#794: Brandon Sanderson on Building a Fiction Empire, Creating $40M+ Kickstarter Campaigns, Unbreakable Habits, The Art of World-Building, and The Science of Magic Systems

#794: Brandon Sanderson on Building a Fiction Empire, Creating $40M+ Kickstarter Campaigns, Unbreakable Habits, The Art of World-Building, and The Science of Magic Systems

Brandon Sanderson is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Stormlight Archive series and the Mistborn saga; the middle-grade series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians; and the young-adult novels The Rithmatist, the Reckoners trilogy, and the Skyward series. He has sold more than 40 million books in 35 languages, and he is a four-time nominee for the Hugo Awards, winning in 2013 for his novella The Emperor’s Soul.

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Timestamps:

00:00 Meet Brandon Sanderson

07:10 Soundcheck Fun and Memory Skills

11:21 Brandon's Writing Journey and Creative Process

25:35 Teaching Creative Writing and Publishing Insights

38:08 Brandon's Early Reading Experience

44:18 Discovering the Magic of Storytelling

45:32 A Journey from C Student to A Student

47:02 The Influence of a Great Teacher

48:51 Understanding Narrative and Plot

56:42 The Art of Character Development

01:09:42 Balancing Writing and Personal Life

01:24:04 Meeting Editors and Early Struggles

01:24:30 First Book Sale and Financial Realities

01:25:28 The Danger of the Second Book

01:25:49 Hitting the Bestseller List

01:26:34 Amazon and the Changing Market

01:29:03 Entrepreneurial Shift and Direct Sales

01:36:45 Building a Team and Crowdfunding

01:42:50 Kickstarter Success and Lessons Learned

01:52:22 COVID and Creative Freedom

02:02:53 Brandon Sanderson's Colbert Report Cameo

02:03:48 Kickstarter Success and Subscription Boxes

02:09:01 Test Readers and Feedback Process

02:14:16 Warbreaker and Creative Commons Experiment

02:22:50 Navigating Publishing Deals and Platforms

02:33:26 The Wheel of Time Opportunity

02:42:36 The Call to Finish The Wheel of Time

02:43:10 Negotiating the Deal

02:43:56 The Struggles of Mistborn

02:45:02 The Cosmere and Building an Audience

02:48:25 The Death Spiral in Publishing

02:52:29 Magic Systems and Their Importance

03:00:39 Sanderson's Three Laws of Magic

03:14:35 The Zero Law and Final Thoughts

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#841: Arthur Brooks — Finding The Meaning of Your Life, The Poet's Protocol, The Holy Half-Hour, and Why Your Suffering is Sacred

#841: Arthur Brooks — Finding The Meaning of Your Life, The Poet's Protocol, The Holy Half-Hour, and Why Your Suffering is Sacred

Arthur C. Brooks is a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Harvard Business School, where he teaches courses on leadership and happiness. His next book, The Meaning of Your Life: Finding Pu...

23 Dec 20252h 10min

#840: Bill Gurley — Investing in The AI Era, 10 Days in China, and Important Life Lessons from Bob Dylan, Jerry Seinfeld, MrBeast, and More

#840: Bill Gurley — Investing in The AI Era, 10 Days in China, and Important Life Lessons from Bob Dylan, Jerry Seinfeld, MrBeast, and More

Bill Gurley (@bgurley) is a general partner at Benchmark, a leading venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. His new book is Runnin’ Down a Dream: How to Thrive in a Career You Actually Love.This episo...

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#839: Dr. Fei-Fei Li, The Godmother of AI — Asking Audacious Questions, Civilizational Technology, and Finding Your North Star

#839: Dr. Fei-Fei Li, The Godmother of AI — Asking Audacious Questions, Civilizational Technology, and Finding Your North Star

Dr. Fei-Fei Li (@drfeifei) is the inaugural Sequoia Professor in the Computer Science Department at Stanford University, a founding co-director of Stanford’s Human-Centered AI Institute, and the co-fo...

9 Dec 20251h 18min

#838: The Random Show — The 2–2–2 Rule, The Future of AI, Bioelectric Medicine, Surviving Modern Dating, The Promises of DORAs for Alzheimer’s, and Wisdom from Anthony de Mello

#838: The Random Show — The 2–2–2 Rule, The Future of AI, Bioelectric Medicine, Surviving Modern Dating, The Promises of DORAs for Alzheimer’s, and Wisdom from Anthony de Mello

Welcome to another wide-ranging "Random Show" episode that I recorded with my close friend Kevin Rose (digg.com)!This episode is brought to you by:Qlosi prescription eye drop used to treat age-related...

3 Dec 20251h 51min

#837: How to Simplify Your Life in 2026 — New Tips from Derek Sivers, Seth Godin, and Martha Beck

#837: How to Simplify Your Life in 2026 — New Tips from Derek Sivers, Seth Godin, and Martha Beck

As we head into the new year, many of us feel like we’re drowning in invisible complexity. So I wanted to hit pause and ask a simple question: What are 1-3 decisions that could dramatically simplify m...

26 Nov 202532min

#836: The 4-Hour Workweek Principles — 13 Mistakes to Avoid, The Art of Mini-Retirements, and Navigating the Dizziness of Freedom

#836: The 4-Hour Workweek Principles — 13 Mistakes to Avoid, The Art of Mini-Retirements, and Navigating the Dizziness of Freedom

This time around, we have a bit of a different format, featuring the book that started it all for me, The 4-Hour Workweek. Readers and listeners often ask me what I would change or update, but an equa...

19 Nov 20251h 37min

#835: Ben Patrick (KneesOverToesGuy) — 20-Minute Workouts That Produce Wild Results, From Chronic Knee Pain to Dunking Basketballs, Lessons from Charles Poliquin, Bulletproofing the Lower Body, and More

#835: Ben Patrick (KneesOverToesGuy) — 20-Minute Workouts That Produce Wild Results, From Chronic Knee Pain to Dunking Basketballs, Lessons from Charles Poliquin, Bulletproofing the Lower Body, and More

Ben Patrick, better known as “Kneesovertoesguy” (@kneesovertoesguy), is the founder of Athletic Truth Group (ATG), an online and brick-and-mortar training system rooted in rehabilitative strength and ...

12 Nov 20251h 37min

#834: David Baszucki, Co-Founder of Roblox — The Path to 150M+ Daily Users, Critical Business Decisions, Ketogenic Therapy for Brain Health, Daily Routines, The Roblox Economy, and More

#834: David Baszucki, Co-Founder of Roblox — The Path to 150M+ Daily Users, Critical Business Decisions, Ketogenic Therapy for Brain Health, Daily Routines, The Roblox Economy, and More

David Baszucki is the founder and CEO of Roblox. TIME named Roblox one of the “100 Most Influential Companies,” and it has been recognized by Fast Company for innovation on their “Most Innovative Comp...

5 Nov 20251h 55min

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