William P. Young’s sensation, ‘The Shack,’ is surely one of the best examples of a self-publishing success story. Originally written as a Christmas gift for his six children, the story was also shared with additional family and friends… who in turn shared the story with their friends, leading to the suggestion that Young publish the book via traditional publishing channels, thereby making it available to the world.
As one can surmise, Young was met with trepidation by the major publishing houses – both religious and secular. So, Young, along with two business partners (former pastors fom Los Angeles), decided to create their own imprint, Wind Blown Media, and publish the book themselves.
So, how does one go from self-publishing something that no traditional publisher will touch to becoming a New York Times #1 Best Seller for 35 continuous weeks? The answer was not a large advertising spend, as according to sources, only about $300 was spent on promotion of the book through its web site. The answer, as is very often the case in the Internet Age is this: Word-of-Mouth.
