Twitter: Where We’ll Go for Book Buzz? (An Early Omen)

By Neal 

Remember those recent posts about publishers using Twitter? You can add Thomas Nelson president and CEO Michael Hyatt to the list, and he might possibly have some fans at Gawker Media. Last week, when Hyatt started posting his reactions to the Lynne Spear manuscript he’d taken home to read—”I can’t put it down—and I’m not even the market!”—Sheila McClear noticed, and her post got picked up by PW.

At that point, Hyatt felt the story was getting distorted. Some of his objections are valid (he’s not an editor, he didn’t give Gawker an interview) and some are more open to debate (he disputes the characterization that he “[went] ape” over the book, and says Spear hasn’t written a “tell-all”), but it’s all a great example of how publishers and editors should be getting out there, where their readers are, and talking about the books and writers that genuinely excite them. (And not just books: Hyatt actually has a lot more going on in his life, and his Twitter.)