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Still think self-publishing is a second-best option to launch your book? These three authors proved that it can be the other way around.

Self-published titles have been breaking through for years, but if before it was a rare exception, today it has become a pattern. It’s enough to open any recent issue of Publishers Weekly: you'll find news about self-published authors landing six and seven-figure deals.
What was once stigmatized as a "not good enough" fallback has become increasingly popular – not only as a way to get a major publishing house’s (or a film studio’s!) attention, but as a long-term strategy to maximize revenue and maintain creative control.
In this article, we are looking at authors who did just that.

Andy Weir: from free chapters to a Matt Damon film

After years of rejections, 37-year-old Andy Weir published his sci-fi novel The Martian on his website chapter by chapter, completely free. When readers asked for a Kindle version, he uploaded it for $0.99.
It sold 35,000 copies and hit the top of Amazon's sci-fi bestseller list. Less than two years later, Random House signed him to a six-figure deal. That same week, 20th Century Fox acquired the film rights.
The numbers speak for themselves: The Martian sold over 3 million copies, and the 2015 film starring Matt Damon grossed $630 million worldwide. Andy Weir's net worth today is estimated at $20 million, built almost entirely off a book he originally gave away for free.

Colleen Hoover: from a self-published gift to 35 million books sold

Colleen Hoover wrote her debut novel Slammed as a Christmas gift for her mother, and put it on Amazon in 2012 with no publisher or marketing budget. It went viral through a reader's blog post, and she signed with Atria Books (part of Simon & Schuster) by the end of the year.
To date, Hoover has sold over 35 million books worldwide. The film adaptation of It Ends With Us, starring Blake Lively, grossed over $350 million worldwide. Her net worth is estimated at $10–15 million, and it started with a self-published novel.

Brandon Sanderson: from a secret project to the biggest Kickstarter in history

As an established fantasy writer, Brandon Sanderson didn’t need self-publishing to get a traditional book deal. In pursuit of creative and financial control of his own work, he chose to bypass the publisher, and the results were nothing short of extraordinary.
During the pandemic, Brandon Sanderson secretly wrote four novels, then launched a Kickstarter to self-publish them directly to fans. His goal was $1 million. He hit it in 35 minutes. The campaign closed 30 days later at $41.7 million from 185,000 backers, becoming the most funded Kickstarter in history.
It is estimated that after production costs, the campaign brought him $15–20 million in profit.

What do these stories tell us?

What's worth noting about these three authors is that none of them followed the same path after their self-publishing success.
Andy Weir used self-publishing to get discovered, then moved into traditional publishing. Colleen Hoover signed a traditional deal, but continued to self-publish select titles on her own terms in a hybrid arrangement. Brandon Sanderson, already a successful traditionally published author, walked away from that model entirely and went direct-to-reader.
The takeaway is that self-publishing isn’t just a stepping stone you discard once you land a deal. It's that self-publishing is a powerful tool that works at every stage of a writing career — before the deal, alongside it, or instead of it entirely.
Whatever your goals are as an author, releasing your work independently can get you there. And as these three stories show, you can self-publish your way to millions.

Curious where self-publishing can take you? Get your story out there at https://authors.written.app.