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ANDY WEIR: PATRON SAINT OF SELF-PUBLISHING

April 18, 2026 at 11:45 am Leave a comment

               ANDY WEIR: PATRON SAINT OF SELF-PUBLISHING

I nominate Andy Weir for patron saint of self-publishing. I sincerely think he has earned that title.

Weir’s work first caught attention when he published some work online. Next came his novel, The Martian, which he self-published. That novel made The New York Times bestseller list and was eventually made into what became a popular movie.

The reason I am writing this piece is because the novel was self-published.

The road from self-published to fame is less than certain, and that’s putting it mildly. First requirement for writing success no matter how much you desire publication is that you must be a competent writer, actually more than just competent. I once was a member of a writer’s group meeting at Barnes & Noble, and the moderator of the group was employed by the bookstore. She stated that the store did not carry self-published books because the quality of many of the books was embarrassing. There is no gatekeeper for self-published books. The only hurdle to getting a book published is money.

Now back to Andy Weir.

I’m sure he worked his ass off, riding around with a trunk full of books and taking every opportunity to make a sale. I’m also quite sure that he had friends who were willing to work their asses off to help with sales. He also must have had a great deal of confidence in his writing ability. I say this because to make an impact with a self-published book must require selling a large quantity of books which requires an author buying a large quantity of books which requires a large quantity of money.

After The Martian Weir came out with a second novel, Artemis. The only review I saw for that novel was not very encouraging.

Next he published Project Hail Mary which made The New York Times bestseller list and went on to become a very successful movie.

I hope this review of Weir’s work provides the reason I am considering Andy Weir the patron saint of self-publishing. Thousands upon thousands of self-published books exist, published by authors with varying purposes in mind. But as in religion where many believers try to model their lives after that of their favorite saint for life in the eternal. If it is possible for you to duplicate some of the elements of Weir’s career, you just might hit the bestseller jackpot.

Entry filed under: OBSERVATIONS & OPINIONS, Walt Trizna, Walt Trizna's Stories, WALT'S OBSERVATIONS, WALT'S OPINIONS. Tags: Andy Weir, Artemis, book review, books, fiction, Project Hail Mary, publishing, science fiction, self-publishing, the 1%, The Martian, The New York Times, Walt Trizna, writers, writing.