#726: Hugh Howey, Author of Silo and Wool — A Masterclass on Writing, Unorthodox Self-Publishing, and Living in The AI Age

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! Timestamps for this episode are available below. Resources from this episode: https://tim.blog/2024/03/13/hugh-howey/ Sponsors: Momentous high-quality supplements: https://livemomentous.com/tim (code TIM for 20% off) Helix Sleep premium mattresses: https://helixsleep.com/tim (20% off all mattress orders and two free pillows) Wealthfront high-yield savings account: https://wealthfront.com/tim (Start earning 5% interest on your savings. And when you open an account today, you’ll get an extra fifty-dollar bonus with a deposit of five hundred dollars or more.) Timestamps: [00:00] Start [06:48] Breaking the formula with a literary sleight of hand. [11:00] A commitment to 10 years of obscurity. [15:02] Buying back rights and self-publishing. [22:04] Why authors should strive for a reader-first vs. publisher-first mindset. [24:22] Hitting the NYT Best Sellers List with a self-pub book. [27:44] Pricing logic. [31:00] The undersold value of worldwide rights. [33:57] How authors can find deal leverage early on. [37:07] Establishing a daily writing habit. [41:34] Fiction that inspires better writing. [45:27] Collaboration vs. writing solo. [46:59] Ways the publishing industry protects the status quo. [49:55] Why Hugh makes publishing deals at all. [50:45] Self-promotion as therapy. [53:05] Keys to fruitful collaboration. [55:47] Common mistakes creatives make. [1:01:03] AI’s present-and-future impact on publishing. [1:06:05] AI-generated occupational and existential crises. [01:10:11] Mid-term optimist, long-term pessimist [01:14:57] Procreation in uncertain times. [01:19:07] The future of religion. [01:26:21] Free will and objective moral truth. [01:31:02] Parting thoughts. * For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show , please visit tim.blog/podcast . For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show , please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter ( 5-Bullet Friday ) at tim.blog/friday . For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts . Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books . Follow Tim: Twitter : twitter.com/tferriss Instagram : instagram.com/timferriss YouTube : youtube.com/timferriss Facebook : facebook.com/timferriss LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferriss Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld , Hugh Jackman , Dr. Jane Goodall , LeBron James , Kevin Hart , Doris Kearns Goodwin , Jamie Foxx , Matthew McConaughey , Esther Perel , Elizabeth Gilbert , Terry Crews , Sia , Yuval Noah Harari , Malcolm Gladwell , Madeleine Albright , Cheryl Strayed , Jim Collins , Mary Karr, Maria Popova , Sam Harris , Michael Phelps , Bob Iger , Edward Norton , Arnold Schwarzenegger , Neil Strauss , Ken Burns , Maria Sharapova , Marc Andreessen , Neil Gaiman , Neil de Grasse Tyson , Jocko Willink , Daniel Ek , Kelly Slater , Dr. Peter Attia , Seth Godin , Howard Marks , Dr. Brené Brown , Eric Schmidt , Michael Lewis , Joe Gebbia , Michael Pollan , Dr. Jordan Peterson , Vince Vaughn , Brian Koppelman , Ramit Sethi , Dax Shepard , Tony Robbins , Jim Dethmer , Dan Harris , Ray Dalio , Naval Ravikant , Vitalik Buterin , Elizabeth Lesser , Amanda Palmer , Katie Haun , Sir Richard Branson , Chuck Palahniuk , Arianna Huffington , Reid Hoffman , Bill Burr , Whitney Cummings , Rick Rubin , Dr. Vivek Murthy , Darren Aronofsky , Margaret Atwood , Mark Zuckerberg , Peter Thiel , Dr. Gabor Maté , Anne Lamott , Sarah Silverman , Dr. Andrew Huberman , and many more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .