The Story Behind “The Shack”

The Shack

Reading the news updates on The Shack website is like reading a list of every author’s dreams coming true:

April 8, 2008:   In the past week The Shack has climbed to #33 on the USA Today Top 50 Books, and has risen as high as #7 at Amazon in all books and #6 at Barnes and Noble for in-store sales. We are blessed at the wide-ranging success of this title as we have distributed almost 500,000 books in 11 months, mostly by word of mouth.

November 1, 2007: We are setting up for the third print run of the paperback version and we are working on the audio version.

October 15, 2007: Barnes and Noble offers a pre-publication purchases of a Limited Hardback edition at a great price.

September 11, 2007: Windblown Media announces its affiliation with a new publisher in South Africa for distribution throughout the continent.

August 23, 2007: First printing of The Shack has almost sold out. We have had to order a second printing to maintain adequate supplies
The book continues to hold its spot as a New York Times Bestseller. But it wasn’t easy for author William P. Young. In fact, friends had to start their own company just to get it published!! Christian publishing houses thought it was too controversial and secular ones thought it read too churchy. Here’s the explanation found on Windblown Media’s site, the company that started just to make sure Young’s book was published:

A funny thing happened on the way to helping a friend with his new book.  We couldn’t find a publisher who would treat it the way we felt The Shack needed to be treated to find its audience. Christian publishers thought it too controversial and wanted to dull its edgy side so as not to risk alienating their core audience.  Secular publishers shied away because they felt the content put it clearly in the ‘Christian’ marketplace.

We have long been frustrated at the divide between Christian publishers and secular ones, feeling it an artificial one of convenience and consumerism rather than a true service to readers. We are convinced that there are a lot of people who are seriously asking questions about their spirituality and want thought-provoking and artistic books that neither pander to the religious audience nor dilute the powerful yet simple message of the Jesus of the Bible.

So we did the only thing we could think to do—start our own company!  Now we’re pleased to announce the publication of our first book, The Shack by William P. Young and in doing so launch a new publishing company committed to providing inspirational reading for people on a serious spiritual journey. The Shack offers as engaging a look at the reality of God in the midst of human tragedy as any we’ve ever read and can stimulate hours of discussion about spiritual life.

We are also reprinting So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore by Jake Colsen (a pseudonym for the combined work of Wayne Jacobsen and David Coleman), an incisive look at the failure of many religious institutions to engage people with the reality of God’s life and love, and Wayne Jacobsen’s, He Loves Me: Learning to Live in the Father’s Affection.

We’re not trying to fool anyone here.  Windblown Media is designed to publish books for the spiritually hungry and we are convinced that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is the only true God and source of life for those seeking spiritual answers.  But we are interested in having that discussion with people who may not agree with us, but want an intellectually honest and artistic approach to how we live life in his reality. We also realize that a lot of Christians are growing disillusioned with the religious constructs of our day that too easily rob people of the depth and vitality of the life that Jesus meant to offer us.

We publish for hungry hearts and minds looking to sort out spiritual realities amidst the fast-paced and often shallow world in which we live.

We are not accepting unsolicited manuscripts or agent submissions at this time.  We are just a couple of guys who are convinced that there is a market for spiritual discussions outside of the Christian publishing ghetto and not fully addressed by nonChristian publishers who think the mention of Jesus puts the book in a religious category.

It’s a good thing William P. Young believed in his book– and that he had friends surrounding him that believed in it too. Do you believe in your work enough to go to such great lengths to get in the hands of readers? Why? Why not?

The next time you are feeling discouraged just think of The Shack. Publishers didn’t believe in it. But the author did. And that’s what matters most.

Tags: author, books, Christian, New York Times Bestseller, publishing