Season 5 Ep 7 | Shane Hinton | Writing, Teaching, & Giving Away Books for Free

Today’s episode features writer and teacher Shane Hinton, author of Pinkies, Radio Dark, Other Shane Hintons, and editor of We Can’t Help It If We’re From Florida. His work blends the absurd, the uncanny, and the deeply human—often with Florida as both setting and state of mind.

We dove into two big threads: his fantastic Lit Hub essay “Why I Give My Books Away for Free” and the larger questions that essay raises about art, money, and the changing literary landscape.

Shane’s Lit Hub piece struck a chord because it articulates something many writers feel but rarely say out loud. He talked about:

* wanting to connect rather than transact

* realizing most readers struggle to keep up with the sheer amount of new work

* generosity as a meaningful (and honest) form of outreach

* measuring impact through engagement, not sales

We moved into the broader implications of Shane’s philosophy and what it says about the industry right now. A few themes:

* there’s more content than ever, but not more readers

* making a living from literary fiction is harder than ever

* creatives now need comfort with marketing, social media, and guerrilla outreach

* writers often feel torn between authenticity and self-promotion