Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Paulo Coelho tells readers: buy my book after you've read it – if you liked it

The Brazilian author is offering two of his works for free and asks readers to pay only if they enjoy them. ‘This idea does not harm the business,’ he says

Paulo Coelho
‘Reverse bookselling’... Paulo Coelho. Photograph: Frank Baron/Frank Baron
In a time of frantic change in the publishing world, it seems as though new ways of reading, buying and selling books are emerging every week. The latest to play with the paradigm is the canny Paulo Coelho, who this week made two of his books available online. In what he calls a “reverse method of bookselling”, the bestselling Brazilian author suggests that readers pay up only if they enjoy what they’ve read.

Coelho is offering readers the English version of his 1997 non-fiction book The Manual of the Warrior of Light and the Portuguese version of his novel Brida. The former, which compiles teachings, philosophical thoughts and stories, can be found on his profile on the digital publishing house Inkitt, as well as on his own blog, where it can be downloaded as an ebook. He also promises to do the same for more editions of his books in Portuguese and in Spanish.

More precisely, he is offering four fifths of the work in English (“I don’t have the full version. There are a few pages missing, which does not spoil the readership”, he clarifies on his blog). In a note that his readers will find after they’ve finished the early chapters of the book, the author of The Alchemist writes: “Dear Reader, if you like the text, please buy it – so we can tell the publishing industry that this idea does not harm the business.”
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