Guess what? There are fiction readers out there with money they’re willing to spend on books.

Yeah, okay, that’s not terribly surprising. What’s surprising (to me) is how many of them can wind up wanting the same books.

I’ve been pointed to Brandon Sanderson’s current Kickstarter campaign, and I’m stunned, amazed, at the speed with which it was funded (an initial goal of $1 million was apparently met within minutes of launching the campaign), and the speed with which it continues to attract new backers. He doesn’t need my support, doesn’t need me to further share the link. I’m doing it because it’s awesome to just open the screen and watch the numbers scrolling (up, Up, UP!) for a few minutes. As I’m writing this, he’s got 69,882 backers pledging $17,767,653 for his four new novels and assorted other goodies. Just take a look, and then remember that his “overnight success” has been building for a couple of decades.

Meanwhile, down here among the mortals, I mentioned that I’ve got a story in the upcoming anthology The Fans Are Buried Tales, edited by Peter David. That campaign ended yesterday, garnering 283 backers pledging $8,564 of the initial $7,000 goal. So I’m thrilled that the book will be along sometime soon. Anyway, just being amazed that writers can find incredible success if they can build sufficient audiences.