William Paul Young, author of the best-selling book “The Shack,” told an audience Oct. 31 that his novel’s remarkable success was a “God thing.” Speaking during homecoming festivities at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, N.C., Young told around 1,000 Baptist college students about the book’s journey from humble beginnings to worldwide sales that have grown to more than 10 million.
Over the years, Young said, he had written stories as gifts to his children. So in 2005 when his wife, Kim, asked him to think outside the proverbial box and write a deeper and more involved story for the kids, “The Shack” was born. At first, he intended to hand out around 15 copies of the story — which he had gotten a local Office Depot to print for him — to family and friends. Little did he know how his story would touch the lives of that small group of people so much that they started sharing it with others.
“I’m not an author. It’s by accident,” Young said.
Soon “The Shack” made its way into the hands of two movie producers who thought it should be published. However, 26 publishing companies turned it down. After this, two of Young’s closest friends decided to put their resources together and started their own publishing company, Windblown Media, in order to make the story available.
“In the beginning the book was only available on the Internet, and then copies started selling so quickly we couldn’t keep enough copies printed,” Young said.
The rest is history — a history that doesn’t appear to be ending anytime soon.
During his talk at Gardner-Webb, he talked about several deep theological issues into which “The Shack” delves: having a personal relationship with Jesus versus religious performance; what it means to please God; and questions about whether God is good all the time and what are God’s character and nature. (ABP)
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