Brazilian author Paolo Coelho, most famous for writing the wonderful book The Alchemist, is featured in both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal this week. He does have a new book coming out soon, but that’s not what the fuss is about. What they want to know is how Coelho, an established 64-year-old author, has managed to embrace social media as a tool for selling his books. He is even—gasp—posting content online for free!
The Times writes: “Years ago he upended conventional wisdom in the book business by pirating his own work, making it available online in countries where it was not easily found, using the argument that ideas should be disseminated for free.” Coelho is showing the book industry that it does not have to shy away from the online universe. By posting some of his books online, he has discovered that those readers who enjoy his writing will then go out and buy the physical book, disproving the dominant theory that if the content can be accessed for free, the consumer no longer has an incentive to buy the actual product.
In an effort to grow his readership, Coelho has taken to social media where he now has more Facebook followers than Madonna. In the piece that Coelho himself wrote for the Wall Street Journal, he writes: “When I started using social media, without any assistance or planning, two things guided me: the curiosity to find out who reads my work and the challenge of writing on such a different platform.” Writing in both English and Portuguese, Coelho feels that social media is a way to involve his readers in his work; using platforms like Twitter and Facebook, Coelho is able to talk about ideas he is researching or to spark discussions about his writing. He also encourages discussion among readers on his blog on topics largely unrelated to his books.
Apparently his system is working; in 2010 only Justin Bieber managed to beat out Coelho as the most influential tweeting celebrity (as determined by Forbes Magazine). What Coelho has come to realize is that “the art of writing is not limited to the printed book—it is the act of communicating a message.” So, instead of just using Facebook and Twitter to promote his latest novel, he has created what he describes as “reading in 20 seconds,” which corresponds to the length of time he imagines is the maximum amount of time the average person spends on a single webpage. The key, Coelho discovered, is that readers can tell the difference whether he is writing, or a designated representative, and it’s Coelho they want. Therefore, Coelho has truly dedicated himself to maintaining the online community, spending upwards of three hours every day on his social media sites. It takes time, but it seems that the payoff is certainly worth the effort.
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