A great story. A social media lesson. And a wonderful novel.
It’s tempting to say this is a triumph of new media. And it is … but it’s really a triumph of a very good book. That’s not a new media story — that’s a classic story. Good products win; good marketing only helps them win faster. And such is the case here.
Hugh Howey has successfully created a community that loves his writing. That is not done easily, and he has done it independently.
He was a part-time writer and book store employee struggling to find his way. He wrote a novella called Wool, which began to find an audience. He marketed it as a e-book on Amazon.com. As people began to find it, they became invested in his success.
They encouraged him to keep writing. He published more parts of the Wool story. Remember, this sort of episodic publishing is not new — authors have serialized their stories since soon after the printing press was published.
His readers volunteered to help with proof reading, and they helped correct Wool’s errors.
They submitted cover artwork.
Hugh Howey lives in Florida,. He is still a fiercely independent author in the US, though Wool will be coming out in hardback in 2013, from Random House UK.
And he kept writing. Howey recently gathered the first 5 Wool “books” into a single omnibus edition which is what I read. It’s a fabulous book, and worth your time. The movie rights to Wool were just sold to Sir Ridley Scott. You’ve seen his stuff: Thelma & Louise. Alien. Blade Runner. Gladiator. And he’s the executive producer of the best show on CBS: “The Good Wife.” Here’s hoping he can do something wonderful with Wool!
Today, some established authors have decried the lack of quality found among the independent authors that are self-publishing. Sue Grafton famously talked about the “wannabes” of independent publishing in this article published in August. It’s illuminating to note a few facts comparing Grafton’s latest novel, V is for Vengeance, with Howey’s Wool Omnibus.
V: 343 Amazon reviews averaging a 4.1 rating. $14.99 for the kindle edition.
Wool: 1,908 Amazon reviews averaging a 4.8 rating. $1.99 for the kindle edition TODAY … it’s Today’s Daily Deal!
I’ve read much of Grafton’s alphabet series; I have enjoyed following Kinsey Millhone, her private investigator that lives in the fictional southern California city of Santa Teresa. I certainly appreciate the professional presentation of her traditionally published novels. Who doesn’t appreciate good proof reading? On the other hand, even her deep catalog on the kindle is still $5.99 each. It seems traditional publishers expect readers to pay for that proof reading. Handsomely.
Howey has succeeded in tapping into his audience in a way that old-school authors like the 72-year old Grafton just can’t emulate. Check out my favorite part of Howey’s website, his chart of how many words he’s written for each of his ongoing projects. His readers know exactly where he is and what he’s working on.
But back to Wool.
Great opening line: “The children were playing while Holston climbed to his death; he could hear them squealing as only happy children do.”
Life has gotten very small in this post-apocalyptic story. The exterior world is deadly; the living world is limited to the inside of a giant buried silo that holds everyone and everything. The only view of the exterior world is limited by the cleanliness of the sensors mounted above ground at the top of the structure. When a silo resident goes outside to clean those sensors, they die.
How did people get into this situation? Why can’t they get out of it? What IS out there?
Read the book. You need to read this book. Buy it today for your kindle; only $1.99 on Amazon.com!
Me, I just bought Wool 6, which is a prequel. And since Wool 7 is already 60% done … can’t wait!
Today, the Wool Omnibus edition is priced at a regular $5.99. Still a great value, and still less than half of what Grafton’s new novel is priced at.
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As a burgeoning bestseller (one can dream), I have thought through the processes of publishing both independently and traditionally A LOT. Thanks for showcasing this. I have not read Mr. Howey’s work and it’s probably not really my style, but good writing is good writing, so I will check it out.. I think it is easy for traditionally published authors to be snide about indie books, because, frankly, there are a lot of bad ones. But then, even with the uphill battle, plenty of bad books get through the traditional process as well. The problem really good indie authors have is rising above the slush to reach readers. I love to hear about someone who has had success doing just that.
Howey’s success is a great testament to how new ways of breakthrough thinking can be extremely effective. Good luck on finding your own path. I have great faith in the quality of your writing. Finding readers, that’s the key that Howey found!