Paulo Coelho CNN interview 26.10.09 22:30

With his 1988 novel The Alchemist among the most-widely read novels of all time, Paulo Coelho is a publishers dream except for the fact he doesn't mind giving away his books for free.

Coelho, whose work has been translated into 67 languages, earning him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records, has emerged as an unlikely promoter of pirated Internet versions of his own works.

There again, to anyone who has read The Alchemist an allegorical tale of one boys quest to follow his dreams and fulfill his destiny this mission to give away his writing should make complete sense.

Despite being a successful songwriter, Brazil-born Coelho says he always wanted to be a writer eventually penning The Alchemist in 1988. The novel initially had a small print run, but snowballed into a global bestseller to rival the likes of Dan Browns Da Vinci Code.

Now a household name and a United Nations messenger for peace Coelho has emerged as an outspoken supporter of the Internet, seeing it as a useful tool for distributing his work to an even wider readership.

I always thought that when, at the beginning of your career, you strive to be read, you cant change your mind later and become greedy about it, he said after revealing that he had been directing his readers to Web sites where they can download his books without paying.

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• Coelho
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[katiamoraes]

obrigada for posting it : )

[xxxSadie1xxx]

thanks for uploading the video! great!

[ZinZarM]

I missed the interview since it was on 3am of my time... But thanks to you I can watch it here.