Originally Posted by TrashyGirl

The guy who wrote the story started it on his blog, chapter by chapter, but readers began asking for him to put it in book form (Kindle) on Amazon. So he did and charged 99 cents for it. He had previously tried to get a publisher for the book to no avail. It was only after the book took off in sales that publishers began making offers.

The Martian (Weir novel) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia