Brandon Sanderson felt “betrayed” by condescending WIRED profile

The other week, WIRED published a profile of fantasy author Brandon Sanderson, the guy behind bestselling series like Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive. It was really, really, really weird. Author Jason Kehe seemed to take every opportunity to sneer at Sanderson’s work, his fans, his faith, his employees and his family.

Sanderson has a ton of fans, and many of them jumped to his defense. He was gracious, telling everyone that he bears Kehe no ill will and not to harass the guy. He kept up that tack when speaking to Esquire about the incident, although admitted to feeling thrown by the experience.

“I felt betrayed,” Sanderson said. “That was the strongest feeling I had after spending so much time talking to him about things he seemed so interested in. But I respect [Kehe] as a colleague. He’s a writer, so he has to write what’s true for him, just like you do, and just like I do.”

Jason Kehe: The last word on my Brandon Sanderson profile “belongs to readers”

For the record, neither Kehe nor anyone else from Wired has contacted Sanderson since the profile ran. “But I hope I can talk to [Kehe] again at some point,” the author said. “Anytime I get criticism from anyone, my job is to listen.”

"One of the main themes of Mistborn is that it’s worth trusting people, even though they can hurt you. It’s better to trust and be betrayed in real life, too."

In terms of PR, Sanderson is coming across as very conciliatory. Kehe talked to Esquire as well, although he kind of punted on the question of whether the backlash to his article changed his perspective on anything. “As I’ve said to others, the piece belongs to readers now. They get the last word,” he said.

Well, a large number of readers thought the piece was a mean-spirited hit piece done in bad faith, so I guess that’s the last word.

No, we probably give the last word to Sanderson, who’s been very classy about the whole thing. “[Jason Kehe] seems to be a sincere man who tried very hard to find a story, discovered that there wasn’t one that interested him, then floundered in trying to figure out what he could say to make deadline. I respect him for trying his best to write what he obviously found a difficult article. He’s a person, remember, just like each of us.”

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