I haven’t heard of Hugh Howey’s novel Wool, but what’s more interesting is how he managed to keep his electronic rights and make himself a lot of money, while also selling print rights to a major publisher. Most publishers demand exclusive rights, and according to SFWA, in the case of Random House’s imprint Hydra and Alibi, seem unreasonable and predatory.
Every author should seek to protect their interests, as publishing companies are rightly concerned about how they can make more money.