Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media

Online fame-seekers will find a useful resource in this guide to social media success from Hennessy, Hearst Magazines Digital Media’s senior director of influencer strategy and talent partnerships. She has paid five figures to the owner of a famous dog and six to a makeup vlogger, and here intends to help eager amateurs become new talent, utilizing the art and science of influence. According to Hennessy, her book is the only one on the subject, geared, naturally enough, toward young readers already well-versed in social media. Her audience is content creators, whose product is “authenticity,” rather than celebrities, whose product is fame. She aims her advice at would-be influencers at every stage, whether they are building their communities, creating brands, or monetizing those brands. Readers will learn the nitty-gritty of choosing a name (“You can make your name as simple or as complicated as you like as long as it’s easy to promote”), approaching an agent, building an audience, and drawing media attention. For the aspiring stars of Instagram and other social media platforms, her upbeat work—“Why not you?” she asks brightly—will provide encouragement and assistance. Agent: Steve Ross, Abrams Artists Agency. (Aug.)