The politics of Twittering at work, favorite bookseller blogs and smart author and librarian tweeters were among the topics that caught fire in our first #followreader discussion on Twitter. About 30 publishing people spontaneously joined in between 4:30 and 5:30pm last Friday afternoon.
It was sort of like a pick-up game of publishing chat.
The warm-up questions revealed that some Twitterers are buying more books because of the recommendations they find on the site, and that Little Brother by Cory Doctorow is a popular read.
Then Kat threw out a little red meat.
She asked how everyone’s employers viewed their use of Twitter for work-related projects.
Twenty posts later, here’s what we’d learned about Twittering at work:
- Tweets that are good for business are generally supported by bookstores, but some discretion is advised
- Several booksellers said they tweet, but it’s not exactly official
- Others said their stores not only encourage the use of Twitter but have made it part of their jobs
- A tweeter who works at a Barnes & Noble in Manhattan has tweeted about some of the store’s famous customers (e.g. Gail Stalz’s hair) without any complaints
- A PR person reported that her publisher blocks social networking sites at the office, even to its marketing staff, yet also tells its employees they should have pages on Facebook and use Twitter
For more highlights, read on. And mark your calendar for Friday, May 1, from 4:30 – 5:30pm, when we’ll have our next discussion. To follow it in realtime, go to http://search.twitter.com/ and type in #followreader. To join in, just get on Twitter, follow @katmeyer and @charabbott, and insert #followreader into your responses.
Favorite Bookseller Blogs
- Bookavore or follow @bookavore on Twitter
- Bookdwarf or follow @Bookdwarf
- Bookstore People “We review independent bookstores to encourage people to visit them and shop”
- Boswell Books “Daniel Goldin has great taste in books - witty too!”
- Inkwell Bookstore
- Kash’s Book Corner or follow @kashbk “Arsen is smart and articulate. Love reading his blog.”
- Powell’s Books “Especially like their guest bloggers”
- Reading is Breathing or follow @readandbreathe
- Wordsmiths Books “Great testimony to what a bookstore blog can do” EDITOR’S NOTE: Blog still up as of 4/20/09, but store closed 3/2/09.
- Wordhoarder or follow @richrennicks
- The Written Nerd or follow @booknerdnyc
- Vroman’s Books or follow @vromans
Favorite Author Tweeters
@arjunbasu
@benmezrich
@cecilseaskull
@DanKennedy_NYC
@ElizMcCracken / Elizabeth McCracken
@EmilyMandel
@ErinHere / Erin McHugh
@kpwerker / Kim Werker
@JoeFinder
@JulieKlam
@harlancoben
@neilhimself / Neil Gaiman
@robinbenway
@raquelita / Rachel Kramer Bussel
@realjohngreen / John Green
@smallplaces / N.L. Belardes / “the first original Twitter novel”
@SusanOrlean
@tobiasbuckell
@YasmineGalenorn
Hot Librarians on Twitter
New York Public Library or follow @nypl
@SonoranDragon
@superwendy
@younglibrarian
Thanks to the participants in last Friday’s discussion
@aaronhierholzer
@AnnKingman
@bencrowder
@bookavore
@BookingIt
@Booklorn
@bookmans
@BookstoreK
@ColleenLindsay
@deepredbells
@emilyrmurtagh
@espressojunky
@ErinHere
@EternalCow
@ftoolan
@jchristie
@jeanenne
@kalenski
@kpwerker
@mesjak
@MichaelWaisPub
@mikecane
@Minerva8843
@permanentpaper
@RheaB
@russmarshalek
@sonorandragon
@vromans
