Sam Hayes

Sam Hayes hails from Chicago, but lives in LA, in a garage, where he writes fiction and screenplay, and occasionally acts in Spanish television commercials, though he does not speak much Spanish. It's a long story, or a short one not worth telling.

The Weather Man is Sam's debut novel, though the LAist reports that he started it "seven years ago," and has rewritten it many times. The story chronicles a man in 2076 whose emotions control the weather, and is sent on a spectacular pursuit of happiness to keep people safe. The Chicago Tribune called Sam "(Mother Nature's) culprit in the Windy City."

Sam launched his novel out of his garage bedroom with a Kickstarter, a funny video, and some guerrilla marketing that the Chicago Police Department called a "legal gray area," because they couldn't quite figure out how to fine him. You can watch his ridiculous video here on his author page.

Sam is a millennial who hopes to bring thoughtful new fiction back to millennials, a generation largely forgotten by traditional publishers. And that's what his successful Kickstarter was all about. LA magazine called it, "the most millennial move ever." And let me tell you something, because I, Sam Hayes, am writing this in the third person--it was.

You can keep up with Hayes's not-so-traditional tactics on his instagram and other social media platforms, always under the username @storiesbysam. He publishes all kinds of content for free, so that most people won't buy his book, but simply follow his Instagram, where he can feel cool and relevant while making zero dollars and zero cents.