William Paul Young introduced himself to Sacred Heart High School's students as "an ordinary guy," but the teenage girls knew better.

As students arrived at the Lincoln Heights school's auditorium for the Oct. 15 talk by the author of "The Shack," Young mingled with them, trying to remain unnoticed, attired in blue jeans, casual gray sweater and sneakers. No luck, as suggested by the students' flashing cell-phone and digital cameras (thanks to a one-day exception to the school's "no cell-phones in school" rule.)

Because it isn't every day Sacred Heart hosts a bestselling author whose book, a religious fiction the 12th graders had read in their philosophy class, has ranked on the New York Times bestselling list for more than a year. It was an opportunity to hear first-hand how the author developed the plot of "The Shack" and how much work and time are involved in turning a creative work into a marketing success.

When philosophy teacher Roberto Dimas asked the school's principal, Dominican Sister of Mission San Jose Angelica Velez, about inviting Young, she welcomed the idea.

"When they meet the person, it gives them a different perspective of the inside of an author," Sister Velez told The Tidings. "Now they can say 'I met this guy who's an author and he's human.'"

Young was working three jobs when he finished writing the novel in 2005, but could not publish it until 2007, after the book was rejected by 26 publishing companies. A couple of friends who supported him opened a publishing business and printed 1,100 copies, all paid with their own Visas and MasterCards, the author told the students.

In the following year the men spent less than $300 in publicity. The book started selling among acquaintances, then by word of mouth. A few weeks later they set up a Web site and in a matter of weeks a thousand copies sold worldwide.

"The emails were staggering," Young told 60 students gathered in a "meet 'n greet" session after his presentation.

After delivering thousands and thousands of books in a few months, Barnes & Noble's marketing personnel approached him and his friends. They wanted to see their promotion plan. Young's reply: "We don't have any promotion plan, we don't even know what one looks like. Why don't you send us one to cut and paste?"

As the students' laughter died down, Young continued, "It was something the Holy Spirit decided to do --- and it caught us off guard."

Two years later, California-based publisher Windblown Media has sold 10 million copies of "The Shack" in 46 languages. The author is currently writing a screenplay, and working on a second fiction book and some autobiographical stories.

'He touched my heart'
For 14-year-old freshmen Maria Gonzalez and Sara Garcia, Young's presentation was "inspiring and touching," and both left the auditorium with a desire to read his book. "He touched my heart when he talked about God and your relationship with Him," Garcia said.

Gonzalez noted she has friends who have been sexually molested, like the book author. After hearing him, she said, she felt like hugging and comforting her friends.

Senior Tiffany Marquez, 17, liked how Young "talked about how our family, our environment, shapes our building, our shack. I liked his analogy."

During his presentation, Young explained that "The Shack" is a metaphor for the human heart.

Mackenzie "Mack" --- the main character --- spends a weekend in a shack, led by a great sadness (the "center point" of the story, according to the author) after a tragic life. There he confronts eternity.

"Many people have a great sadness for not having a father, or for having a father who is brutal or angry, or because they have suffered sexual abuse, which I did when I was four years and a half," said Young, a son of a Christian itinerant preacher who attended a Catholic seminary for a few years.

"We have a heart and people help us build that house; we store addictions in the house, or we create the 'I am nots' --- smart enough, creative enough, worthy of anything --- or my skin is this or that color, and then we don't let anybody in," said the father of six children who has a bachelor's degree in religious studies. "We are terrified we will lose approval, we're afraid we won't be loved."

"But when God comes to live in my 'shack,' then my healing starts."

Young, who described himself as an "accidental author" who was just trying to write something he could leave to his children, told his audience that the two main characters of his story are him. The whole book is the compilation of ten years of conversations with his immediate family.

A regular lecturer at large universities and churches, Young said he agreed to visit Sacred Heart because of the characteristics of its student population: 98 percent of the 267 students are Hispanics, mostly raised by single working-class mothers.