Hachette in Co-Pub Deal for 'The Shack'

by Lynn Garrett -- Publishers Weekly, 5/15/2008 8:26:00 AM

The FaithWords division of Hachette Book Group has entered into a co-publishing partnership with Windblown Media for the runaway bestseller The Shack by William P. Young. The long-term deal also will include future titles to be published by Windblown. Hachette will handle sales, marketing, distribution, licensing, and manufacturing, with Windblown retaining rights to The Shack and future books, while having its own imprint under FaithWords.

A word-of-mouth phenomenon, The Shack has sold more than one million copies since its release one year ago, with 1.1 million copies now in print. It is the bestselling Christian novel in the nation and currently is #8 on the USA Today bestseller list and #4 on PW’s May 19 list. Windblown also is in talks with film studios.

The novel was written by Oregon salesman Young as a story for his children, then reworked in collaboration with two friends, Brad Cummings and Wayne Jacobsen, who are former pastors. When Young was unable to find a publisher, Cummings and Jacobsen formed Windblown Media and began distributing the book out of Cummings’ garage. The two were represented in negotiations with Hachette by Wes Yoder of the Ambassador Agency.

In a statement, Rolf Zettersten, senior v-p and publisher of FaithWords, said, “The same team that developed The Shack has compelling plans for future books, including He Loves Me by Wayne Jacobsen and So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore by Jacobsen and Dave Coleman under the pen name Jake Colsen.”