What you’re holding in your hands is a set of guidelines. A collection of protocols which describe an approach to another protocol, something we call Twitter.

The amazing thing about this particular protocol is that it’s being defined daily. By you. Twitter was inspired by the concepts of immediacy, transparency, and approachability, and created by the guiding principles of simplicity, constraint, and craftsmanship. We started small. We built something out of love and a desire to see it flourish throughout the world. We defined a mere 1 percent of what Twitter is today. The remaining 99 percent has been, and will continue to be, created by the millions of people who make this medium their own, tweet by tweet.

I leave you now in the capable hands of a documentarian, storyteller, and practitioner of a new protocol of communication. Listen, learn, and most importantly, define it for yourself.

-Jack Dorsey Creator, Co-founder, and Chairman of Twitter, Inc.
San Francisco

Foreword to the book 140 Characters: A style guide for the short form (2009, Wiley). Available wherever books are sold, and on iTunes App Store.

Yahoo! was generous enough to donate their venue for last Summer’s iPhone Developer Camp. During the event, I was finishing the last chapters of 140 Characters.

To follow up on that experience, Yahoo! visited my office for a Developer Spotlight on the history of iPhoneDevCamp, Twitter, my book, and the iPhone App.

Apple has featured 140 Characters as the number two New and Noteworthy App in iTunes! Additionally, the App is shown as the first icon in the App Store on your desktop.

Tweet your first impressions by replying to @bookapp and have your writing appear in the App all week. As new readers emerge, we make a special effort to follow, retweet, and list them on Twitter.

In addition, you may comment from within the App by tapping at the bottom of each Chapter. Here’s a great quote from one of our readers, @SteveElder:

Thinking that the simple/small act of choosing this as my first read of 2010 was a great choice, and will shape the remainder my year.

Thanks, Apple! Stay tuned for an update to the Book text.

I wrote the Book for @Meredith.

Thanks to Case, Varese, Britt, and Jack for encouraging me.

Thanks to my son Leo for inspiring me.

Thanks to Adam for prompting me.

Thanks to Jenna for writing about this.

Thanks to Erin for reading on a weekend.

Thanks to Shannon, Deborah, and Matt for picking me up.

Thanks to my reviewers and contributors, especially Mom, Dad, Mark, Ben, Erik, Andrew, and Alex for comments.

I wrote the App along with the help of many people from iPhoneDevCamp pictured above, including @ravenme, @grigs,@jtkeith, @lyzadanger, @aileen_jeffries, @schwa, @bmf, @mantia, @tristan, @emory, @twittelator, and @atebits.

@Jack, @case @ceedub and @rr contributed to the App design.

@24klogos did the artwork including the hummingbird, feather for the Book cover and baby feather for the App icon.

There have been many other contributors to the text and the testing community. Thank you to everyone, and please keep the comments and suggestions coming.

I met Tracy Sheridan at Lunch For Good, where she bought a copy of 140 Characters using Square. It was still in private Alpha then, so when it launched I met her again. This time at Sightglass Coffee & Roastery.

Here’s a clip of us using Square to sell Tracy her second copy of 140 Characters:

We also talked about the beginnings of Twitter, the genesis of the book 140 Characters, and the book iPhone App. Also included are some thoughts on being a Square merchant.

Thanks Tracy for capturing this.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Co-creator of Twitter Dom Sagolla releases 140 Characters for iPhone and iPod touch, a new form of hypertext book continuously updated with fresh content.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA: 140 Characters, A Style Guide for the Short Form has been released worldwide via the iTunes App Store. Distinctly different from the Kindle edition, the text has been updated and expanded with an additional chapter and exclusive multimedia features.

• Regular updates to the Hypertext Book, with In-App Browser.
• Read-only Twitter client with hooks into the mobile version of Twitter.com.
• Comments and Copy/Paste throughout.

Read the work as it was originally intended, as a companion to the text edition published by John Wiley & Sons.

See a brief demonstration of the App.

140 Characters demo from Dom Sagolla on Vimeo.

Press Resources for the App

press@140characters.com
415-287-7775
http://140characters.com

In 140 Characters or less, the App:

The Full Mention
@Dom’s @BookApp 140 Characters for iPhone & iPod touch, a hypertext book continuously updated with fresh content. http://j.mp/140-t

The Big Mention
@Dom’s @BookApp 140 Characters for iPhone & iPod touch. http://j.mp/140-t

The Short Mention
@BookApp 140 Characters for iPhone. http://j.mp/140-t

The Tiny Mention
@Dom’s @BookApp http://j.mp/140-t

The Nano Mention
@BookApp http://j.mp/140-t

The Landing Page
http://dom.net/1

Facts.

Shipped: November 18, 2009.
Publisher: DollarApp
Rating: 9+

The App icon code.

<a href=”http://j.mp/140-web” title=”140 Characters App Icon by Sagolla, on Flickr”><img src=”http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2638/3988595268_ea3b582f88_t.jpg” width=”100″ height=”100″ alt=”140 Characters App Icon” /></a>

Press Resources for the Book

Same as for the App, except:

The Full Mention
@thebook by @Dom Sagolla. 140 Characters: A Style Guide for the Short Form. http://j.mp/140-chars

The Big Mention
@thebook by @Dom Sagolla. 140 Characters http://j.mp/140-chars

The Short Mention
@thebook 140 Characters by @Dom http://j.mp/140-chars

The Tiny Mention
@thebook by @Dom http://j.mp/140-chars

The Nano Mention
@thebook http://j.mp/140-chars

The Amazon
http://j.mp/140-chars

The Borders
http://j.mp/140-chbo

The B&N
http://j.mp/140-chbn

The List
http://j.mp/140-list

Facts.

Ship Date: October 12, 2009.
Publisher: Wiley
ISBN: 0470556137

The book jacket code.

<a href=”http://j.mp/140-chars” title=”140 Characters in 3D by Sagolla, on Flickr”><img src=”http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2440/4009911664_f49ae378a1_m.jpg” width=”175″ height=”240″ alt=”140 Characters in 3D” /></a>

Thanks for blogging, linking, tweeting, emailing, and generally promoting this work.

The Hypertext Edition of “140 Characters” is a new book format that is constantly updated with fresh content.

Twitter Co-creator Dom Sagolla covers all the basics of great short- form writing, including the importance of communicating with simplicity, honesty, and humor.

This is the first writing guide specifically dedicated to communicating with the succinctness and clarity that the Internet age requires.

“A code of honor for the new way of doing business.”
-@24kLogos

• The equivalent of Strunk and White’s Elements of Style for today’s social media & marketing messages
• Inspiring quotations from comedy to poetry from some of the best writers
• The authoritative approach to Twitter, written by its creators to include other social networks like pure text messaging

“The book is awesome, but the app is sexy.”
-@atebits

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

“This is game-changing.”
-@schwa

Features:
1. Built-in Web browser, with Bookmark

2. Regular updates to the text
3. Integrated Twitter streams of all 140 “characters” to follow

4. Additional Video and Photo content

The text is also supports Copy/Paste throughout.

Even if you have the Kindle edition, this condensed and updated text will provide the freshest reading experience. Tune in to the @bookapp Twitter account for the latest developments.

Keywords: Twitter, Facebook, social, networking, writing, book, links, lead, value, master, evolve, accelerate.

Now Available in the iTunes App Store.

As co-founder of iPhone Developer’s Camp, I maintain contact with developer communities all over the world. One very passionate group has formed in the Netherlands, and has invited me to help organize and speak during two great events. The first is a daylong hackathon:

iPhoneDevCamp Amsterdam

November 25th, 2009

11am-4pm (with lunch break)

Westergasfabriek

Attendance Max: 200 people

Sponsored by One More Thing and PayPal

The second is a two-day conference:

iCE Amsterdam

November 26-27, 2009

Westergasfabriek
Session entitled “The Dollar App” on the 26th

Session entitled “Market Your App Through Social Media” on the 27th

We’ll have books on site for purchase and I’ll be signing them throughout the week. In addition, we are reaching out to the larger iPhoneDevCamp Netherlands community—especially students—with a special offer:

All students or iPhoneDevCamp.nl alumni who join us at iPhoneDevCamp Amsterdam on the 25th may attend iCE Amsterdam for 75.00€, incl. VAT (a discount of 470.00€). In addition, all qualifying registrants will receive a free copy of 140 Characters: A Style Guide for the Short Form with their purchase. Simply comment here or email the organizers to identify yourself.

I’m very excited to visit Amsterdam for the first time with my wife Meredith, and Hypertext Edition coders Jonathan Wight & Mike Lee, among other excellent presenters. We do hope to broadcast a portion of the proceedings so stay tuned for more information as the date approaches.

Update: Check out this video of me explaining the book 140 Characters, entertaining because I confuse a metonym with a charactonym.

Contact: Cynthia Shannon, cshannon@wiley.com
@cincindypat/415-782-3119

Heather Condon, hcondon@wiley.com
@WileyBiz/201-748-6017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

140 CHARACTERS: A Style Guide for the Short Form
By Dom Sagolla, Co-Creator of Twitter

“One could change the world with one hundred and forty characters.”
– Jack Dorsey, Co-Founder of Twitter

San Francisco, CA – Twitter – the 140 character online service that allows users to share, discover and connect with anyone, anywhere in the world – has abruptly swept the globe, taking many by surprise. Business owners, celebrities and regular Joe’s alike have unabashedly criticized or made fun of the medium, rather than fully understanding its purpose, potential, and power.

Several books have been written by “social media experts” trying to explain the secrets behind Twitter and how anyone can use it to their advantage. Convincing companies to incorporate Twitter into their marketing strategies has become easier since competing companies have seen phenomenal results. However, according to Dom Sagolla, a co-creator of Twitter and author of the new book, 140 CHARACTERS: A STYLE GUIDE FOR THE SHORT FORM (Wiley; $17.95; Paperback Original), “The constraint of 140 characters is an opportunity for creative self-expression of all kinds. With Twitter and the short form, we have inadvertently invented a new genre of literature.”

With 140 CHARACTERS, Sagolla shares the way to develop a personal voice and make the most of your messages. 140 CHARACTERS aims to do for Twitter and other social networking sites what Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style did for good writing via lessons in grammar and composition.

“Fragment. Then there is a sentence. Sentences become paragraphs. Inch by inch, a book is written.”
– Dom Sagolla

“The talkative habits of e-mail and superfluous chatter will be replaced by poetry and one-liners, the haiku and the hyperlink,” predicts Sagolla. In a world of three second attention spans, the short form is not just confined to Twitter, but also Facebook, LinkedIn, and text messaging. One will have to learn to say more with less: if there is a smaller word that means the same thing, use it. If there is a link to a reference, shorten it. “Wherever possible, use fewer words,” explains Sagolla. “This is harder than it sounds, but once you get past the basics of grammar you start getting into the really interesting aspects of poetry and word design.” Most of the advice in 140 CHARACTERS is focused on helping the reader to find the right words.

A handbook for an emerging class of writers and journalists, this book is written to include readers in the evolution of Twitter and the short format.

“We’ve defined a mere 1% of what Twitter is today. The other 99% is up to you.”
– From the Foreword by Jack Dorsey

The print and digital download is accompanied by an interactive Hypertext Edition for iPhone, published by Sagolla’s company DollarApp. See 140characters.com or twitter.com/thebook for details.

About the Author

Dom Sagolla (San Francisco, CA) helped create Twitter.com. After attending Swarthmore College, he worked as a software engineer in Silicon Valley during the dot-com boom. Dom earned his Masters in Education from Harvard University in 2000. Since then he has helped engineer Macromedia Studio, Odeo and Twitter, Adobe Creative Suite, and now produces iPhone software with his company DollarApp in San Francisco. His successes include the official Obama ‘08 iPhone App, as well as two iTunes Staff Favorites: Big Words, and Math Cards. @Dom has over 9,200 followers on Twitter as of September 2009, and manages more than 25 other brands.

140 Characters: A Style Guide for the Short Form
By Dom Sagolla
Foreword by Jack Dorsey
John Wiley and Sons
978-0-470-55613-9
October 2009; $17.95; Paperback Original

Today begins my first book tour, starting with a trip to Canada for a presentation on the Hypertext Edition.

Speaking at:

• FITC Mobile, Toronto, September 12-14
• Bambou Design, San Francisco, September 15
• 140 | The Twitter Conference, Los Angeles, September 22-23
• Bookshop West Portal, San Francisco October 20, 2009 – BOOK PREMIERE
• The 140 Characters Conference, Los Angeles, October 27-28

Here are a few places I know I’ll be visiting, but have yet to be scheduled:

• Swarthmore College, PA
• Harvard University, MA
• New York City, NY

Want to add your city to this list?  Please contact press@140characters.com.