140 Characters

A style guide for the short form

Hi. I’m the ninth user of Twitter, because I’m responsible for pitching the idea back in 2007. I was at Odeo when a bunch of us built and tested version one as a side project, or hackathon.

My book 140 Characters tells that story, and goes on to cover all the basics of great short-form writing. This includes the importance of communicating with simplicity, honesty, and humor.

For marketers and business owners, social networks are 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.

• This book covers basic grammar rules for short-form writing.
• It is the equivalent of Strunk and White’s Elements of Style for today’s social media-driven marketing messages.
• With examples, this book helps you develop your own unique short-form writing style.

140 Characters: A Style Guide for the Short Form

Watch me speak to government officials in Abu Dhabi on the lessons of 140 Characters:

Learn lessons from the book and from startup life from my Doctor of Letters speech:

Lead

Use the tools of journalism to simplify your message, and avoid common mistakes that could break your reputation.

Value

Find your creative voice and reach out to new audiences with proper repetition, engagement in conversations, and the forms of poetry and hypertext.

Master

Learn to tame the addictive power of each network, cultivate a distinctly personal story, and grow your following and readership organically.

Evolve

Filter the open Web through a powerful series of iterations on the theme of imitating other masters and their positive forces of change.

Accelerate

Prepare for the effect of increased writing velocity, and discover ways to exceed the creative constraints and embrace ambiguity in social media.

With a forward by Jack Dorsey, co-founder and CEO of Twitter, 140 Characters is the authoritative lesson plan needed to become a master of the short form.

Up your social media game.

• Find 140 Characters on Amazon.
• Visit 140 Characters at Facebook.
• Follow the book on Twitter.
• Connect with me on LinkedIn.