Someone asked him during his Q&A livestream how they were able to get around the right of first refusal with his main publisher (Tor), and his answer was essential a polite version of “we can sort of do what we want as long as we keep giving them the big series”

It's only the fact that he's such a prolific writer makes that sort of agreement possible, it's not like George RR Martin where he keeps writing smaller side projects instead of finishing the books that actually make him and his publisher money. These four books are on top of what, two main series, a series of YA books and fairly regular standalone/minor series books as well...

How does right of first refusal work with respect to price? Could you fulfill this obligation by offering them the option at a very high price? I'm guessing price isn't a negotiable parameter.

A right of first refusal does not require you to sign a contract. (Otherwise you'd have to have negotiated all the terms in advance, which by my understanding isn't how it works.)

So yes, you can negotiate in bad faith. At which point it basically becomes a forced delay before you can show it to anyone else. But if you do that you'll probably earn a bad reputation in the industry...

I’m also curious, but I think this probably depends on the specific wording of his contract(s). There to my knowledge isn’t an exact standard of what right of first refusal means in practice