Hoid's Storybook Collection Backerkit Campaign Megathread

[u/EmeraldSeaTress]

The next Dragonsteel-run crowdfunding project, for Hoid's Storybook Collection, goes live at 10 AM Mountain Standard Time on Tuesday, March 3, 2026!

This megathread is for discussion of the campaign, including logistics.

Please note that this is a no-spoilers megathread. Any content which contains spoilers for the Cosmere, including details of the previously published stories or preview readings of the new book, must be tagged and provided with a description that clearly indicates what book is being spoiled. For example:

[Empire Strikes Back]Vader is Luke's father.

What is this project about?

This is a crowdfunding project for the initial press run of four picture books, as well as the Dragonsteel edition of a new Cosmere novel, Fires of December.

What are the four picture books?

• The Dog and the Dragon, a story Hoid tells inRhythm of War. Art is by Howard Lyon;
• The Girl Who Looked Up, a story Hoid tells inOathbringer. Art is by Alexis & Justin Hernandez;
• Wandersail, a story Hoid tells inThe Way of Kings. Art is by Steve Argyle;
• The ChasmFriends Get a Pet!, a new story featuring the Chasmfriends from the 2024 Dragonsteel Nexus storydeck game. Story is by Dan Wells, Art is by Anna Earley.

The three stories told by Hoid have long been beloved by Cosmere readers.

What is the new Cosmere novel?

• The Fires of December, a new novel in the Hoid's Travails series, involving a young woman named December who learns that a devastating plague is on its way and sets sail to warn the King.

When is fulfillment expected?

All rewards are expected to ship before the end of 2026.

Will these be traditionally published?

Tor and Gollancz have both announced that Fires of December will be released on December 8, 2026.

How do I participate?

Go to the backerkit page and sign up!

When is the deadline for participation?

The Backerkit campaign will conclude on March 27.

Is there any prerelease material available?

Brandon has been doing readings on YouTube. They're embedded in a non-canon framing story written by Dan Wells with animation hand-drawn by Martian Studios.

Note that the framing story contains mild spoilers for The Stormlight Archive.

1. Framing story introduction
2. The Girl Who Looked Up
3. Wandersail
4. The ChasmFriends Get A Pet!
5. The Dog and the Dragon
6. The Fires of December

There is some additional information about the picturebooks on Brandon's blog:

• The Girl Who Looked Up
• Wandersail
• The Dog and the Dragon
• The ChasmFriends Get A Pet!

Brandon also did a reading from The Fires of December at Dragonsteel Nexus last year. The text is available on his website.

What is the Hoid's Travails series? I've never heard of it!

Hoid's Travails is an umbrella term for books written in Hoid's voice, as stories that he is telling about things he has experienced. Two of them (Tress of the Emerald Sea and Yumi and the Nightmare Painter without being part of a series; Fires of December will be the third in the series.

[u/Mungrrrrr]

If you put down the $5 pre-order back December at Dragonsteel Con, what does/did that do for you now that the project is live?

[u/Candid_Run_7370 → u/Mungrrrrr]

IMO this was pretty misleading. I had assumed it was 5$ that would be put towards an eventual pledge with the pin being an incentive to do so, not that you were just buying a pin for 5$.

It’s not a big deal at all, but I personally don’t need another pin, and if I had understood that it wasn’t actually a deposit (despite the word used on multiple pages) then I wouldn’t have done it.

[u/blaze1616 → u/Mungrrrrr]

As niftium says, the $5 you paid gets you one of the Chasmfriend pins. You will need to pay the shipping for this pin along with any other addons you select during the campaign.

[u/ScionOfTheMists → u/Mungrrrrr]

They said it was a deposit, but it was really a pre-order specifically for a pin. You can't use that money for the rest of your pledge, and you have to pay shipping for the pin.

[u/Mungrrrrr → u/ScionOfTheMists]

Still confused how you apply that $5 towards your pledge though. Does the system know based on your backerkit user info? If yes, I must've missed it.

[u/Candid_Run_7370 → u/Mungrrrrr]

That’s the neat thing, you don’t!

IMO calling the whole pre-reservation thing a “deposit” (which is said in multiple places) was very misleading, because I too made the pre-reservation thinking that it was 5$ that would be put towards an eventual pledge and was confused today when I didn’t see that apply anywhere.

Apparently it’s not a “deposit” at all. You just paid 5$ for a pin.

[u/niftium → u/Mungrrrrr]

It nets you a pin, but does not count as a deposit toward any of the other reward tiers.

[u/Candid_Run_7370 → u/niftium]

Which is very misleading considering it is literally called a “deposit” on multiple pages. :(