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. Please enjoy!
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Timestamps:
[00:00] Preview
[00:52] Breaking the formula with a literary sleight of hand.
[05:22] A commitment to 10 years of obscurity.
[09:38] Buying back rights and self-publishing.
[17:07] Why authors should strive for a reader-first vs. publisher-first mindset.
[19:33] Hitting the NYT Best Sellers List with a self-pub book.
[23:11] Pricing logic.
[26:34] The undersold value of worldwide rights.
[29:54] How authors can find deal leverage early on.
[31:59] Establishing a daily writing habit.
[36:44] Fiction that inspires better writing.
[40:52] Collaboration vs. writing solo.
[42:34] Ways the publishing industry protects the status quo.
[45:39] Why Hugh makes publishing deals at all.
[46:32] Self-promotion as therapy.
[48:56] Keys to fruitful collaboration.
[51:49] Common mistakes creatives make.
[57:26] AI's present-and-future impact on publishing.
[01:02:52] AI-generated occupational and existential crises.
[01:07:18] Mid-term optimist, long-term pessimist
[01:12:25] Procreation in uncertain times.
[01:16:47] The future of religion.
[01:24:27] Free will and objective moral truth.
[01:29:18] Parting thoughts.
Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 900 million downloads and been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three years running.
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