William P. Young's The Shack, a self-published novel released last year, continues to hold a lofty position on USA Today's bestseller list, thanks to the initial "snowballing attention on Christian radio, websites and blogs" that has since led to placement "in mainstream bookstores and Wal-Marts nationwide."

While Young's original goal when he wrote the book in 2005 "was to get it copied and bound at Kinko's in time for Christmas as a gift to my kids," he eventually received an unexpected boost. Under the name Windblown Media, Wayne Jacobsen and Brad Cummings published the book themselves. Then the three men "embarked on a word-of-mouth, church-to-church, blog-to-blog campaign to get copies out," according to the article.

The happy ending? Young said that currently "there are 880,000 copies in print, 750,000 in distribution, and we're talking to New York publishers."

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Having been named by Waterstone's as the bookstore chain's "first curator of its the Writer's Table," Sebastian Faulks chose 40 titles by some of his favorite authors, the Telegraph reported. The table display will be showcased at stores "throughout the month, with Faulks's hand-written thoughts on each chosen title." His wide-ranging picks include books by Ian Fleming, Yasunari Kawabata, Milan Kundera, Philip Larkin, Lorrie Moore and Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

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Chelsea Bookshop, Pasa Robles, Calif., is closing May 10, according to the San Luis Obispo Tribune. Sharon Clark, who has owned the store for two years, cited "the downturn in the economy" and increased rent. In January, she closed Cafe Novella in the back of the store after a chain sandwich shop opened nearby late last year. Holiday season sales were flat, and sales this year have declined, she added.

Diane Carpenter opened Chelsea Bookshop 10 years ago.

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Berlin bookseller Michael Waeser is making dreams--and nightmares--come true for his customers by allowing them to "select from a collection of especially prepared stories . . . and--abracadabra!--their names appear throughout the book in place of the main character," according to Deutsche Welle.

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The next meeting of the Boston area Emerging Leaders will take place Wednesday, May 7, at 8 p.m. at the Cambridge Brewing Company, One Kendall Square, Cambridge, Mass. According to the New England Independent Booksellers Association and host Megan Sullivan, participants will chat informally, "but with an intent to discuss the current economic troubles with regards to our stores." RSVP to Sullivan at msullivan@harvard.com.

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The University of Arkansas Press is now distributing books published by the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, Little Rock, Ark., whose list focuses on regional history, including the Civil War. A major fall title from the Center is A Pryor Commitment, the autobiography of David Pryor, the former Governor who served in the Senate for nearly 20 years.