Andy Weir

Frequently asked questions

• What did Andy Weir do before he was a novelist?

  He spent about twenty-five years as a software engineer, working for companies including AOL, Palm, MobileIron, and Blizzard, where he worked on Warcraft II. He started programming at fifteen for Sandia National Laboratories.

• How did The Martian make him famous?

  He serialized it free on his blog, then sold a 99-cent Kindle edition that became a bestseller, leading to a print deal with Crown and Ridley Scott’s 2015 film — a self-publishing success story.

• Did Andy Weir write anything before The Martian?

  Yes. He published fiction free on his website for years, including the viral 2009 short story ‘The Egg’ and the webcomic Cheshire Crossing.

• Has Andy Weir won any awards?

  He won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2016, and Project Hail Mary was a finalist for the 2022 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

• Why is the science in his books so detailed?

  Weir is a self-taught science enthusiast and the son of a physicist; he does his own calculations and research, which gives his fiction its hallmark technical rigor.

• Which of his books have been adapted to film?

  The Martian became a 2015 film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon, and Project Hail Mary is a 2026 film starring Ryan Gosling.