Just over a year ago, I took part in an experiment – creating the content of a business book wholly via Twitter.

The "Twitter book" called Social Media Marketing GPS was the idea of social media marketing diva Toby Bloomberg whose plan was to create a resource for marketers written by the community of social media marketers.

I was one of about 40 people Toby interviewed via Twitter; my topic was podcasting. I provided my answers in individual tweets mentioning the #smgps hashtag, and all of those tweets are in the finished book.

Toby has just announced that the book has been published as an e-book and is now available, under Creative Commons copyright license, for download.

Congratulations, Toby, and thanks again for inviting me to be part of your great experiment:

[…] I wondered if marketers would be receptive to, and find value in, a new book genre built on a succession of tweet interviews about one business topic: social media marketing.

The goal was to create a comprehensive body of knowledge that could serve as a roadmap (GPS) for developing a strategic social media plan. My thoughts were if this could be accomplished in a series of 140 character tweets it might help ease the apprehension for people new to social media, while at the same time, providing a review and offering some interesting ideas for those more experienced.

[…] What developed was the first business book of interviews written on Twitter by the people who were working in the space. Twitter became both a content platform and a distribution channel.

Spreads over twelve distinct chapters, it’s a great collection of credible thoughts and worthwhile ideas about social media and marketing from people who have been involved in this from the early days when ‘social media’ meant blogs.

Here’s the detail:

Forward: Shel Israel

Introduction: Toby Bloomberg

Chapter 1: Why Social Media?
Interviews with Paul Chaney, Ann Handley

Chapter 2: The New Enterprise Direction
Interviews with Geoff Livingston, Marc Meyer

Chapter 3: Social Media Research: The 1st Listening
Interviews with C.B. Whittemore, Joel Rubinson

Chapter 4: Social Media Ethics
Interviews with Wayne Hurlbert, Mack Collier

Chapter 5: Strategy First
Interviews with BL Ochman, Rajesh Lalwani

Chapter 6: Tactics Second:
Blogs, Twitter, Social Networks, Podcasts, Vlogs,
RSS, Widgets
Interviews with Julie Squires, Yvonne DiVita, Connie Reece
AV Flox, Nancy White, Neville Hobson, Jim Turner, Roxanne Darling,
Bill Flitter, Nick Burcher, Marianne Richmond

Chapter 7: Social Media & Branding
Interviews with Dana VanDen Heuvel, Beth Harte

Chapter 8: Blogger Relations
Interviews with Susan Getgood, Elisa Camahort

Chapter 9: Sponsored Conversations
Interviews with Scott Monty, Melanie Notkin

Chapter 10: Metrics That Make Sense
Interviews with Peter Kim, Kate Niederhoffer

Chapter 11: Solving Business Challenges
Interviews with Lionel Menchaca, Frank Eliason,
Donna Lynes Miller, John Maley

Chapter 12: Relationships 1st, 2nd & Last
Interviews with Tim Jackson, Liz Strauss, Lucretia M Pruitt,
Kimberly Coleman

After Forward: David Meerman Scott

Worth paying attention to.

Get your copy. And why not tweet it?

Related post:

• Creating a business book made of tweets