So, given the circumstances, here is a fun little story for all of ya.
As many of you know, I stalked Brandon down after Elantris came out. I was really impressed with the book, and at the time I helped manage the Waldens in Provo. After being brutally shot down by another author with my request for a book signing appearance, I had small hopes that Brandon would even respond.
The next day Brandon emailed me back (the shear turn-around is a shocker in hind-sight!) saying he would love to meet me. We met, talked, and scheduled that quasi-famous Black-Friday booksigning where he sold nearly 70 hardbacks.
Fast-forward to the following summer.
I busted by...err...butt to get people excited for the release of Mistborn 1. We talked Tor into a pre-release event. When I called Tor and told them I needed 250 copies of the book for the signing, they nearly laughed at me...until I told them that was how many reservations our stor had for it. I don't even think Brandon thought it would be as crazy as it was. By the end of the signing and the 2 weeks following, we sold ALL of those copies. I seem to remember Moshe bowing to me at Worldcon...neat-o!!
After the signing, in a state of shocked amazement at the shear awesomeness-success of the event, I talked with my manager (now the manager in Denver). Oddly, here is the gist of what I told him:
*loose quote* "This event just proved that Brandon will be big. A few years from now, when it's all rolling for him, won't it be neat to say that we set up his first big events? I mean what if he turns into Robert Jordan-like popular? How insane and cool will that be?...
...Think he'll give us free stuff?" *end loose quote*
Kind of crazy isnt it? And now Mr. Sanderson (I said that in the Agent Smith voice), is typing on Mr. Jordan's own computer, emersing himself in a world and tale that he will finish. Simply awesome...