I am going to continue my Twitter-theme today and post two websites that list the Twitter accounts of people in the book industry and media professionals. If you haven’t created a Twitter account, you should really consider it. It is an easy, effortless way of connecting with people, promoting your work and keeping up with trends online.
Here are some media people using Twitter.
Authors and publishers who use Twitter.
Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.
Here are our Twitter links:
If anyone was on the fence about whether or not to to use Twitter, here is a great post that lists all of the celebrities and/or media personalities that are Twittering (Tweeting?).
Check out these micro-blogging All Stars!
Molly Wood, an executive editor and on-camera personality at CNETTV.com, recently wrote about the fate of newspapers at Women on the Web. Here are her thoughts:
The news about newspapers has been unavoidable in the past few weeks, with stories on everything from the insane cost of printing and publishing some newspapers to the extremely imminent death of others.
As someone who went from journalism school to a wire service to a website, I can’t help but feel slightly culpable — but I also feel protective of newspapers and the services they can provide to a community and a country. Some would argue, as my colleague Tom Merritt does in this week’s Buzz Report video, that the Internet is merely a delivery mechanism that doesn’t have to fundamentally change the way reporting and writing are carried out.
Sometimes, I think that’s true — there is amazing journalism happening on the Web, here at wowOwow.com, at Salon, at Huffington Post, at CNET, at Perez Hilton (OK, just kidding). On the other hand, blogs are easy to start and even easier to abandon, and the institution of a newsroom can provide air cover for deep digging that isn’t necessarily available at every online publication, as well as the legitimacy that gets you access to the really good sources. I hope we can see the difference between publishing technology and the intellectual pursuit of journalism as we cast aside our newspapers for netbooks and Kindles
And in other news this week, I hope that a new Apple netbook, should it appear in the near future, be a whole lot better than the new Shuffle they just announced.
An interesting article in the Christian Science Monitor mentions that a hundred years ago professors wrote for the press-free of charge. Jonathan Zimmerman then goes on to suggest that if professors considered doing this again, they could potentially save newspapers. I have an interesting twist/suggestion to add to that idea. Authors should contribute to newspapers for free. The author is already an expert on the subject matter of their book. When we are publicizing authors, we are constantly following news trends that relate to the authors expertise or background. If a particular subject is in the news and the author feels they can add to the debate or discuss it with confidence, we will pitch various editors and writers. Why not make it common for authors to be approached by editors for free content to newspapers? Authors would love the name recognition and promotion for their work and newspapers would benefit from the content.
As a publicist, I am constantly on tight deadlines and writing makes up 90% of the job. Unfortunately, speed does not lend itself well to correct spelling and grammar. Thankfully, I love to write and have always found comfort and solace in the written word. My partners and I all share a common trait, we are grammar nerds and this comes in handy when writing and proofing dozens of press releases, pitch letters, biographies and media questions on a daily basis. I found this great article about the 32 Most Commonly Misused Words and Phrases. And here is a very interesting piece on 12 Grammar Rules You Can Toss Out the Window. Enjoy!