Hugh Howey

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

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Luddites, Rejoice!

In March, Simon and Schuster is releasing a print edition of WOOL here in the United States, and I couldn’t be more excited. This deal is all about the new publishing paradigm. There are no clauses limiting what I can write and how quickly I can release. I keep control over the ebooks, which means the prices will stay where they are. And nobody will have to suffer my horrible pagination skills any longer. You’ll finally get a print edition with the utmost in quality and design.

And it gets better. Simon and Schuster is planning a simultaneous paperback and hardback release. This is something I begged for as a bookseller and more recently as a writer. Bookstores will get the paperback, which means WOOL will be affordable. Libraries (and those of us who prefer them) can order a hardback. It’s the best of all possible worlds. Affordable e-books published swiftly, paperbacks where anyone can find them, hardbacks for the libraries.

Throughout this process, I’ve tried to make decisions based on what readers and other authors deserve. My agent and I walked away from round after round of strengthening deals. Last month, we declined two separate 7-figure offers. What we wanted from the beginning was a contract that seemed fair. Simon and Schuster has earned my eternal respect and gratitude for coming through. I couldn’t be prouder to be one of their authors. I just hope this book lives up to their prestigious reputation.

27 replies to “Luddites, Rejoice!”

wow, Hugh, very good news, you must be incredibly pleased. You are now officially a mainstream author! Just wait till the movie comes out!

Looking forward to seeing it in the bookstores, and next time I want to get a hardcopy for someone as a gift I won’t have to order it online!

Plus, I think I may need to get myself a hard copy :). As much as I’m starting to like this newfangled e-reader thing (which goes down with digital SLR cameras–I used to swear digital would never match or be as worthy as film– as something I once scoffed at and now can’t live without), I still like holding a physical book.

So the paperbacks will remain the same and a hardcover edition will be introduced as well? Do you still have control over the cover art?

Very exciting! Congrats! Can’t wait for the be-all-end-all hardback limited edition that includes everything (Wool/Shift/Dust) – I may be dreaming here :-)

“What we wanted from the beginning was a contract that seemed fair.”
… Say that to one of my kids and you’ll get the immediate response of “The fair’s in August.” ;-)

I admire you sticking to your principles when the major $$$ offers arrived. In this copy-cat world, when (not “if) this publishing model succeeds for S & S, many more will follow.

Hey Hugh! Congratulations on the dual release and publishing news! I was recently looking for an immersive alternate-world fix and stumbled across WOOL Omnibus on the iTunes store. My addiction in fictional literature started upon reading the Dune saga by Frank Herbert, then it continued to all of the Hyperion books as well as Olympus and Ilium. I had taken a break from reading as I was trying to find someone else to toss me into a new world when I found WOOL. It captured me from the first phrases and I’m in love with the world you have created. I’m downloading First Shift now and can’t wait for the rest of the books! In my opinion, sci-fi needs a new genre and world builders like you should lead the charge!

Congratulations Hugh! What a great Xmas present you deserve this and more in my opinion. The contract shows that you are above all a Author who sticks by his principles.
I look forward to seeing what 2103 bring for you.

Hardcovers, YAY! Will we be seeing a new and exciting cover, or will it stay the same?

Congrats Hugh. you deserve this!

Congratulations. A great deal for you. I read an article about this deal and it quoted another website saying WOOL was like a “sci-fi 50 shades of grey”! And I’m thinking …. except for Wool actually being an original story, well written and edited with complex characters. Let’s hope that’s not going to become your tagline.

Awsome! But for meg who lives in Europe (not UK) is better with the ebook – it comes to me the same moment I’m oredering it. And I don’t read paper books. I prefer iPad – then I can look in every your book any moment I like. I ha e them ALL in my iPad.

Good things come to good people who follow their heart down the right path. Congratulations!

(Now if we can get Wool voted into World Book Night next year, that would be awesome!)

Congratulations, Hugh! I am very proud of your power of choice for your creative freedom and respect for the readers. You’re amazing! You deserve all this and much more.

Can’t wait to get a hard cover and I would love to get it signed. Any chance you could put San Diego on your list of stops? We’re a beautiful city and well worth the trip. I could even manage a drive to Los Angeles if your can’t get too far south.

Congratulations! This couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy or a better story. I love Wool! I hope you can figure out a way to make to San Francisco — Green Apple Books is a good, independent book store that would be a perfect venue… And you always have a place to stay ;-)

Congratulations on the deal! I heard good things about your book and as a librarian, I will be buying it for my library.

I did want to point out something you wrote, though:

“It’s the best of all possible worlds. Affordable e-books published swiftly, paperbacks where anyone can find them, hardbacks for the libraries.”

Though we do love hardbacks, libraries are also getting heavily into the eBook world – that’s where many of the people we serve want to be, after all. Our patrons love eBooks and in my state, the eBook lending service is very popular. Yet we have trouble lending certain eBooks because some publishers charge exorbitant prices (sometimes $80+) or won’t even make them available to us. S&S is one of these publishers. So it’s *almost* the best of all possible worlds… but unfortunately, my patrons who want to read your work as an eBook but can’t or don’t want to purchase it themselves won’t be able to get it through my library.

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