Sixth of the Dusk - A Cosmere Novella

[Argent]

Something in the October 20 blog caught my eye last night, and I wanted to share my thoughts about it. I am talking about the bit where it says "A Cosmere novella" under the title - I think this is the first time we see a reference to the Cosmere on the cover of one of Brandon's books - I believe all of the previous books have been either assigned to their series (e.g. "A Mistborn novel") or had that information left out. Now, however, we get this... and I don't know how I feel about this. I could be excited, because we are finally seeing an open acknowledgement that Brandon's worlds are part of the same universe. But then, I am also a little apprehensive, because such an acknowledgement might be coming a little too early - Brandon has been vocal and free about admitting that his books share a universe, but he has always added that it doesn't matter, not yet. Throwing those three innocent words on the cover of even a small ebook feels like it's undermining that disclaimer - Sixth of the Dusk is now not a standalone, it's a Cosmere novella, even if it's one that stands alone; and that might turn a few people away from it. 

 

Likely, my concern is unfounded and I am being melodramatic here, but the thought has been bouncing (well, more like dragging itself) inside my head for a full day now, and I wanted to put it out there.

[Newan]

I think that if Brandon released the next Mistborn book as Shadows of Self: A Cosmere Novel, that it would be hurtful to sales.  Mistborn already has loyalty, and people might be confused by the Cosmere part.  But I don't think this is nearly as much as a worry with Sixth of the Dusk for three reasons:

 

1. Sixth of the Dusk is blatantly cosmere.  It repeatedly mentions people from space.  Anybody who didn't already know about the cosmere will probably be interested to find out where those people come from, rather than confused by a mention that this story is part of a larger universe.  
2. This one's debatable, but I think that most people who buy Sixth of the Dusk probably already know about the cosmere. Besides Writing Excuses listeners and a few other lucky folks, the people who hear about this tiny release are going to be those who already hang on Brandon's every word.  
3. Being part of the cosmere makes us (the cosmere aware) want to buy it.  I don't have an e-reader, so I rarely buy ebooks.  I haven't read the Infinity Blade books because I just don't like reading things on my phone.  But I did buy Mitosis, because it is part of the Reckoners series, and if I hadn't already bought Shadows Beneath, I would buy the Sixth of the Dusk ebook simply because it's cosmere.  

Obviously I don't know much about book sales, marketing, or economics, but those are the reasons "A Cosmere Novella" makes sense to me.  

[Windrunner]

It also clears up questions that people often have about whether or not it's part of the cosmere by blatantly stating it. It's also one more way for people to start to pick up on that. If they see this online they might go, "What's the cosmere? Is that a series Brandon's done that I haven't heard about?" Which is only going to make more people figure it out. Others could recognize the term crossover from The Way of Kings. Brandon's not making people figure it all out, but he's slowly opened the door to allow casual readers to start to figure out that all his books are connected without having to read the interviews, which is only a good thing in my opinion.