M on Kickstarter in 2 weeks for a limited edition run of 4 books.

How'd he do it?

A combo of phenomenal writing and quiet empire-building.

The story: pic.twitter.com/0QMqYGXkmx

— Nathan Baugh 🗺️ (@nathanbaugh27) April 11, 2023

Brandon Sanderson never worked a normal job.

Out of college (BYU), he took a role at a hotel front desk.

He asked for the night shift.

Why?

So he’d get to write more, instead of dealing with check ins and outs.

— Nathan Baugh 🗺️ (@nathanbaugh27) April 11, 2023

Sanderson was bent on one thing: becoming an author.

He wrote 13 manuscripts before his breakthrough.

If you’ve read Sanderson, you know those 13 books were massive.

But early on, publishers told him his books weren’t dark enough for today’s market…

— Nathan Baugh 🗺️ (@nathanbaugh27) April 11, 2023

He wasn’t Stephen King or George RR Martin.

But he tried to be, and his writing suffered.

Finally, Sanderson went back to doing it his way. With his style.

Good move — he eventually got his chance.

— Nathan Baugh 🗺️ (@nathanbaugh27) April 11, 2023

Sanderson’s writing was so good that his second publication, The Mistborn series, became a NY Times bestseller.

That one series has sold 10 million copies.

Today, Sanderson is one of the most popular authors in the world.

— Nathan Baugh 🗺️ (@nathanbaugh27) April 11, 2023

He’s hit the NY Times bestseller list a whopping 15 times.

His most recent releases – The Way of Kings series – have each sold over 800,000 copies just in the US in their first year.

But, quietly, Sanderson is building a massive business behind his books:

— Nathan Baugh 🗺️ (@nathanbaugh27) April 11, 2023

In 2022, he launched a Kickstarter to fund a limited-edition “drop” of 4 new books.

He raised $15.4 million… in the first 24 hours.

After two weeks, he’d raised more than $40 million.

But the real brilliance is the structure. pic.twitter.com/7FWOl9Ho33

— Nathan Baugh 🗺️ (@nathanbaugh27) April 11, 2023

The 4 books are published by “Dragonsteel Books”, which Sanderson owns.

Meaning he gets a massive cut of the revenue and owns the IP.

In a world where authors usually get 10-15% royalties on physical books, Sanderson has flipped the script.

He has all the leverage.

— Nathan Baugh 🗺️ (@nathanbaugh27) April 11, 2023

When the 4 books crush and fans love them, he can:

1. Do another “drop”
2. Never sell them again
3. Partner with a traditional publishing house to publish them at scale

It’s up to him — he’s the author and the distribution.

That’s brilliant.

— Nathan Baugh 🗺️ (@nathanbaugh27) April 11, 2023

If you enjoyed this:

→ Follow @nathanbaugh27; I talk about writing, storytelling, and creativity

Here’s another one you might like: https://t.co/ASU4Y9VifC

— Nathan Baugh 🗺️ (@nathanbaugh27) April 11, 2023

Sanderson has hours and hours of gold on YouTube.

All about the writing process, storytelling, publishing industry, and more.

It’s awesome.

His Youtube audience is a big reason he’s able to pull off this kind of business. https://t.co/Im2znXbGL9

— Nathan Baugh 🗺️ (@nathanbaugh27) April 11, 2023

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— Nathan Baugh 🗺️ (@nathanbaugh27) April 11, 2023

Many people applauding the self published approach. I think it’s important to note Sanderson had a ton of success going traditional first, before trying anything this drastic.

So it isn’t as straight forward as self published >>> traditional.

Sanderson has a massive YT…

— Nathan Baugh 🗺️ (@nathanbaugh27) April 11, 2023