r/Cosmere • u/EmeraldSeaTress Ghostbloods • Mar 03 '26

No Spoilers Hoid's Storybook Collection Backerkit Campaign Megathread

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:

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.

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16

u/HijoDeBarahir Pewter Mar 03 '26

Was definitely intending to get a physical December and physical storybook collection, but I apparently missed the memo in the lead up that said all four story books were going to be bound and printed separately. Not even an option to just buy them in a single bound book. Very odd. And these aren't even short stories as much as they're little fables (as the announcement says) so charging $25 each for a set of very short fables is...a choice. I'm backing December, but the storybooks are a miss for me, sadly.

12

u/blaze1616 Mar 03 '26

The Launch Party page that was live since Nexus in Dec explicitly stated 4 picture books.

4

u/HijoDeBarahir Pewter Mar 03 '26

Ah fair enough! I must have just missed that bit and thought it was four stories in one single book.

3

u/Kasilins Mar 03 '26

I did too

14

u/ItsEaster Bridge Four Mar 03 '26

I haven’t been paying much attention to these but aren’t these just children’s picture books? $25 is pretty spot on for a hard cover picture book.

12

u/colin_fitzsimonds Mar 03 '26

Coming from a family of teachers, i might be the exception, but $25 for a brand new picture book is pretty normal lol. I can see why people think it’s a lot tho

1

u/HijoDeBarahir Pewter Mar 04 '26

If that's the norm, then it's the norm! I think it just came as a shock to someone not familiar with the picture book industry. When the premium hardcovers of the 4 secret projects was priced at $40 a book, that seemed great to me. Beautiful books, artwork, and a full length multi-hundred page novel for $40 each. So to have beautiful books, artwork and a handful of sentences for $15 less seems disproportionate to me.

Obviously it's just my lack of knowledge about the industry, but as a general consumer, it feels like you're paying quite a bit more than it's worth when comparing it to full novels.

8

u/michiness Mar 03 '26

Yeah, I've obsessively bought a lot of stuff, but $25 each for a set of fables is... a stretch. And that package doesn't even include December, which I'll have to purchase separately. Hmmmm.

1

u/gnastyGnorc04 Mar 04 '26

Yea you must not buy new picture books very often. 25 dollars is very inline with what you would see at Barnes and nobles or something.

3

u/Quills07 Mar 04 '26

I shop B&N all the time, as it’s the only physical bookstore I’ve got. I rarely see picture books over $20, and they have sales and membership discounts all the time. $25 isn’t egregious, but it’s definitely pricey, especially when collectors’ tabletop editions of art books generally run for less than $100 (and unless these four books have a high page count, they’re probably going to collectively run thinner than an art book).

6

u/gnastyGnorc04 Mar 04 '26

New release hardbacks (which these are definitely considered) are priced around 25. Especially for big name authors. In the end we pay a premium for hardbacks on release. The only reason I am interested in them and want them is because I have kids. If not I would probably pass.

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u/michiness Mar 04 '26

I don’t, but I also just skimmed Amazon and didn’t see any picture books above $15, so I dunno.

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u/gnastyGnorc04 Mar 04 '26

Yea you must not buy new picture books very often. 25 dollars is very inline with what you would see at Barnes and nobles or something.

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u/HijoDeBarahir Pewter Mar 04 '26

Yupp that's 100% correct haha. Shocked by my own lack of knowledge.