Everyone and their dogs have a social media book out now – assuming, of course, that they have 500+ followers, aka. Guru status.

“Create Connections”, “Drive Engagement”, “Foster Community” rehashed buzzwords that slap us in the face like pre-chewed meat as soon as we break the covers open. So imagine my excitement when I found out that the world would be blessed with another volume in the social media library.

The author this time around: @AmyJoMartin. She’s the founder and visionary behind rock star social media consultancy: @DigitalRoyalty. I had been introduced to Amy’s work by my girlfriend @Sairah who, after researching Digital Royalty’s work and their connection to professional sports, had made it her goal to find a way to work with them.

Amy’s headline could read: Young person Tweets a lot, thinks she can teach businesses to do the same, becomes a social media consultant. It’s far from revolutionary, so I had to find out why Amy’s version had so impressed Tony Hsieh of Zappos, Dana White of the UFC, Fox Sports and, the ultimate skeptic, my girlfriend.

My favorite thing about Amy’s story is that it’s not really about social media. It’s about connecting with people.

That’s what her book is about; it’s called Renegades Write the Rules, which is awesome in itself because she let her followers name the book. It’s the story of her escape from a corporate desk job, the Digital Royalty journey and lessons she’s learned along the way.

I bet that you can think of half a dozen 20-somethings right now who are helping their friends’ businesses set up Twitter and Pinterest accounts, charging a few hundred dollars and calling that a profession. That’s today, when the world has all but accepted social media as a powerful business tool. Amy started when Facebook was still a place for students to poke each other, and she stared old male CEOs in the face when they said “Wait a minute. You want ME to Tweet?“.

The girl’s got balls.

Better than that: Her book contains exactly 0 mentions of anything like “The Top 5 Ways to Build your Following on Twitter”.

Instead, she throws stories at us about clients she’s worked with and initiatives that she’s built. A few of them were so badass that you can still see them living on the internet:

Like any good marketer, Amy’s creating her own social media movement to support the release of her upcoming book. Back when she worked in her office job Amy was known to challenge business as usual; so much so that one day her boss called her a renegade. She’s taken that moniker and run with it, labelling herself and everyone who follows her business philosophy “Team Renegades”.

I love the idea, and and am on board with the movement, but slapping a comment from years ago onto herself feels a bit like George Costanza lobbying to change his nickname toTBone.

George didn’t quite have the resume that Amy has built, so TBone didn’t catch on and he got pinned with Koko the Monkey. Renegade, on the other hand, seems to be sticking.

See what people are saying about #TeamRenegades on Twitter

Overall, I would love it if every person on my Facebook Friends list read and bought into the Team Renegades philosophy. Imagine if you never again had to filter through pages of apartment listings from your realtor friends, and event invitations from friends trying to sell tickets. Instead, they may do something interesting enough that we’d be interacting rather than unsubscribing.

The stories within Renegades work together to show us that the less we take ourselves seriously, the more effective social media can be for our brands. Did you know that Shaq’s most effective Tweet was a shot of him breaking a diet, stuffing his face with a big cone of soft serve? It’s that humanization of a brand that Amy is so passionate about, and what sets her book apart for the shelves of regurgitated social media garbage that came before it.

While the specific lessons in Renegades Write the Rules can feel somewhat irrelevant to people who don’t have national brand recognition, the core message is one that I hope everyone gets behind.

If you get a chance to read Renegades Write the Rules, let me know if you agree or call me out if you don’t. I’m @Conner_G on Twitter and Junction can be found at @JunctionYVR.