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How to Sell Millions with Self-Publishing — Hugh Howey, Bestselling Author of Wool

Hugh Howey is the New York Times bestselling author of Wool, Beacon 23, Sand, Machine Learning, Half Way Home, and more than a dozen other novels. His Silo trilogy was recently adapted by Apple TV, becoming their #1 drama of all time.

Tim FerrisshostHugh Howeyguest

Mar 13, 20241h 32mWatch on YouTube

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CHAPTERS

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Chapter summaries

Building a daily writing habit to stop self-sabotage
Tim describes struggling for decades to write a book despite wanting it badly, and frames daily writing as the unlock that prevents the “switch” from turning off again. He emphasizes writing anywhere—before recording, on planes, and in Ubers—as a non-negotiable habit.
- •Tim describes 20 years of wanting to write a book but getting in his own way
- •Daily writing is framed as the critical mechanism to keep momentum
- •Tim shares his own practice of writing every day, even on weekends and while traveling
- •The conversation sets up writing consistency as a recurring theme for the episode
A deliberate end-of-book “emotional rollercoaster” in Wool
Hugh explains a creative sleight of hand used at the end of Wool: giving readers an emotional pause and then delivering an extra “nugget” afterward. He built this effect using a staged Q&A with “the author,” which also became an unexpected engine for reviews and word-of-mouth.
- •Hugh says he learned many writing techniques as a reader noticing what “tickled” him
- •He wanted readers to step away emotionally before receiving additional payoff
- •He used an interview/Q&A format to simulate the book being “over”
- •He included a direct prompt asking readers how to help—leading into reviews and sharing
- •Hugh says this contributed to Wool becoming extremely highly reviewed on Amazon
Choosing a decade of obscurity and writing for love of craft
Hugh describes committing to writing two books a year for 10 years to get out of his head and focus on improving. He argues that the “no one is watching” phase can be the best time creatively, even if it’s not the best financially.
- •Hugh set a long time horizon: two books a year for 10 years to test himself
- •He focused on getting better rather than marketing early work
- •He observed as a bookseller that breakout authors often had multiple earlier books that later surged
- •He warns success can make writing harder due to attention, demands, and self-editing
- •He says writers may dislike hearing that the obscurity phase can be the most creatively joyful
Buying back rights: the gut-level cost of signing them away
Hugh recounts how he nearly gave his first book away online, then pursued traditional publishing largely because it was “everyone else’s dream.” Signing away rights felt physically wrong to him, especially because he was already deep into a sequel and wanted to protect the long-term life of the work.
- •Hugh originally planned to publish on his blog and email drafts widely for feedback
- •He emphasizes how hard it is to get even loved ones to spend hours reading a manuscript
- •Two small presses found him via his blog and a Twitter account written in a character’s voice
- •He accepted a small-press deal that covered editing and production costs, but felt sick after signing
- •He realized he was giving away IP tied to planned sequels, shaping his later stance on rights
Term-limited, print-only deals and negotiating from self-publishing strength
Hugh explains how self-publishing success created leverage with major publishers and enabled a five-year, print-only deal—keeping digital, audio, and many other rights. He contrasts a reader-first relationship with the publisher-first mindset he sees in parts of the industry, and argues confidence in a book’s future should inform business decisions.
- •Hugh says Wool was self-published when major publishers approached with large offers
- •He and his agent pushed for print-only rights with a clear term limit rather than lifetime grants
- •He describes a five-year print-only deal and getting rights back while the book was still selling
- •He frames the advantage as “leasing” rights and getting multiple opportunities to renegotiate
- •He contrasts reader-first foundations with authors who feel indebted to publishers
- •He urges writers to let imposter syndrome improve craft, but protect rights based on belief the work will find its audience
Hitting the New York Times list as a self-published author—and what it took
Hugh describes the New York Times list as curated and shaped by reporting stores and other biases rather than pure sales. He also reflects on why Wool caught on: it was short, easy to finish and recommend, and built momentum through sustained volume.
- •Hugh says the list isn’t strictly sales-based and relies on a limited set of reporting bookstores
- •He describes discounting/weighting that treats Amazon sales differently
- •He notes CreateSpace-era print-on-demand made bookstores order through less convenient channels
- •He attributes success to being “too big to ignore” over time, driven by readers
- •He says Wool began as a short piece that was easy to finish, recommend, and review
Pricing logic: affordability, reviews, and Amazon’s royalty incentives
Hugh walks through how he priced early Wool editions to be read rather than maximally profitable, including a 99-cent ebook and an inexpensive paperback. He also explains Amazon’s royalty tiers and why he later made the first serialized part free to reduce friction and attract new readers.
- •Hugh priced Wool’s ebook at 99 cents and the early paperback at a low price to encourage reading
- •He explains Amazon’s 70% royalty range ($2.99–$9.99) versus 35% outside it
- •He chose low pricing partly to avoid reader frustration and one-star reviews for a short read
- •After serialization into multiple parts, he made the first part free to hook readers
- •He emphasizes finding an audience over maximizing profit per unit
The undersold value of worldwide, audio, and foreign rights—plus agents who know the terrain
Hugh explains why he avoids selling worldwide rights, citing the growth of audio and the surprising scale of foreign deals. He describes running many country-by-country deals (often term-limited) and relying on specialized agents who can evaluate publishers beyond just the money offered.
- •Hugh says he does not sell worldwide rights because audio and foreign rights became major value drivers
- •He describes numerous foreign deals and the normality of term limits in those markets
- •He uses multiple agents with regional specialization (US, Europe, Asia)
- •He gives an example of taking a lower monetary offer because the partner’s translation/craft would drive sales
- •He stresses he doesn’t “hate” publishers, agents, or bookstores and values success in any path
How to create leverage early (even without self-publishing)
Hugh argues traditional publishing leverage is hard to obtain without demonstrated demand, and self-publishing revenue is one way to create it. He also notes other paths—like a successful platform—can reduce perceived risk and strengthen negotiating power.
- •Hugh says leverage is strongest when you’re already making money without the publisher
- •He compares publishers’ selection challenges to venture-style power-law outcomes
- •He suggests proof points: reviews, visible readership, and engaged fans
- •He says leverage can also come from a strong podcast, website, or social following
- •Tim summarizes this as reducing the publisher’s perceived risk
Turning the writing “switch” on: deadlines, word counts, and immersion in books
Hugh outlines what works for him: writing daily, tracking word count, and staying close enough to the story to understand it. He credits a period of reading and reviewing a book a day—done for a friend’s website—as the catalyst that made writing feel possible.
- •Hugh says daily writing prevents the habit from shutting off again
- •He describes past targets (2,000 words/day) and a current target around 1,000 words/day
- •He uses visible word-count tracking inside his document as motivation
- •He warns waiting for inspiration leads to weak continuity with the story
- •He attributes a breakthrough to reading and reviewing at intense volume, which built both prose absorption and a daily writing routine
Fiction “tuning forks”: books and prose that raise your writing level
Hugh describes reading beautiful prose as a way to “tune” your ear before writing, similar to striking a tuning fork. He and Tim swap examples of books they feel sharpen craft, including works praised for style, clarity, and structural ingenuity.
- •Hugh suggests using great prose as a pre-writing warmup to set tone and cadence
- •He mentions reading Proust as an example of beautiful language and flow
- •He praises This Is How You Lose the Time War and notes its two-author structure
- •He recommends Circe and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, noting the latter’s slow early ramp
- •They discuss Amor Towles’ work and the craft behind clear but clever storytelling
Collaboration vs. solo writing: process, output, and “social deadlines”
Tim shares that collaborating helped revive a stalled book project, and Hugh explains why co-writing can feel easier and more productive than working alone. Hugh details a practical workflow with his TV/film partner: co-developing outlines, splitting acts, and moving multiple projects forward in parallel.
- •Tim says collaboration made writing more fun and helped him move a long-stalled draft forward
- •Hugh says personality fit is the most important factor in successful collaboration
- •He describes outlining together, then producing a detailed outline suitable for producers
- •They divide drafting by acts (e.g., one writes act one while the other writes act two)
- •Hugh says collaboration increases output beyond simple doubling and creates “social deadlines”
Promotion that doesn’t break you: engaging existing readers and staying emotionally afloat
Hugh tells stories about early hands-on promotion driven by his dad, while noting it often makes little financial sense compared to writing time. He explains that promotion worked best when it doubled as something he enjoyed—like interacting with readers online—which also functioned as therapy and reinforced momentum.
- •Hugh recounts his dad organizing small, unconventional book-selling setups around town
- •He notes the mismatch between time spent and books sold in many in-person promo efforts
- •Hugh says he’s uncomfortable pushing books on strangers but enjoys engaging with existing fans
- •He describes how reader interaction can snowball attention through visible social sharing
- •He frames blogging/social engagement as emotional support that also served promotional effects
Common mistakes creatives make: over-trusting expertise, hiding behind pen names, and misreading reader loyalty
Hugh warns that “expert” advice can become dangerous in a fast-changing industry, and that trusting your gut can be a competitive advantage. He also argues readers can follow an author across genres, making excessive pen-name fragmentation a self-limiting move.
- •Hugh calls over-reliance on expertise a top mistake because industry rules shift quickly
- •He describes early guidance about audiobooks as career-changing, especially via retaining audio rights
- •He urges creators to be their own expert and act on novel ideas
- •He discourages spreading work across many pen names, arguing the brand is the author’s identity
- •He emphasizes building a real bond with early readers as a durable career asset
AI’s impact on publishing: cover design, content floods, scams, and opportunity
Hugh expects AI to touch every part of publishing, and says it already enables non-experts to reach “good enough” results quickly—especially in cover creation. He also discusses the surge of AI-generated or copied books, Amazon’s attempts to limit abuse, and the upside of using AI to overcome the empty page and make revision easier.
- •Hugh says AI can raise a weak skill to a high baseline quickly, citing cover mockups as an example
- •He notes he’d still use a traditional cover artist for a major edition, but would use AI for future self-pub needs
- •They discuss the existing flood of AI-generated uploads and Amazon policy changes to limit volume
- •Hugh describes longstanding scams: re-uploading others’ books or copying Wikipedia into “books”
- •Tim and Hugh discuss AI as a tool to generate workable drafts from spoken ideas, making revision easier than first-draft writing
Midterm optimism, long-term pessimism: existential tech risks, kids, religion, and moral truth
Hugh explains he’s optimistic in the midterm but pessimistic in the long term, arguing that if humanity can build a civilization-ending “button,” eventually someone will use it. The conversation then shifts to deciding about children amid uncertainty, the persistence of religion and superstition, and Hugh’s belief in objective moral truth alongside his skepticism about free will.
- •Hugh distinguishes midterm optimism from long-term pessimism and discusses cosmic end-states as framing
- •He argues existential risk comes from developing targeted technologies that could end humanity
- •He compares regulation challenges across domains, contrasting nuclear controls with modern compute incentives
- •Hugh shares that he and his wife have started the process of creating embryos and discusses why people choose to have kids despite uncertainty
- •They discuss population decline as a looming concern and how incentives shape family size
- •Hugh reflects on moving from militant atheism to compassion toward different belief systems, and suggests superstition persists even as religions change
- •He states belief in objective moral truth, describes moral progress as asymptotic, and links it to shared human nature and the “golden rule” idea

Publisher timestamps

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