I’m Supposed To Write Fantasy Worlds, Not Live In Them

Brandon Sanderson? Apocryphal?

Dear Quote Investigator: An acclaimed fantasy and science fiction author recently raised an enormous amount of money via a crowdfunding platform. In response to this record-breaking success, the author humorously referred to living in a fantasy world. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Quote Investigator: U.S. fantasy author Brandon Sanderson is known for The Stormlight Archive and the final three volumes of The Wheel of Time series. In March 2022 he released a YouTube video indicating that he had been both diligent and stealthy during the two year societal disruption due to covid:^[1]YouTube video, Title: It’s Time to Come Clean — Brandon Sanderson, Uploaded on March 1, 2022,Uploaded by: Brandon Sanderson, (Quotation appears as text starting at 0 minutes 50 seconds of 16 … Continue reading

The time has come for me to admit the truth. I’ve been lying to you. Over the last two years I’ve acted with extreme irresponsibility because I accidentally wrote an extra novel in secret. I apologize. I couldn’t help myself. We all respond to pressure in different ways.

The video further revealed that he had actually written four full-length novels and a story for children. He planned to self-publish the novels, and he launched a campaign on the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform titled “Surprise! Four Secret Novels by Brandon Sanderson”.

The original goal of one million dollars was reached in 35 minutes. Within 24 hours the figure reached 15.4 million dollars. The campaign became the largest in the history of Kickstarter when it exceeded the $20,338,986 milestone. As these words are being written the figure has grown beyond $25 million.

Sanderson released a celebratory video with music and text suggesting that he was overwhelmed with the success. He felt as though he had entered one of his fantasy worlds. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:^[2]YouTube video, Title: Most Funded Kickstarter Ever (2022) by Brandon Sanderson, Uploaded on March 4, 2022,Uploaded by: Brandon Sanderson, (Quotation appears as text starting at 1 minute 29 seconds of … Continue reading

Everyone, I’m supposed to WRITE fantasy worlds
Not live in them.
Your Humble(d) Storyteller,
Brandon

In conclusion, Brandon Sanderson should be credited with the words displayed in his video about his crowdfunding success released March 4, 2022.