TwitterLit

What is TwitterLit?

It's a site that serves up literary teasers twice daily. At 9:00 AM and 9:00PM Eastern Time I post the first line of a book, without the author's name or book title, but with a link to Amazon so readers can see what book the line is from. Why? Because it's fun! The posts are also available for subscription via RSS, Twitter, Identi.ca, and email. Literary teasers in your inbox or RSS reader, on your Google home page, on the web, in your Twitter reader, or by mobile phone. Curiously addictive. (Full disclosure)

New York Magazine calls TwitterLit "an extremely simple and extremely addictive site...."

Browse TwitterLit's Thematic Entries 1000th TwitterLit post! (1) 43rd Pillsbury Bake-Off Finals (3) 7-7-07 (2) 8-8-08 (2) According to Hoyle Day (1) Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, RIP (1) Alfred Hitchcock's birthday (1) American Idol 8: Kris Allen! (1) Anniversary of the internet (1) April Fool's Day (2) Autumnal equinox (1) B.C. Day (1) BAFAB (Buy a Friend a Book) Week (2) Banned Books Week (7) Be Bald and Be Free Day (1) Birth of Mary Hudson Harrelson (1) Bloomsday (1) Buffy the Vampire Slayer (8) Christmas (1) Christmas Eve (1) Cliché Day (1) David Carradine, RIP (1) David's 50th Birthday (1) Daylight Saving Time (2) DES: 60th Birthday (2) Download Day (2) Easter (1) Election Day (2) Father's Day (2) Frankenstein Friday (1) Halloween (4) Hamden, CT incorporated, May 11, 1786 (1) Ides of March (3) JFK's Ich bin ein Berliner speech delivered (1) John de Lancie's birthday (1) July 4th (5) Kennedy Assassination (2) Lincoln Assassination (1) Lunar eclipse (1) Martha Stewart's birthday (1) Melissa's Birthday (2) Mischief Night (2) Mother's Day (1) National Grouch Day (1) National Ice Cream Day (1) National Librarian Day (1) National One Hit Wonder Day (2) National Punctuation Day (1) National Secretary's Day (1) New Year's Day (2) New Year's Eve (2) Oprah Twitters! (2) Perseid meteor showers (3) Phil Rizzuto, RIP (2) Pi Day (1) Plan Your Epitaph Day (1) Rebecca's Birthday (1) Release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (3) Shakespeare's birth and death (1) St. Patrick's Day (4) Summer Solstice (1) Talk Like a Pirate Day (4) Tax Day (1) Thanksgiving (4) TwitterLit's 1st Anniversary (2) Valentine's Day (3) Vernal equinox (2) Veterans Day (1) What's the connection? (5/19/08-5/23/08) (10) Winter solstice (1) World Toilet Day (2) World War I begins (2) Browse by Month July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007

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The Guardian Arts Blog calls TwitterLit "an intriguingly random way to discover new reads...."

07-05-09 AM -- Amazon:   US   UK   CA | Post to Twitter

"The building owned its own umbrellas."

07-04-09 PM -- Amazon:   US   UK   CA | Post to Twitter

"The human body is always falling apart."

07-04-09 AM -- Amazon:   US   UK   CA | Post to Twitter
Theme Entry: July 4th

"It was just before 4:00 a.m. on a weekday."

07-03-09 PM -- Amazon:   US   UK   CA | Post to Twitter

"I found myself fascinated by the interesting geometric designs of the twisted iron rebar in front of me."

07-03-09 AM -- Amazon:   US   UK   CA | Post to Twitter

"I've made grown men cry."

07-02-09 PM -- Amazon:   US   UK   CA | Post to Twitter

"When Runer Coghill fell through the ceiling, she interrupted what we can only call a domestic quarrel."

07-02-09 AM -- Amazon:   US   UK   CA | Post to Twitter

"People usually become translators in one of two way."

07-01-09 PM -- Amazon:   US   UK   CA | Post to Twitter

"Once upon a time there were two cities within a city."

07-01-09 AM -- Amazon:   US   UK   CA | Post to Twitter

"One of the first signs of weakening intelligence in a people--as in an individual--is a marked decrease in efficiency."

06-30-09 PM -- Amazon:   US   UK   CA | Post to Twitter

"Follow the yellow brick road to the land of Carson."

06-30-09 AM -- Amazon:   US   UK   CA | Post to Twitter

"I distinctly recall the first time I ever saw TV."

06-29-09 PM -- Amazon:   US   UK   CA | Post to Twitter

"Biologically speaking, I came late to the party."

06-29-09 AM -- Amazon:   US   UK   CA | Post to Twitter

"I will never forget the very first time I met a young man named Johnny Carson."

06-28-09 PM -- Amazon:   US   UK   CA | Post to Twitter

"Every mind is a clutter of memories, images, inventions and age-old repetitions."

06-28-09 AM -- Amazon:   US   UK   CA | Post to Twitter

"I'm eating a pot pie and CNN's on the tube."

Yahoo! Picks: "For either logophiles or aspiring writers, Twitterlit's twice daily delivery of first sentences may be the most condensed form of education and enlightenment you can get."

Full Disclosure: TwitterLit is an Amazon affiliate. The links that appear in the posts/tweets point to Amazon.com, and they contain TwitterLit's affiliate ID. Sales resulting from clicks on those links will profit TwitterLit. TwitterLit is not affiliated with Twitter.com.

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1598 first lines posted and counting!

Got an iPhone or iPod Touch? Add an iPhone-friendly version of TwitterLit to your home screen: twitterlit.com/iphone

Add TwitterLit to : 1. In your Gmail account, click the green Gmail Labs bottle at the top right of the screen. Scroll down to "Add any gadget by URL," click enable, and save changes. 2. Now go into your settings--which is right next to the green Gmail Labs bottle. Click the "Gadgets" link. And in the input box under "Add a gadget by its URL" add this address: http://dhamel.typepad.com/twitterlit/gadget-gmail.xml

Bookmarklet! TwitterLit Drag the bookmarklet link above to your toolbar for first lines delivered right in your browser. (Click for more info.)

Google Gadgets Add TwitterLit to your personalized Google homepage:     US:      UK:     CA: (The UK and CA versions of TwitterLit feature the same first lines but link to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.ca respectively.)

TwitterLit Widgets Click here for directions on adding a customizable TwitterLit widget to your site.

Suggest a First Line! Have a great first line you'd like to see on TwitterLit? Click here to suggest it.