Brandon Ampersand
The Brandon Sneed Show
Episode 004: Hugh Howey
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Episode 004: Hugh Howey

From working in a bookshop to building a self-publishing empire, as well as circling the globe on a sailboat, Hugh Howey has one hell of a story.

Today we have Episode 004 with guest Hugh Howey, who went from working in a bookshop to making six figures a month as an independent self-published author. He became one of the most remarkable stories in publishing.

In short, he’s built himself an independent publishing empire as the author of dozens of sci-fi thrillers, such as his famous WOOL saga, which tells the story of a post-apocalyptic community living in a massive underground silo. That’s now being made into a television series.

We get into all of that and much, much more, such as

  • how he decided to commit to writing

  • the nature of being a writer and artist and how to give up caring if your life makes sense to other people

  • the importance of finishing projects that you start

  • (and how common it is to let projects languish for years on end, which personally gave me peace as someone with a couple dozen half-finished novels and scripts on my laptop)

  • Hugh’s nomadic nature as someone who once lived on a sailboat and took it around the globe

  • Burning Man

  • and his recent whirlwind relationship that now has him engaged.

Hugh’s a great writer, great guy, and was so kind to take the time to talk about all of this.

I learned a ton from it, had a great time hearing him tell his stories, and think you will, too.

Make sure to check out Hugh’s website at hughhowey.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Thank you for being here.

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Brandon Ampersand
The Brandon Sneed Show
Stories about, well, everything, with a focus on navigating the chaos of life. Interviews with and stories about people from all levels of sports, art, and performance.
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