Blaze1616 Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 (edited) So Brandon has announced a new way of getting the numbered edition of his new books personalized! Now, rather than just requesting the personalization when ordering the numbered copy, you pay more, but the leftover money all goes to charity (source). Does this bother you, particularly since any one wanting to ask a question has to pay the highest price ($28 for book, $20 donation)? I don't generally buy these numbered copies to begin with as I'd rather support by local bookstore, and getting my copies signed in an actual signing was far more fulfilling and memorable than having them arrive in the mail (still mad I didn't take Shadows Beneath to be signed a second time so that one of them was in person). But I know some people really like having the numbered copies, and was interested in the community's opinion on the matter. Edited January 14, 2016 by Blaze1616 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pathfinder Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 I think it is an elegant solution. He doesn't stop doing it all together, he makes it clear his time is at a premium of late which makes sense, and people in need benefit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaze1616 Posted January 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 I agree, I'm happy he's managed to find a solution that will cut down on his time spent signing, while also helping those in need. That said, to jump from a $5 to a $20 donation nearly doubles the cost of the book just for the sake of getting a personalization aside from something short and sweet. If I didn't have something long for him to write, I'm not sure if $20 is worth an answer to a question, particularly if the book ends up saying RAFO in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pathfinder Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 (edited) I agree, I'm happy he's managed to find a solution that will cut down on his time spent signing, while also helping those in need. That said, to jump from a $5 to a $20 donation nearly doubles the cost of the book just for the sake of getting a personalization aside from something short and sweet. If I didn't have something long for him to write, I'm not sure if $20 is worth an answer to a question, particularly if the book ends up saying RAFO in the end. Considering the requests he is referencing such as personal limericks, quotes a paragraph long, and etc I think the cost makes sense. It curtails the more extravagant requests that take advantage of his good nature when he wasn't as popular, that are now a real hindrance on time. And he says it is a risk you take, and then offers the chance to use that question on the website instead, so no risk of increased cost, and you get your answer anyway. Edited January 14, 2016 by Pathfinder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaze1616 Posted January 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 Considering the requests he is referencing such as personal limericks, quotes a paragraph long, and etc I think the cost makes sense. It curtails the more extravagant requests that take advantage of his good nature when he wasn't as popular, that are now a real hindrance on time. And he says it is a risk you take, and then offers the chance to use that question on the website instead, so no risk of increased cost, and you get your answer anyway. Yes, I saw that, but some people like having answers in their books. Particularly if the answer is a new piece of info. I guess my point is that it's a shame there's not some intermediate value ( say $12) that can be used for questions. Then the limericks, paragraphs, haiku, etc. can be the $20. That said this is the first time he's trying this, so it might change for the releases in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Havoc Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 Eh, he spent 105 days last year with fans. That's a big draw on time, and it's clearly hurting his actual writing time. I appreciate answers to questions as much as the next fan, but I'd much rather get the next book marginally quicker. It's not as though he's charging exorbitant amounts, nor is it the only way to ask him questions. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baby Posted January 15, 2016 Report Share Posted January 15, 2016 I'm not sure if $20 is worth an answer to a question, particularly if the book ends up saying RAFO in the end. Perhaps he'll take that into account, and be a bit more forthcoming with answers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landis963 Posted January 15, 2016 Report Share Posted January 15, 2016 Eh, he spent 105 days last year with fans. That's a big draw on time, and it's clearly hurting his actual writing time. I appreciate answers to questions as much as the next fan, but I'd much rather get the next book marginally quicker. It's not as though he's charging exorbitant amounts, nor is it the only way to ask him questions. Besides, IIRC we got some rather big tidbits last year (The nature of the Moon Scepter, and the fact that Endowment's Shardholder is a woman named Edgli are the two biggest, I believe), so we can exercise a bit of patience here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted January 15, 2016 Report Share Posted January 15, 2016 My gut reaction was to dislike it, but I don't actually have a reason for that. I too would've liked a middle tier for people who ask questions (probably with a restriction that the question has to be answerable in a few words, and has to be specific), but I can live with this. Of course, my opinion is colored by the fact that Brandon comes to Chicago fairly often, so I get to ask my own questions more often than many of the other Sharders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yurisses Posted January 15, 2016 Report Share Posted January 15, 2016 Since I can somewhat afford it (although I have stuck to ebooks so far- I just love e-reading so much. I'd be definitely interested in the whole Stormlight Archive all leatherbound and personalised, though.) I don't mind it. It's an elegant solution to reduce the amount of work it is taking him- raise the price, of course, but instead of getting the extra money it is donated to charity. The only thing that concerns me is that Brandon is obviously growing in popularity and his sheer accessibility, one of the things we all love about Brandon, might not be a privilege we will enjoy forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewStirlingMacDonald Posted January 15, 2016 Report Share Posted January 15, 2016 I got one very satisfying Cosmere question answered in a personalization: the fact that the cognitive realm is linked to location, but the spiritual realm is not, which affects the magics. At this point, I'm content with simple personalizations for my books going forward. Especially for my nice, hardbound (and leatherbound, as they release) volumes, which will be heirlooms for my kids... Eventually the guts of the Cosmere will be opened up to everybody, and all of the RAFO's will be indexed somewhere, and my great-great-grandchildren will be much more excited by the book they hold that says "To the MacDonald Family" than they will by one that says "If Hoid could visit Earth, his favorite kind of sandwich would be a Reuben." Actually, wait. That would be an amazing one. I take it all back. Anyway, I think what Brandon SHOULD sell, in his store, for maybe $25 a pop, are just little nice certificate-sized pieces of high-quality cardstock, maybe with a Dragonsteel embossed seal or something. You order the certificate, you ask a question. If it gets RAFO'd, you'll get a couple more chances, so you agree when you place the order that you might not actually get the thing for a couple months, depending on Brandon's email-backlog. Once you ask an answerable question, it gets printed on the top of the certificate, and then Brandon writes his answer in the middle, in between your question and what I now realize should totally be an embossed Dragonsteel logo stylized as a soulstamp. So maybe $30 a pop. Anyway, this should absolutely exist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaze1616 Posted January 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2016 He already sells book plates. There isn't any back and forth, however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewStirlingMacDonald Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 Yeah, and personalization is not available for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firstRainbowRose Posted January 24, 2016 Report Share Posted January 24, 2016 So... We finished about an hour ago. To explain the difference between just the book (signature and number) versus personalizations. It took us four hours to go through about 600 books with any sort of personalization. We did 400 books where Brandon just did the siggy and number in about 30 minutes. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seonid Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 Besides, IIRC we got some rather big tidbits last year (The nature of the Moon Scepter, and the fact that Endowment's Shardholder is a woman named Edgli are the two biggest, I believe), so we can exercise a bit of patience here. And the name of the Shard Bavadin holds. That was rather large as well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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