Paulo Coelho gives 'em for free

ricdiogo · 01-25-2008, 05:39 AM

The Brazilian best sellers' author Paulo Coelho decided to give away all is books in electronic form in the Internet.

He created the blog "Pirate Coelho where he lists links to all is books.

(Read the news in the Brazilian Ministry of Culture (in Portuguese).)

Coelho has already sold about 90.000.000 paper books and he now claims that giving away ebooks raises the number of p-copies sold.

Is philosophy is "we give them for free in E, people read some pages in their pc, they like what they read, they go and buy a p-copy since ebook reading devices are not quite popular yet".

If other major authors follow his example, I can see a future when you can get all ebooks for free and writers only publish on paper deluxe limited editions of their books, selling them at high prices for special collectors (like if the paper copies where paintings sold in auctions).

Hadrien · 01-25-2008, 05:45 AM

Quote:

Un-official website for fans!

Not really official ?

ricdiogo · 01-25-2008, 05:50 AM

He wants to simulate a typical act of piracy. He describes himself of a pirate of himself, so he keeps it looking that way. He confirmed it at the Digital, Life, Design meeting in Germany.

kacir · 01-26-2008, 04:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hadrien

Not really official ?

It had to be unofficial.
His publisher must have had a fit when he discovered the site.

It might seem strange, but even if he really DID write the books, he ... aehm ... "pirated" them by giving them away.
How can you pirate *YOUR OWN* book? The very book you own the copyright on?

Simple and easy.

Step 1.
Write a book.

Step 2.
Sign a deal with publisher for publishing your books and get the money.

Step 3.
Give away the book you received the money for from your publisher.

Step 4.
Your publisher is ... displeased

In this particular case:
Step 5.
Your "piracy" has generated a lot of interest in you, so people that wouldn't notice you otherwise suddenly find out they like your books. So the sales of your [paper] books [sold by your publisher] steeply rise.

Step 6.
Everyone is happy
The author
The pirate
The publisher
and, last but not least The readers.

See?
He even got nice free advertisement here on Mobileread and even on Slashdot.

Liviu_5 · 01-26-2008, 10:57 AM

When someone sells close to 100 million copies of his books, he can do whatever he pleases.

However if an author with mediocre sales would try this without explicit permission from the publisher (and most of the time that's really hard to obtain as the testimony of various authors who tried shows), well unless he can show explicit fast results, he will be quickly a persona non-grata in the mainstream publishing world...

01-25-2008, 05:39 AM	#1
ricdiogo Gutenberger Posts: 142 Karma: 700 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Lisbon, Portugal Device: Cybook Gen 3	Paulo Coelho gives 'em for free The Brazilian best sellers' author Paulo Coelho decided to give away all is books in electronic form in the Internet. He created the blog "Pirate Coelho where he lists links to all is books. (Read the news in the Brazilian Ministry of Culture (in Portuguese).) Coelho has already sold about 90.000.000 paper books and he now claims that giving away ebooks raises the number of p-copies sold. Is philosophy is "we give them for free in E, people read some pages in their pc, they like what they read, they go and buy a p-copy since ebook reading devices are not quite popular yet". If other major authors follow his example, I can see a future when you can get all ebooks for free and writers only publish on paper deluxe limited editions of their books, selling them at high prices for special collectors (like if the paper copies where paintings sold in auctions). Last edited by ricdiogo; 01-25-2008 at 06:04 AM.

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01-25-2008, 05:50 AM	#3
ricdiogo Gutenberger Posts: 142 Karma: 700 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Lisbon, Portugal Device: Cybook Gen 3	He wants to simulate a typical act of piracy. He describes himself of a pirate of himself, so he keeps it looking that way. He confirmed it at the Digital, Life, Design meeting in Germany.

01-26-2008, 10:57 AM	#5
Liviu_5 Books and more books Posts: 917 Karma: 69499 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: White Plains, NY, USA Device: Nook Color, Itouch, Nokia770, Sony 650, Sony 700(dead), Ebk(given)	When someone sells close to 100 million copies of his books, he can do whatever he pleases. However if an author with mediocre sales would try this without explicit permission from the publisher (and most of the time that's really hard to obtain as the testimony of various authors who tried shows), well unless he can show explicit fast results, he will be quickly a persona non-grata in the mainstream publishing world...

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