Building Your Writing Identity | 39sec snip from The Tim Ferriss Show

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

The Tim Ferriss Show

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Building Your Writing Identity

Your name is your brand in writing. It's important to consolidate your identity and write under your real name to establish a strong connection with your readers. Building a relationship with your audience can significantly benefit your career, as evident when early fans proudly identified as the 'first thousand' and formed a close-knit community around your work.

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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/

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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.