This week on Twitter: Amazon, Amazon and more Amazon.

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7 Aug 09
Good comparison of ebook offerings from Amazon and Barnes & Noble in the New York Times: http://is.gd/26uGT (via @mdash)

NYT tech columnist David Pogue explains how Barnes & Noble, depsite a valiant effort out of the gate, doesn’t quite measure up to Amazon in the ebook arena. Yet.

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4 Aug 09
Will Amazon hold onto its lead in the ebook market? Forrester thinks it will be a struggle: http://is.gd/22aBI (via @wordywoman)

Over at research firm Forrester, the long range forecast is for Amazon to struggle in maintaining its leadership position in the ebook market.

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4 Aug 09
RT @vooktv RT @SeanDonahoe: Sony officially unveils new Readers, drops price of e-books http://bit.ly/e0vsy

Meanwhile, Sony introduces what may be one of the most significant changes to the e-reader market — a device priced under $200. Could this be a tipping point in getting consumers onboard with e-reading?

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4 Aug 09
Are you a business book author? @800ceoread is now accepting submissions for 2009 Business Book Awards: http://is.gd/22gAT

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4 Aug 09
RT @AMACOMBooks RT @ConsortiumBooks: The ISBN is dead? http://bit.ly/2plPSt

The debate continues on whether the ISBN is a relic that has outlived its usefulness.

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3 Aug 09
Amazon, Microsoft & Google file patents for ad delivery systems in online gaming, ebooks, POD books & more: http://is.gd/20H8C

The patents Amazon has filed reveal a potential ebook that looks more like a web page — a screen sprinkled with ad banners, sponsored links and more. While I’m not altogether against advertising in books, I’m not looking forward to changes like these that will disrupt an immersive reading experience.

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And that’s the world as I tweeted it for the past week. You can also follow me on Twitter (@jennifertribe) for news and discussion as it happens.

Every day on Twitter is an education.

As news breaks in Twitterville, it gets passed around, discussed, dissected, analyzed, blogged and retweeted. There’s so much good information circulating there that I’ve decided to do a weekly round-up of book & publishing news that I’ve tweeted in the past 7 days. I’m hoping this will give you an at-a-glance summary of some of the big stories & issues as they emerge.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think of this round-up format. Useful or no?

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24 Jul 09
NiemanLab: Good morning! The Associated Press comes out and says it: They think a headline and link require a license http://tr.im/tQmL

Wow, I just … wow. Does AP really think this is an appropriate and feasible strategy in 2009? Jeff Jarvis, Shel Israel, Matthew Ingram, and a host of other journalists, authors, and bloggers tweeted out about AP’s announcement.

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22 Jul 09
RT @FernReiss: Forbes, Fortune, BusinessWeek…Which will fold? Analysts predict at least 1 dead in next 6 months: http://is.gd/1HBgL

The beleaguered magazine industry continues to take major hits. This week’s crystal ball reading says one of the three big business publications won’t make it through 2009.

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21 Jul 09
RT @electricbook: Point-by-point comparison of Kindle Store and B&N eBookstore http://bit.ly/ugMtu

On Monday, Barnes & Noble announced the launch of what they’re dubbing the “world’s largest e-book store.” The chain says it currently offers 700,000 e-book titles and that number will rise to more than 1 million in 2010. B&N has also announced a partnership with the as-yet-unreleased PlasticLogic e-reader.

For more on the announcement, try ZD NET, the Washington Post, and the Post again.

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21 Jul 09
See @unmarketing test TwitCam live Twitter video feed http://twitcam.com/1wp What are your thoughts on Twitter video?

Buzz is beginning to build around a few different apps (including TwitCam) that allow people to stream live video through their Twitter feeds. The technology provides some intriguing possibilities for authors to build relationships with readers. Who will be the first author to give a reading over Twitter video?

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21 Jul 09
Bard Press giving away 20,000 free ARCs of its new diet book: http://is.gd/1GyZv That’s a lot of books!

Speaking of buzz, how do you get people talking about your book? How about giving away 20,000 free copies. While this tactic is beyond the reach of most self-published authors, it will be interesting to see how well it works for Bard Press. I learned of the promotion outside of Twitter and so far, I haven’t seen anyone talking about it — neither the campaign nor the book. What are your thoughts on it?

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20 Jul 09
RT @sarahw: Entertainment Weekly launched a book blog called Shelf Life: http://is.gd/1FvU0

TSIA (tweet says it all)

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19 Jul 09
RT @bookoven: le book de la future: http://bit.ly/R4WdO

This intriguing 9-minute video explores how we might write, publish, and read the book of the not-too-distant future. The video is in French but if you don’t speak the language you can still understand the essence of what’s being portrayed. The only thing that perplexed me was why the creators thought the public would still go to a bricks & mortar bookstore, which stocked print books, only to scan a barcode and take away an e-book version.

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19 Jul 09
Foldable Readius ereader bankrupt before launch: http://bit.ly/WOev2 (via @liza)

News of the Readius’ parent company… um … folding before launch slipped quietly by with hardly a ripple. With the e-reader market still in its infancy, we can expect a lot more devices to come and go like this before the dust settles.

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And that’s the world as I tweeted it for the past week. You can also follow me on Twitter (@jennifertribe) for news and discussion as it happens.

If you’re an author, you should be on Twitter. If you don’t know what Twitter is, it’s time to learn.

You’ve probably at least heard of it by now — the service has about 6 million users and is growing every day — but maybe you haven’t taken the plunge. You’re not sure what it’s all about or aren’t convinced of its benefits.

If that’s the case, make it a goal in 2009 to get started. Twitter is a micro-blogging tool. You get 140 characters to answer the question, What are you doing?

People share news about what they’re working on, what they’re learning, conferences they’re attending, people they’re meeting, books they’re reading, food they’re eating. OK, that last one isn’t really all that important, though people do tweet about it. People tweet about anything and everything under the sun.

Why Should You Care?

• Twitter is an amazing way to meet people and participate in conversations on an endless array of topics. You can start to “follow” people in the publishing industry, as well as potential readers, and begin building relationships with them. I’m active in several social networking venues but the people I meet in Twitter are usually people I have not, or could not, meet anywhere else.
• You’ll see an endless stream of as-it-happens news, be led to wonderful websites and blogs, get sneak peeks of products and content in development, and hear what people think about what’s going on in the world.
• You can tweet about new blog posts you’ve written, upcoming book signings, or your latest podcast. You can tweet about the chapter you just wrote, or the free download you just made available.
• You can ask questions and instantly get responses. The Twitterverse is a friendly place and people like to help and share their opinions.

These benefits only scratch the surface of what Twitter can do. You’ll need to try it to get a sense of just how powerful it can be.

Getting Oriented
Here are some basic pointers to get you oriented:

• Everyone has a Twitter handle. The protocol is to refer to people as @TwitterHandle. For example, my Twitter handle is jennifertribe so I am referred to as @jennifertribe.
• You can talk to other Twitter users by starting your tweet with their Twitter handle. If you tweeted @jennifertribe Wow, Twitter is cool! I would see that message in my Twitter stream. It becomes part of the public conversation so others can view it too.
• You can send private messages to other Twitter users. These are referred to as DMs (Direct Messages). To send a DM, you start your tweet with d TwitterHandle.
• Linking to websites you’d like to share can eat up valuable characters, especially when the URLs are long. So use a URL shortener such as TinyUrl.com or is.gd
  
• It’s considered good form to pass along interesting news from other tweeple (people on Twitter) instead of just talking about yourself all the time. RT is the Twitter shortform that means “retweet” or “retweeting”. It indicates that you are re-stating someone else’s tweet. Always give credit to the person you are retweeting. For example, here’s a tweet I made a few days ago:
  RT @booksin140 Hotel turns forgotten books into library for guests. Surely more hotels do this? http://tinyurl.com/67gmyb
  It tells people that @booksin140 made the tweet first and I am passing it along.

@jennifertribe’s Recent Publishing Tweets
Here is a selection of my tweets from the last couple of weeks. In addition to showing you some sample Twitter content, there is lots of good publishing-related information contained in all the links. You can follow me on Twitter to receive information like this as I post it.

Algonquin Hotel in Manhattan (yes, THAT Algonquin) offers guests loan of Kindle device and free e-book with each stay http://is.gd/ckoN about 2 hours ago from web

Facebook group to support Pages bookstore: http://is.gd/c3sa. See letter from city councillor in discussion area. 7:59 PM Dec 16th from web

Why am I just learning about this? Pages bookstore in TO is in trouble. Rent is doubling: http://is.gd/c3qx 7:57 PM Dec 16th from web

RT @booksin140 RT @mdash A look at literary agents in Canada, from the National Post: http://is.gd/bFkx 11:07 AM Dec 16th from web

RT @booksin140 Hotel turns forgotten books into library for guests. Surely more hotels do this? http://tinyurl.com/67gmyb 11:01 AM Dec 16th from web

RT @CanMediaLayoffs Canadian magazine industry is optimistic on weathering tough economic times. http://bit.ly/8188 10:29 AM Dec 16th from web

I’m loving this idea of curated subscription http://is.gd/ba9A 10:02 AM Dec 11th from web

If you haven’t bought your Amazon Kindle yet, you’re out of luck until Feb. (Say what? Not re-stocking for holiday sales?) http://is.gd/aTUL 4:56 PM Dec 9th from web

RT @sarahw Improvement in Canada’s book publishing climate http://is.gd/aQel 9:39 AM Dec 9th from web

RT @booksquare post with great comments about ebook prices. Publishing people, note how real customers think: http://snurl.com/7nwtz 3:44 PM Dec 8th from web

McMaster U in little ol’ Hamilton, ON has a POD Espresso Book Machine — one of only 9 in the world. Who knew? http://is.gd/a5Ur 3:12 PM Dec 3rd from web

9 cool gifts for authors and self-publishers: http://is.gd/a5wi 2:27 PM Dec 3rd from web