Hugh Howey

Bestselling author of Wool and other books. Currently sailing around the world.

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Forever Free

It’s with tear-filled eyes that I announce the liberation of this little story. It’s been a year since the sales of this novelette forever changed my life. And now I’m sending it off into the world to prance merrily and be forever free. Go, little Wool. Go outside. The rest of us will sit here and watch you on this big screen of ours.

Wool: Because it ain’t hookin’ if you turn tricks for free.

Edit: I was just notified that Amazon moved the price back to $0.99. I’m looking into this. I made the book free on the iBookstore, which Amazon normally price matches. Hopefully this is a temporary glitch!

23 replies to “Forever Free”

This is just awesome. You are THE example for future writers on how to do it exactly right.

Your prices are extremely reasonable and really reflect what pricing should be like in the digital age.

Your interaction with your fans/readers is fantastic. YOU make people want to read your books.

And now you made an amazing book free? Ridiculously awesome.

Keep it up Hugh. Your stories are amazing, but YOU are also a big part of what makes your stories sell.

As soon as Amazon updates this info, Ima going to share it – I’m sure many more will luck into it just as I did!!

Congrats Hugh, this is a great move with a fantastic story!

Now, can you get back to writing please? I wanna know where we’re going next!!! ♥

please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please, oh please write more wool

Dang you Hugh, now you’ve gone and taken away my last reason for NOT starting the Wool series ;)

(well, except that I’m reading something else right now, Wool is next).

Advance copies are going to book groups. My wife’s group received one and gave it to me first since I’m the SF fan. I wasn’t aware of: your blog, the book(s), self publishing and using Amazon. I loved your story and I agree completely with your views on storytelling. This world of self publishing and your success is inspirational. But of course, you had to be a great storyteller first. :) You are. Thank you. Gareth

started reading Wool at the request of my brother Roger, who has become a huge fan of yours, and i gotta say Wool is indeed awesome as well as I Zombie. You have a great future ahead of you..i am now a big fan as well..:)

This book being FREE is what turned me on to your work in the 1st place. It was listed on ereaderiq.com & I went to amazon to read more about it- ended up just buying the omnibus ed. & Half Way Home, I, Zombie & The Hurricane. Blew through all of them, bought & read 1st Shift Saturday- not eagerly (and not so patiently) awaiting the Silo Wars (Pt 7). Great job all around!!!

This is awesome news! The waiting listing for my Omnibus edition was getting pretty long – and I even tried expedition the process myself. I told people if the did not love the first book, to then pass it on to the next person on the list. But, if they did, I told them to buy their own copy off of Amazon. And many of them did!

The free first book will work great for my sister as she will have no more excuses not to try. The first one should always be free. :D

I am loving your series! I read some SF/fantasy but it’s not my go-to genre. For me it’s usually the characters that keep me reading. You do such a great job of the characters. I bought the first five books from Amazon for under $6.00. I just downloaded the sixth for about $3.00. Incredible value. I am telling everyone to read this series. Please keep writing it!

Almost done with the wool series. I must say, I am hooked! You are a great storyteller! Your descriptions and detailed imagination make me feel so close to each scene and every character. Thanks for these stories and I wish you the best of luck in your future projects. I will post links to your book and try to spread the word.

It is back to being free, though in the “From the Author” segment of “Editorial Reviews” it says it contains Wool 1-5, which seems a little odd, since it’s just Wool 1

This is awesome! And on a related not, I have a question I thought not worth pestering you with in an actual email (I would feel creepy).

Simon Morden recently wrote a an essay * about the changing game of publishing. Amongst other things he describes self-publishing authors as:
“…These are people who work like dogs, somehow squeeze extra hours in a day that aren’t available to other mortals,…”
“Be in no doubt that living and working like this is punishing, physically and mentally. And for those without socialised medical care, it’s often one illness away from disaster.”

This mildly scares me, and I’m wondering whether he is being polemic or overreacting. He also claims that it’s not the authors making the real money, but the marketplace providers.

What is your perspective on this or is there maybe a post somewhere where you explain?

Thanks again!
Jon

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