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We've got some new Mini-Con news this week! Also, Brandon and some employees at Dragonsteel Entertainment will be participating in NaNoWriMo this year, and sharing their word counts multiple times a week, along with encouraging others to do the same. First, though: prewriting on Defiant is finished! This means he can start (and has started) the actual writing of the novel, which brings us to the first major piece of news. In case you haven't heard of it, National Novel Writing Month, more commonly known as NaNoWriMo, is a nonprofit organization that is most known for its eponymous annual program, encouraging authors to write a 50k word manuscript during the month of November. This year, it just so happened that the start of Defiant's writing was close to lining up with the start of the month, and so Brandon intentionally planned things out so he can participate. Around four times a week, he plans to post his wordcount for the day to r/Sanderson, with the goal of hitting as close to exactly 50k as possible, allowing him to provide an example of a constant pace to finish, as well as to encourage discussion in the comments between other writers who are attempting it. Additionally, various other members of Team Dragonsteel will be participating in this "SandoWriMo" and posting their word counts, such as Isaac (his art director), Janci Patterson (co-author of the Skyward Flight novellas), Adam (his head of publicity), Kathy (his sister-in-law and head of facilities), and Kellyn (an employee at the Dragonsteel Store). (Their usernames can be found in today's check-in post.) In other news, an updated guest list for the Dragonsteel Mini-Con has been released. Currently, the site includes (spoiler box for length): While the full event schedule is not out yet, they also announced Howard Lyon will be running a live painting session, along with Steve Argyle and Hayley Lazo. Audience participation is encouraged. The event will be at 7PM on the 22nd, in L2 Ballroom A. In a final bit of Mini-Con news, the badges have been revealed, and are by Jian Guo, cover artist of the Chinese editions: Beyond that, in order to celebrate the release of Cytonic, several new T-Shirt designs are available from the Dragonsteel store: Larger images and purchase links (hidden for length again): That's all for this week! As per usual, Brandon's Weekly Update video is on YouTube, as is this week's episode of Intentionally Blank.

Chiller week this time, in comparison to the past few. Brandon's released his schedule for Dragonsteel Mini-Con, as well as details about how to sign up for his class. He also gave us a tease about "movie stuff" he can't give any details on yet. Before we get to that, progress has been made on Defiant prewriting, of course, but we didn't get any progress bar percentage this time. Onto more exciting news, Brandon has released his schedule for the Dragonsteel Mini-Con: Monday, Nov. 22nd: 4:00 MDT — Intentionally Blank recording 7:00 MDT — Spoiler Discussion and Q&A 8:30 MDT — MTG Charity Draft Tuesday, Nov. 23rd: 7:00 MDT — Cytonic Release Event The schedule for other booths and partners is TBA. Additionally, signups for Brandon's workshop class at BYU will be open from 10-11PM MDT on October 23rd. While the lecture class is open for normal enrollment (and often gets posted on YouTube—2020's series can be found in this playlist), the workshop class will be fifteen students, picked from the applications by Brandon's friend and continuity editor Karen. One does NOT have to be a BYU student to apply, though if you get in but don't attend the university, you'll have to sign up for evening classes there while you're in the class. A bit of extra weight is given to applicants who have finished novels before, as well as those who have already taken the lecture course. Specific instructions to apply can be found on his website, as can a sample syllabus for the course. We also got an exciting tidbit, that Brandon is working on some sort of movie stuff that he can't announce yet or give details about, which is slowing Defiant prewriting. He's hinted about this a few times in livestreams, but we still don't know what it's all about. He also released a review of the film Free Guy (the second video in his new Rapid Review series), and of course last week's episode of his podcast Intentionally Blank is up on his channel. As a reminder, ReDawn, the second Skyward Flight novella, releases in eBook and audio next week, on the 26th! Preorder links can be found on Penguin Random House's site, and a preview can be found on Kobo's page. Lastly, the preorder giveaways for Cytonic from last week's update are still running, for those in the US. As always, the update can be found on Brandon's YouTube channel, with a transcript eventually going on his blog:

Jam-packed Weekly Update this time! Brandon has released his schedule for FanX later this week, and the second draft of The Lost Metal has hit 70%. Cool stuff, wonder if there's anything else. I think that was all of it, right? Yeah that should be the las- fine, fine, I'll stop dragging it out. Biggest news (and reason this article is late ) is, we finally have details about the Dragonsteel Mini-Con! You can learn more about that in our article. Getting the smallest update out of the way first, the second draft of The Lost Metal is 70% done (that's the last draft before the book goes out to the beta readers). Progress will probably be slower this week due to the topic of the next announcement, but he is still on track to finish this draft late September or early October. In case you've missed it, the final version of the book is expected to release fall 2022. Next up, Brandon's schedule for FanX later this week has been released. Thursday, September 16th: Writing a Successful Series in Science Fiction and Fantasy 6:00PM in 250A Signing 7:00PM at Booth 1518 Friday, September 17th: Writers of the Future: Learn How to Engage Readers 1:00PM in 355B Intentionally Blank: The Brandon and Dan Podcast 3:00PM in 250A Signing 6:00PM at Booth 1518 Saturday, September 18th: Brandon Sanderson Spotlight Panel 4:00PM in 250A Signing 5:00PM at Booth 1518 Last but certainly not least, information on the Dragonsteel Mini-Con is finally out! As mentioned, we made a separate post about that you can read to find out more. Will you be attending either of these cons? Which one(s) and why? Feel free to discuss in the comments below, or in the #events channel on our Discord server! The full Weekly Update video is of course on Brandon's YouTube channel as well as below, and the transcript will be on his blog when done.

Update September 17th (again): As of 2PM MDT, the online store has been reopened , this time on the main store page to avoid the bugs encountered with the other website. Update September 17th: Due to some major technical issues, the online store has been temporarily shut down (ticket registration is unaffected). Make sure to watch Dragonsteel Books on their social platforms to find out when it reopens, and check the email you used for the order to see if you were affected by the bug. The original article follows below. Dragonsteel has finally announced details about the new Dragonsteel Mini-Con, being held just in time for Cytonic's release! Full details can be found on the official site, but we'll summarize the biggest pieces of information below. First, though, it must be noted that while COVID-19 vaccination and masks are requested, neither is required for attendees. Attendees who may be sick or diagnosed with COVID-19 are requested to stay home, but are not barred from going. Additionally, Utah's case numbers are high right now, and with increased traffic through the area due to the Mini-Con and Thanksgiving week, this may inevitably increase. Make sure to weigh the risk factors of you and those around you carefully when deciding whether to attend, and to follow Dragonsteel Entertainment's requests–such as getting vaccinated and staying home if sick–if you decide to do go. You can find the full COVID policy on their website. If you would still like to attend, the Mini-Con will be held November 22-23, 2021, at the Utah Valley Convention Center in Provo, UT. Nearby hotels, restaurants, transportation, etc can be found on Explore Utah Valley's page for the event. In addition to the various panels, there will be a spoiler Q&A for attendees on Monday, and on Tuesday, Brandon will hold a presentation and Q&A to celebrate Cytonic on the eve of its release–November 23rd. Admittance to this event will be available through a number of different ticket types. Free Pass: Entrance to Brandon’s Cytonic speech and Q&A, no guaranteed seating! Shipped Book Only ($20): Signed, stamped, and numbered Cytonic hardcover (shipped only), as well as online access to Brandon’s Cytonic speech and Q&A. Optional add-ons such as a personalization or swag can be purchased from the Mini-Con shop. Event Only Pass ($45): Access to the Dragonsteel Mini-Con and seating for the Cytonic speech. Swag items are not included but are available for purchase at the event. Book Event Pass ($65): Everything from the Event Only Pass, plus a signed, stamped, and numbered Cytonic hardcover (for pickup only), as well as one ticket for a drawing to meet Brandon. Swag Event Pass ($125): Includes everything from the Book Event Pass, plus a Cytonic Swag Bundle (shirt, stickers, bookmark, and pin) and Doomslug Plushie. VIP Event Pass ($200): Includes everything from the Swag Event Pass, plus an exclusive VIP check-in and book/swag pick-up, reserved seating for Brandon’s Cytonic speech and Q&A and exclusive VIP swag (what this VIP swag is is TBA). Known schedule: Preorders on the site open at noon MDT on Wednesday, September 15th. Dragonsteel Mini-Con will run from 1PM to 10PM on Monday, and from 10AM to midnight on Tuesday. Check-in will begin on Monday at 10AM. A spoiler Q&A will be held for con attendees Monday (time TBA). The Cytonic release presentation and Q&A will be held Tuesday and run from 7PM to 9PM. The exhibitor hall will be open Monday from 1PM–7PM, and Tuesday from 10AM to 10PM (but will be closed from 7PM to 9PM for the Cytonic presentation). This year, exhibitors will only be licensed partners of Dragonsteel Entertainment. The current, non-final list includes: Authors: Brian McClellan Dan Wells Charlie Holmberg Steven Bohls Eric James Stone Artists: Isaac Stewart Hayley Lazo Howard Lyon Bryan Mark Taylor Steve Argyle Merchandise partners: Dragonsteel Books Barnes & Noble Forged Foam Lightweaver Foundation Sanderson Collectors Guild The Black Piper Brotherwise Games What do you think? Will you be attending? Let us know in the comments below or in the thread in the Events forum!

Hey, in case you missed our news post earlier this week, Brandon has released a new novel! Lux: A Texas Reckoners Novel is out now, exclusively on Audible. Lux was co-written with Steven Michael Bohls and produced by Mainframe, Brandon’s audiobook company with Max Epstein. The first four chapters are up on Brandon's youtube channel, alongside a short "behind the scenes" video with Brandon, Steven, and Max where they discuss the making of this Audible Original. Steven also appeared as a guest on one of Brandon's livestreamed signing sessions. As with most of his releases, Brandon sent out a newsletter to announce the new book, but he slipped in a few other juicy tidbits as well. Most notably is the "Newsletter Exclusive Fiction" segment, where Brandon shared an early draft of the Prologue of The Lost Metal. He also read the prologue at JordanCon last weekend (which has been transcribed over on Arcanum). Next, the Brandon Sanderson online store is no more! In its place a new contender has arrived, Dragonsteel Books. The rebranding is still in progress but keep an eye on the store and its communication channels over the next few weeks. (Which communication channels these are exactly isn't entirely clear, but it probably would not hurt to follow Brandon's twitter account.) Also, with the Kickstarter fulfillment being largely wrapped-up, (unsigned) hardcovers for Dawnshard and The Way of Kings Prime are available now! If you missed out on the Kickstarter and want to pick one or both of these up, act fast. Dragonsteel will not be reprinting these. However, Brandon said they will be coming to UK websites at a later point (and I suspect, like Edgedancer, Tor will eventually release it).