Those who read the book for free on his website started to go over to Amazon and pay for it to show support, and with recommendations doing the rounds it started a snowball effect on readers.
So, Weir obliged and put it on Amazon through the company's self-publishing system, for $0.99 – the minimum allowable price he could set. Then came the requests for him to put the book on Amazon's system, which would save the readers from dealing with Weir's self-proclaimed terrible website. Then came the requests for a full e-reader version that readers could download and read instead of going from chapter to chapter on the website. "I wanted to make sure that dorks like me could enjoy the book that I was writing," Weir said, explaining why he put enormous effort into making the story and plot points, actions and reactions as scientifically accurate as possible.Īfter nearly three years of publishing a chapter nearly every other month and going back-and-forth with the readers, listening to the nitpicks and making changes along the way, "The Martian" was complete. Around 2009, he started writing "The Martian," as a series, writing chapters and publishing them on his website, receiving feedback from readers, particularly on the technical side of affairs, and editing and updating the chapters accordingly to grind out those scientific mistakes.ĭonald Glover in a scene from the film "The Martian." (Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox) So, he started writing short fiction – web comics and series – which he published on his own website for free. He did, however, still want to write, maybe not as a profession but at least as a hobby. After several failed attempts at breaking into the industry, the author went back to programming. So, Weir took three years off, deciding to focus on his writing. Weir was working in software at America Online – or AOL at the time – but was laid off when the company merged with Netscape. While he was at college, Weir actually wrote a book, which he confessed was really bad, but the good news is that this was before the time of the internet so there are no digital copies the writer assured the audience.
"I liked writing, but I also liked regular meals," he jokingly continued, talking about why he chose computer programming in college. "I always wanted to be a writer ever since I read my dad's inexhaustible science-fiction collection," Weir said in a speech at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, back in 2015 – that collection included the likes of Isaac Asimov, Arthur C.
Matt Damon in a scene from the film "The Martian." (Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox)
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