The Bookseller.com

4th July 2009

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Christian fiction hit on way to UK

30.05.08 Graeme Neill

Hodder Faith has snapped up UK rights in American word-of-mouth bestseller The Shack. The book, which has sold a quarter of a million copies in the US this year according to Nielsen BookScan, was written by Oregon salesman William P Young as a story for his children. Unable to secure a publisher, Wayne Jacobsen and Brad Cummings, who contributed to the story, formed independent publisher Windblown Media and began distribution from Cummings' garage.

The novel is about a man whose young daughter is abducted during a family holiday. Four years later, he receives a note, supposedly from God, inviting him back to the shack where his daughter's blood had been discovered.

Windblown Media and Hachette Book Group USA have signed a publishing co-venture deal for Windblown's future titles, and Hodder Faith will publish the books in the UK. Windblown Media's Jacobsen said he was optimistic the deal would help inspire more readers.

"Hachette has opened a tremendous door for us to ply our passion while they do the heavy lifting in production and distribution," he said.

Rights deal Graeme Neill Hodder Faith William P Young