The Psychological Trap of the Information Age (and How Mark Manson Used it to Sell 20 Million Books)

The author of The Subtle Art never intended to be a writer. His career started with a viral blog post, a kitten walking away from an explosion, and six million page views in a day.

EXPERT OPINION BY DANIEL ROBBINS, CEO AND FOUNDER OF IBH MEDIA AND HOST OF FOUNDER'S STORY

Mark Manson. Illustration: Inc; Photo: Courtesy subject, Getty Images

Mark Manson never thought he was a good writer. He didn’t make great grades in English class. He read Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris in 2008, tried a dozen online businesses, and the one that stuck was a dating advice blog.

Now he’s sold over 20 million books. And the story of how he got there is a masterclass in reading the internet before the rest of the world catches on.

“I would actually divide my career up in online content into three phases,” he told me at his studio in LA.

Phase one was blogging and convincing other bloggers to link to his blogs. Phase two was recognizing what Facebook was trying to do with the news feed before most people did.

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That recognition led to roughly ten articles going super viral between 2012 and 2015. The biggest one, titled “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” with a picture of a kitten calmly walking away from an explosion, did six million page views in its first day.

That article became the book that’s sold over 20 million copies in ten years.

After the book exploded, Manson did something surprising. He walked away from the internet, signed some TV and movie deals, and more book deals. He thought he’d graduated from online content.

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