Brandon Sanderson is one of the world's most popular and successful fantasy writers, and an unconventional one at that. Sanderson is not only a prolific writer, but a writer who faced multiple rejections early in his career and has pursued every avenue to sell books: and for him, success has been enormous. Last year, Sanderson (most of whose books have been released by major publishers) launched a Kickstarter to self-publish "Four Secret Novels (opens in new tab)," and 185,341 backers pledged just under $42 million to purchase them.

Esquire published an excellent profile of Sanderson (opens in new tab). In it, he talks about some of his frustrations with the book publishing industry, how he has dealt with them, and, surprisingly, the inspiration he receives from the likes of Elden Ring. Sanderson basically publishes a gorgeous hardcover that sells at a premium price for a year alongside the e-book, then (if it does well enough) publishes a cheaper paperback ...... He has spoken of his frustration with the old-fashioned book publishing model, which he describes as "the old-fashioned way of publishing books.

Sanderson's daily schedule includes two "discretionary hours" at the end of each day that he can wish for, and turns out he wanted for much of 2022 to play Eldenring in what he calls a "glass cannon build (open in new tab)" The next two paragraphs are from Esquire:

"And no pants," his wife adds. Sanderson nods: "I started as an unclothed wretch and made it all the way through the first boss before finding pants." It took me 14 hours to beat Marenia. She is the toughest boss I have ever fought."

In some ways, Sanderson believes the video game industry is light years ahead of book publishing. Says he, "They get the really cool items, and they get to pick their own price point." For example, "The Elden Ring" retails for about $60, but a deluxe edition with a digital art book and digital soundtrack costs a bit more, and a collector's edition with a 9-inch Marenia statue costs four times as much.

It's an interesting and different perspective on the value consumers get from these digital editions. I usually don't mind digital editions unless the publisher oversells to the point where I feel like an inferior being for buying the regular edition of a game. But when it comes to our favorite creators, it is indisputable that we are probably willing to pay a little more for something with a higher production value: what Sanderson is trying to say is that in the book industry, there is often no choice.

While George R. R. Martin's participation (open in new tab) would have made Elden Ring more visible to his fellow fantasy writers than Soulike before him, it is odd to see video games enter the literary world in such an obvious way. But there is one point that many people will not want to hear about the value the gaming industry offers per dollar and why so many of us invest our time and money there.

"One thing I think publishers are not dealing with well right now is letting people choose their price point," Sanderson said. 'They don't say it, but publishers are very excited about the idea of getting superfans to buy three copies of the same book. But I think superfans would be much happier if they could buy one great edition in all formats." The reader-centered ideal is what will lead to the long-term success of the publishing industry.