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140 Characters: A Style Guide for the Short Form (Paperback)

~ Dom Sagolla (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
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140 Characters: A Style Guide for the Short Form + Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time + The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success
Total List Price: $72.85
Price For All Three: $48.45

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  • This item: 140 Characters: A Style Guide for the Short Form by Dom Sagolla

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Make the most of your messages on Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites

The advent of Twitter and other social networking sites, as well as the popularity of text messaging, have made short-form communication an everyday reality. But expressing yourself clearly in short bursts-particularly in the 140-character limit of Twitter-takes special writing skill.

In 140 Characters, Twitter co-creator Dom Sagolla covers all the basics of great short-form writing, including the importance of communicating with simplicity, honesty, and humor. For marketers and business owners, social media is an increasingly important avenue for promoting a business-this is the first writing guide specifically dedicated to communicating with the succinctness and clarity that the Internet age demands.

  • Covers basic grammar rules for short-form writing
  • The equivalent of Strunk and White's Elements of Style for today's social media-driven marketing messages
  • Helps you develop your own unique short-form writing style

140 Characters is a much-needed guide to the kind of communication that can make or break a reputation online.

From the Back Cover

How to write short and sweet for the Information Age

The advent of Twitter and other social networking sites, along with the ubiquity of text messaging, have made short-form communication and constant contact an everyday reality. Expressing yourself clearly in short bursts—particularly within Twitter's 140 character limit—takes special writing skill.

For marketers and business owners, social media and text messaging have become an increasingly important avenue for promoting a business, but you have to be able to get your message out in just a few words. 140 Characters is the first writing guide specifically dedicated to communicating with customers, colleagues, and contacts with the succinctness and clarity that the times demand.

Twitter User #9 Dom Sagolla teaches the lessons of great short-form writing, including the importance of communicating with simplicity, openness, and humor. What Strunk and White's Elements of Style did for traditional media, 140 Characters does for the social media revolution happening today. Inside, you'll learn all the basics of:

  • Developing your own honest and unique writing style

  • Evolving rules of grammar for the short form

  • Principles of brevity, including tech-speak/leetspeak

  • Avoiding the too-much-information syndrome

  • Mastering the art of the text message

  • Winning techniques for writing poetry, news, fiction, and much more

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Paperback: 208 pages
  • Publisher: Wiley (October 12, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0470556137
  • ISBN-13: 978-0470556139
  • Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #140,902 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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More About the Author

Dom Sagolla
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140 Characters: A Style Guide for the Short Form
89% buy the item featured on this page:
140 Characters: A Style Guide for the Short Form 4.3 out of 5 stars (13)
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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Make Social Media Work for You with Style, November 3, 2009
Different mediums require different mindsets. This book will show you the mindset for the short form of writing on the web.

A great guide book for writing on social networking sites. The author reviews different styles of writing which are needed for social networking websites. This book shows you what works well and what doesn't work well.

Comparisons to Ernest Hemingway and George Orwell adds some nice historical context and examines how these authors organized their thoughts and how to write clearly.

The book helps the writer focus on the substance and relevance of their writing and add impact to their writing. The book discusses the theory and shows the application of how to improve messages. There are some before and after examples which illustrate his points and show how the techniques work.

The book talks about marketing, strategies, audience analysis and the "cultural revolution" taking place because of services like Twitter.

Citizen journalism and first hand news accounts of events have helped accelerate the use of Twitter and short form communication. Many times the best news accounts are from ordinary citizens who get the story first or who provide continuous coverage of a major event 24 hours a day.

There are some great resources listed in the book to get the most out of Twitter and other social networking sites.

The book is broken down into five major parts.

Part 1 - Lead,

Describe: A brief digression to discuss journalism is warranted; Simplify: Say more with less; Avoid: Don't become a fable about too much information

Part 2 - Value,

Voice:Say it out loud; Reach: Understand your audience; Repeat: It worked for Shakespeare; Mention: Stamp your own currency; Dial: Search for silence, volume and frequency; Link: Deduce the nature of short messages; Words: Explore the possibilities in phraseology, poetry and invention

Part 3 - Master

Tame: Apply multiple technologies toward the same end; Cultivate: Meet 140 characters each with a unique story; Branch: Steady organic growth is most manageable;

Part 4 - Evolve

Filter: Teach the machine to think ahead; Open: Give and you shall receive; Imitate: There is nothing original except in arrangement; Iterate: Practice a sequence of tiny adjustments;

Part 5 - Accelerate

Increase: Do more; Fragment: Do it smaller;


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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Lesson in Style - Shortened, October 2, 2009
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
I've read the book, 140 Characters, twice now and have become a better user of social media because of it. In my generation, we grew up with Myspace and blogging and the idea of social networking is just as common as a cell phone. all of my peers use Twitter but there was something missing.

I was a user but I knew there was more to this and more that could be learned to effectively broadcast my message of "what I'm doing" to nearly 4 thousand followers. Dom Sagolla helped make that happen.

Sure I'm friends with Dom and may have gotten a copy of the text early but that doesn't mean I didn't learn something and now want to shout if from the rooftops.

140 Characters is for a person who is new to Twitter or who just celebrated their 3rd year of using the service. Of course, users of Facebook and Myspace aren't excluded. this book helps readers cultivate their story, engage their audience and capitalize on Twitter's impossible message limitations.

I say "impossible" because that's how I felt when joining Twitter. "140 characters? How am I going to post what I'm doing in such a small space?"

Well, over time, I adapted my own style and continue to improve on that. Dom's book merely took my hand and opened a few more doorways to explore. There are styles & processes that I never would have used and the only way to go beyond "using Twitter" and "mastering Twitter" is to read 140 Characters, stopping often to try what you just read.

The Kindle version is cheaper, portable and works on iPhone or Kindle. It's a great way to get the book NOW. However, the layout and design of the print version is excellent as well. Get both! :P
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Book. Awesome. Buy., November 19, 2009
By David Friedel (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
Clearly explains some simple concepts not only for Twitter, but writing in general. Hemingway's writing style. I get it now. Buy this book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Makes you think, not so much act...
This book is not so much about tips and tricks, but getting one to think differently (or, pardon the cliche, outside the box) and to be thoughtful relative to "the short form" of... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mark Wills

5.0 out of 5 stars Dive in to this before getting feet wet on Twitter
Written by one of the creators of Twitter, this book speaks to the brilliance of Twitter and developing the craftsmanship to maximize both it and one's communication skills... Read more
Published 1 month ago by J. Greenough

2.0 out of 5 stars It's not really a style guide and the writing is not polished
This book is interesting for the fact that is was written by a venerable user of Twitter; One of Twitter's first employees in fact, @dom (Dom Sagolla). Read more
Published 2 months ago by Stephen Pepple

5.0 out of 5 stars Revolution.Here.Now
This book nails it:Twitter is not about captialism(who owns the most) but socialism(who gives the most). Read more
Published 2 months ago by Michael P. Maslanka

5.0 out of 5 stars 140 Characters: A Style Guide for the Short Form
Thought provoking, educational, truly a great read! If you are new to Twitter or Social Media in general, this book is a must read. Read more
Published 4 months ago by John J. Knight

1.0 out of 5 stars Good premise, but writing is fragmented
My full review will be found at [...], but I wanted to write a quick one here as well. I think this book will be a huge hit with Twitter lovers but I found the book to be... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Jeremy Schultz

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential guide for the new medium - the Short Form
This book is not really about what Twitter is or how Twitter impacts our lives. At least not directly. This book is about writing in the Short Form. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Roger Yang

5.0 out of 5 stars A review in less than 140 characters
This book covers twitter from it's inception to how to use twitter today. Get the inside perspective from @dom. Def worth the read. #review
Published 5 months ago by Rabble

4.0 out of 5 stars A compelling introduction to the new literary Short Form
I've been reading books and blog articles on Twitter style, strategy and technique for quite a while and initially wondered what Dom could say that hasn't already been said... Read more
Published 5 months ago by M. Tucker Bradford

5.0 out of 5 stars A Lesson in Style - Shortened
I've read the book, 140 Characters, twice now and have become a better user of social media because of it. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Adam Jackson

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