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Web posted on: Wednesday, December 29, 1999 2:54:45 PM

(CNN) -- Internationally acclaimed Brazilian author Paulo Coelho says it is easier to explain defeat than success, but attributes the worldwide popularity of his books to his use of symbolic language to relate ideas.

"I do understand my success, and I try to make a profit of what I see as the most fascinating thing in life: human contact," he says. "I never feel (I'm treated as) a foreigner, and this is something really good. Moreover, and that gives me hope: there are many people out there trying to exceed their own limitations and build something more meaningful."

Coelho -- who has sold more than 23 million books -- says he was surprised by the impact of his book "The Alchemist," one of the top-ten international best sellers of 1998. The modern-day fable, a best seller in more than 30 countries, tells the story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. The lessons he learns along the way teach the wisdom of listening to the heart and following dreams.

"The Alchemist" was an immediate best seller in Brazil when it was published in 1988, but wasn't immediately embraced outside Latin America. During the last decade Coelho has traveled heavily to promote the book, and demanded that his works be priced affordably and distributed by native publishers in each country in which it was marketed. It has been translated into 42 languages. Described as a modern Aesop, Coelho was a playwright, theater director, songwriter and journalist before finding his voice as an author.

Coelho says he wrote "The Alchemist" in two weeks. "In general, all my books are written over a period of two to four weeks. But the conception of a book takes at least two years, and the revision approximately another four months."

"When I write a book, I write it for myself, trying to answer some of the questions I have asked myself throughout my life; I do know that the closer I feel to my soul, the closer I will be to what Jung called the "world soul," Coelho says.

Coelho recently answered readers questions about God, writing, and the future of books on CNN International's Q&A.