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Twittering the first lines of books so you don't have to!
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What people are saying about TwitterLit
The reaction to TwitterLit since its release has been very positive. Here's what some people in the blogosphere are saying. (For more reactions to TwitterLit see Technorati: blog reactions).
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." |
New York Magazine:
| "That's the fun of TwitterLit, an extremely simple and extremely addictive site we've been goofing off with for the past half hour. Twice a day creator Debra Hamel posts the first line of a book with no title or author information. Mull it over, try and guess the line's provenance, and then — once you've figured it out or, more likely, once you give up in frustration — click on the accompanying link and get taken to the book's Amazon page. Hamel mixes well-known books ('A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head,' from A Confederacy of Dunces) with less popular gems ('The human head is of the same approximate size and weight as a roaster chicken,' from Mary Roach's nonfiction book Stiff), but all the first lines are eye-catching and can be delivered to your cell phone, via RSS feed, on a desktop widget, or any other of the myriad of ways Twitter dispenses information." |
Guardian Unlimited: Arts Blog:
| "It's an intriguingly random way to discover new reads - Alan Alda's biography suddenly becomes a much more appealing prospect when you know it starts with, 'My mother didn't try to stab my father until I was six, but she must have shown signs of oddness before that.'" |
The 3Rs--Reading, Ranting & Recipes:
| "MOOCHING ABOUT IN THE BLOGOSPHERE EARLY THIS MORNING I stumbled across this wonderful newish website called TwitterLit. It is just what every voracious reader will enjoy, and a terrible time waster, but on the other hand, as a result of reading the first lines I have added six books to my 'Must Read' list. Try it out, you'll love it too...." |
Scott Pack, Me and My Big Mouth:
| "I have found a good half a dozen books to add to my wish list, it could almost be the perfect way to select what to read next." |
Michael Allen, Grumpy Old Bookman:
| "Twitterlit is gonna be a big smash hit, in my opinion. I've mentioned it before, I know, but it continues to fascinate. ...Anyway, I have a feeling that the lovely Debra has a winner here." |
Shawn Collins, Affiliate Tip Blog:
| "It’s an interesting and innovative combination of Web 2.0 and affiliate marketing...." |
Alex Watson, The Wired Jester:
| "Lovely idea, since first lines are such a compelling topic to think about." |
Books Worth Reading:
| "I’ve also been enjoying this: Twitterlit. ...It is like a game, to see how far off your guess is from the actual book. Which is how I felt when I clicked on Alan Alda’s memoir the other day." |
Balaji Sowmyanarayanan, Joy of Innovation:
| "I was simply amazed by the ingenuity and the simplicity of the service and the underlying sustainability of the effort." |
Erin's Library:
| "But a more intriguing friend is TwitterLit, with roughly twice/day posts of first sentences of books. I love this idea. Would that we were all this clever..." |
EverythingTwitter:
| "This site is actually well baked, meaning they know what they wanted to do and attacked it from all possible angles. Archives are sortable, you can search and even suggest books. A winner" |
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Subscribe
There are three versions of TwitterLit--US, UK, and CA--which you can subscribe to by a variety of means:
FriendFeed Read TwitterLit and KidderLit first lines and posts from TwitterLit News all in one handy place. Visit the TwitterLit & KidderLit room at FriendFeed or subscribe to the combined RSS feed. Bookmarklet! Google Gadgets Add TwitterLit to your personalized Google homepage:
(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. TwitterLit in Translation Subscribe to Babel Fish translations of TwitterLit by RSS. |
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