My time with Paul Young, author of The Shack

 The Making of A Cover post that was supposed to go up last week, didn't due to technical difficulties so it's up today. Head on over to YA Confidential to see what went into making the new Clockwise cover, from model shoot to final copy. But first, read this.

Last week I had the honor and opportunity to spend time with fellow Canadian, Paul Young, author of The Shack. In case you haven't heard of this little book, Paul self-published it in 2008 and it hit the world by storm, literally-it's in over 40 languages.

This accomplishment is even more amazing when you factor in that he did this with print books. This was before the e-book "revolution" and most indie authors today will tell you that 95% of their books sales are e-versions.

So, how did it come about that I, little author from small city British Columbia, got to hang out with this indie author superstar? (btw, he'd hate that I called him that. He's such a down to earth, friendly and generous man.)

I'm part of a non-profit artist group called Tribehouse, which focuses on art, faith and justice, three areas that Paul Young is passionate about, so it made sense to invite him to one of our events. Plus, he has family in the city 45 min away from us, a bonus for him. Prior to the evening event,  ten of us went for lunch. The food was good, but the conversation was better. He told us about his wife, Kim, and his six children; what it's like to live in Oregon; and how his life has changed from four years ago when he cleaned toilets and sold soldering tips (? or something like that).  Now he travels the world and speaks at New Age conventions, atheist conferences, churches, prisons, and events like ours.

He also asked each one of us what we did and how we came together as friends to form this group. Did I mention he's a hugger?

Also, that he's a compelling and passionate public speaker? He had the room spellbound. Whether you believed what he had to say or not, you couldn't doubt that he believed it.

I just happened to sit next to him before he got up to speak, so I asked him a bit about his self-publishing experience. Earlier he'd told us how he first wrote the story for his kids--printed up and coil bound at Office Depot-- at the prompting of his wife, who later, along with some of his friends convinced him to self-publish. He ordered 10,000 copies, "because it was cheaper per copy at that volume." Knowing what I know now about self-publishing, I told him I thought that was a scary amount. He laughed. "Yes, I was told later that most people usually end up with eight thousand copies in their garage."

It seemed like everyone took away something different from his talk. Here are the things I went home with.

1) Nothing shatters a soul like sexual abuse. This is Paul's personal "great sadness."

2) Don't commodify art. Art has it's own value. Don't always think that you have to sell your art to make it worthwhile. This is a point I personally struggle with.

3) God doesn't run. Mostly. There is only one instance in the bible where God ran, and that was to greet his prodigal son. Jesus never ran.

This is a big one for me. I'm always in a hurry, especially when it comes to Indie pubbing--the (false) sense of urgency to get my work out there, to sell it. I have to say that all my rushing hasn't gotten me to my intended goal any faster.

4) The journey is the journey to trust.

If you'd like to see professional pictures and read more about the event, check out this Tribehouse blog post, Paul Young rattles Bottega.