Dyrk Ashton

What’s more awesome than a book signed by the author? We’ll tell you what: a book signed by 216 (and counting!) authors, none of whom are the original author, with doodles and “plenty of snarky comments“…all for a good cause.

The book in question is Nicholas Eames’ Kings of the Wyld, and the 216 literary vandals now boast George R. R. Martin, Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, R.F. Kuang, Joe Abercrombie, Sarah Gailey, Anna Smith Spark, Joe Hill, and William Gibson among their ranks. As for the good cause, it’s none other than Patrick Rothfuss’ Worldbuilders charity, which raises money for charities that “might otherwise get overlooked by the geek community” with prizes, fundraisers, parties, and more.

Here’s how this veritable cornucopia of big fantasy names came to be, according to a Reddit post by author Dyrk Ashton, who’s taken charge of Project #KINGSGONEWYLD (coined by author T.L. Greylock):

This all started out as a joke when Nick said he couldn’t make it to ConFusion in Detroit in January and we threatened to sign his books for him. And everybody signed it. Six cons, a Super Relaxed Fantasy Club meet-up, a few author get-togethers, and 216 signatures later, we have this madness :D

#KINGSGONEWYLD will be gathering even more signatures until November, when the book will be put up for raffle, with all proceeds going to Worldbuilders. Head on over to Ashton’s website for a full list of author signatures, as well as sneak peeks of the “vandalized” pages.