Mr. Webster defines renegades as follows:

ren·e·gade  [ren-i-geyd] 
noun
1.       a person who deserts a party or cause for another.

Renegades typically do not follow the beaten path; they forge one of their own.  It is this attitude, one afraid to fail, that you become connected to while reading Amy Jo Martin’s Renegades Write The Rules.  Amy Jo is regarded as the Queen of social media, but I think she’d feel more appropriately compared to the Neil Armstrong of Social Media.  Refusing to follow the “rules” of business, Martin set out on her own to not only follow her dreams, but instill, and more appropriately share, those dreams with us all along the way.

Amy Jo Martin is the founder of Digital Royalty, a social media consultancy with clients such as Shaq, UFC, and The Rock.  Within Renegades, Amy Jo walks us through the earlier stages of her career when she was the director of digital media for the Phoenix Suns, a new position to the organization.  From here, Amy Jo brings us along her journey where she felt a breaking point in her career, and her life.  Feeling as though she was being constrained by the modern day rules of an organization that, like countless others at the time, may not have fully grasped what was taking place with the world of social communication felt it was time for change.  From here we get the first-hand look at what drove Amy Jo to set out on her own and create Digital Royalty. We also get brought behind the scenes from some entertaining and insightful stories on how Amy met, and later worked with some of her top clients.  Most importantly, Renegades acts as a source of knowledge for those of us, like myself, trying to make a career out of using social media to activate sponsors and connect with people in a new and exciting way.

I am not always the most creative cat on the block, but I can recognize a great idea when I see it.  Along the same thought process of rip and reapply, Amy Jo took a book launch to the next level.  Amy Jo, borrowing the idea from a book launch she helped make successful for friend Tony Hsieh of Zappos, took to the air to launch this book, figuratively and symbolically.  Using her vast network of friends she knows and trusts, as well as fans like myself who have never met Amy Jo yet understand what she is teaches,  Amy Jo launched the #TeamRenegades program. Aimed at those with the power of the blog, Amy Jo sent out advanced copies of this book with one stipulation, we read and give an honest review.

This is word of mouth at its best.  Taking from the concepts she preaches, word of mouth is no longer constrained to the “rules” of face to face conversation.  Word of mouth now reaches where ever the internet takes you.  Ms. Martin took this concept one step forward, allowing her fans to chime in their two cents on the actual title of this very book!

Renegades Write The Rules is a quick read, just over 172 pages, but you will WANT to read it over and over again.  If you are like me, then you typically mark or highlight certain pages so that you can refer back to these specific points in the text and hammer own any concepts that may help you grow as a learner. For myself, I “dog ear” these points.  Unfortunately for me and this book, I nearly doubled the thickness of the text from all of the bent corners. Take a look for yourself.

As far as ratings go, I will break it down as follows (on a scale from 1 to 10. 1 meaning snore-fest, 10 meaning holy sh#t that was awesome!):

Entertaining: Did I find the stories enjoyable, what is the likelihood that I would reread the book, and would I purchase this as a gift for others? 10. I quite enjoyed the book. The behind the scenes stories were excellent and I really felt like Amy was talking to me through the words on the pages.

Readability: Was the book too long, was the language above my thought capacity, did I have to run to a thesaurus every five minutes? 8. The book was not hard to read at all, I actually finished it in two sittings (Once at the Laundromat and once at home). That however is what leads to me taking some points off. I wanted more.  I don’t fault Ms. Martin for the length of the book. Hey, that’s rule #1, always leave them wanting for more.  Good thing I can continue the story via the Digital Royalty website and Twitter handles.

Use: Are the concepts applicable to what I want to do, are the lessons well thought out, and are the concepts easily explained? 10 again. Aside from learning from her miscues and success, Amy even divulges a few social media secrets that have helped catapult Amy Jo to where she is today.  The Process of Monetization and Return on Influence formulas are great and serve as the foundation for anyone looking to get into the competitive space Digital Royalty occupies.  God knows what else is up those sleeves over in Vegas.

Renegades Write The Rules may be Amy Jo Martin’s first foray into printed word, but I for one hope it is not her last.  There are seriously too many stories for me to touch on every one and do them all justice.  From her personal cancer scare, to bringing her fans under the laser with her during eye surgery, to the birth of the #ReadySetPause, Amy weaves together a charming, and informative guide of how to not only break the rules, but rewrite them YOURSLEF. Earlier we defined a renegade as someone who deserts a party of cause for another.  What will be YOUR cause? Whatever that may be, let Amy Jo Martin model the path and inspire you as this book did for me.  Go out and grab a copy, you won’t regret it!

Signed,
Matthew Vinson+