Jul 3rd 1-2-3: Judging a Book By Its Cover - Why Mistborn Lives On
I hope your week has been going well. I’ve been reflecting on one particular story and how a few aspects of its’ creation impresses on us to continue on.
I am talking about Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. So what is the story behind Mistborn?
1: Judging A Book By Its Cover ( 4 minute read )
It is 2003 and Brandon Sanderson has just released his first book to the public, Elantris. It was well received and readers wanted more.
Instead of a sequel, Sanderson decided on going in a different direction. He had been working on a combination of ideas so when Tor Publishing asked him what was next, he gave them the start of a trilogy.
The first seedling of an idea came from a time through Idaho where Sanderson drove through heavy fog. The ghostly beauty of Washington National Cathedral was what sparked the world of Scadrial (the world in which Mistborn takes place).
Next, came from when he was reading through Harry Potter. He thought to himself, “What is the dark lord won?”
This was the second seedling. He combined both ideas and threw in a cast of thieves as the primary protagonists and the beginnings of Mistborn was, well, born.
From its inception, Mistborn was planned to be a trilogy. It was never thought of as a series, which we know it would later become.
It featured new hard magic systems, where there were rules that would have to be followed and respected.
He would take a pause on early drafts to begin planning out The Stormlight Archive, his largest series to date, and then return to prioritizing to writing the prose for Mistborn.
His systematic design for the world and his famous “Laws of Magic” made for clear, rule-based magic that included a key feature: costs. This made for a story where the magical details mattered.
The book was completed and released on July 17th, 2006. It had great reviews and those that did read it, loved it.
However there was a problem.
The sales were modest at best, and and the sales numbers were low.
This was The Spiral of Death.
Typically in publishing, if a book launches to low sales like this it can end an author’s career before it really ever took off.
Brandon was thrown for a loop. Why was this book not selling?
After evaluating, one fact became clear, the first edition hardcover was not resonating with readers. They were glazing over it.
“I love the illustrator, he did the hardcovers of all of them. But once in a while a cover just doesn’t click, and this cover was one of the worst covers that I’ve had. It didn’t click with my audience, and that paperback came out and just crashed. Completely tanked. And that’s the most dangerous point my career has had.”
So how was this fixed?
A new cover and a price drop from $24.99 and a hardcover to $4.99 paperback.
This both together proved to be a critical factor in renewing reader interest.
The strategic move paid off and led to Tor selling close to 15,000 copies which supported the success of Mistborn 2 and 3.
This pivot was a masterful decision by Sanderson which saved his career and set him up for the legacy he is now known for, amazing fantasy and deep stories.
I have seen multiple of the covers for Mistborn, and even own a couple copies including the leather-bound special editions and I have loved them all. When researching this article, I was surprised to hear and then see the original book cover.
I don’t think I would have picked that book up either!
This story shows that effective visual design and strategic pricing can turn around any business disaster into a business success.
We typically talk about approach for the art we love, the stories behind it, and included in that are the business decisions to make sure the art is experience by others.
Besides, what good is it if the book is great but readers don’t pick it up because of the way it looks?
The story would continue on in The Well of Ascension, eventually ending the trilogy with The Hero of Ages.
It doesn’t stop there however. Sanderson would go on to work and complete Era 2 of Mistborn through 4 books, with Era 3 being worked on currently.
We all know that the contents of the body of work are what count, but let’s face it, the art that draws you in is equally as important.
Pour over the details, obsess about quality, and work through and learn from pain points.
This is how we continue on the journey of ever refining our craft as artists.
2: Creative Prompts From Us (ex. Write a short story, a poem, a song, or draw a quick illustration of these! Let your imagination run free.)
I. Think about your favorite books, how would you describe their covers?
II. What about your favorite covers. How do you feel the contents of the book measure up to the cover?
3: Inspirational Quotes From Brandon Sanderson
I. “That is why… publishers recommend… you write a sequel to it as your second book. I said ‘no’. I’ve got this idea of Mistborn.”
II. “There were my two original ideas—a gang of thieves in a fantasy world, and a story where the dark lord won—that ended up coming together…”
III. “One of my real goals… was I wanted to build an audience for me, not for a given book series.”
Thank you so much for reading!