Books, Community, Twitter, Web Tools
Book Review: Addition by Adoption by Kevin Hendricks
Twitter is ubiquitous. Now it is even a format for books ideas. It seems odd, but as far as I can tell (in my very brief amount of searching) this is the first book made up mostly of a curated twitter stream.
I have read blog books, and journal books and letter based books, so the idea is not completely unique. And I do not think it is likely to become widely used format.
140 characters is short, perfect for twitter, a bit too short for a book.
In spite of the limitations of the format, the book was good. I read it in an evening. I am probably the target audience of this book. I am a work from home nanny/consultant. My two nieces (14 months and 2 1/2 years) that I nanny for are very reminiscent of most of the kid based tweets from this book.
My consulting is for church based non-profits. So the charity/adoption/stay at home Dad(uncle)/twitterer is right down my alley. Not sure if that is a big market.
The book is around a year of tweets, sharing his life, but also the joy and struggle of a newly adopted son. And the awakening of the lack of clean drinking water and other issues that Kevin Hendrick’s new found attachment to Ethiopia (birth place of his son) brings up.
In the book, Hendricks discovers charity:water, which John has also raised money for, and ends up shaving his head as part of a twitter fundraising event. This book is another step in that discovery, $2 of each book goes toward building wells in Ethiopia.
It is a good book and a good cause. Even if you don’t want the book, why not give a few bucks to the cause.
Buzz it!
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8 Responses to “Book Review: Addition by Adoption by Kevin Hendricks”
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Tweets that mention Book Review: Addition by Adoption by Kevin Hendricks | ChurchCrunch -- Topsy.com
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I love the concept, and have heard good things. I wonder, though, if the the book would be better suited as an epublication, given it’s format? Reading the book (this is a guess as I have not read it) may seem more natural on a screen. That seems vert post-traditional publication, but it may be true for this one. Thoughts?
I actually read it on my kindle. (A converted PDF that the author sent, you can’t buy it on kindle yet.)
There is nothing wrong with reading the format. It is quite readable. I enjoyed it, but I am not sure I want twitter books to become a wide spread phenomenon. I like twitter as twitter, but I like books to be longer form thoughts.
Thanks for covering my book and offering the kind words.
In regards to a digital version, I’ve actually considered it and gone back and forth. Right now the hassle involved is easily the biggest obstacle (Kindle, epub, iPad–oh my!). In general, I think ebooks succeed based on the person reading, not the content. I don’t think certain books are better suited to a Kindle, it’s just that some people prefer to read in a digital format (So the question might better be if a book appeals to that kind of audience).
And for this book specifically I think taking it away from the screen is what’s so important. What makes this book work is that it’s no longer on Twitter. It’s not just a Twitter stream that you’d just as easily read in your favorite Twitter app (at least I hope it’s not). But all that to say, if a reader wants it in a digital form, who am I to argue? It’s only a question of if I can navigate those hurtles and make it happen.
If you have ebook rights I would concentrate on Kindle as your first priority, it has about 80% of the ebook market. After that go with other options. The new pricing model I think starts June 1st. If you charge at least $2.99 then you get 70% of selling price that you set (Amazon can discount.)
I am only occationally buying paper books right now, and only if I have a specific person I plan on giving it to.
The main hurtle is setting up the actual files. Amazon wants an HTML file, which isn’t a format the book is in right now. The whole layout thing is way beyond me (had to call in big time to help for what we have), but I think I will look into it and see if I can make it happen.