Dear All, I am happy to announce the publication of 'Monetising the Dividual Self. The Emergence of the Lifestyle Blog and Influencers in Malaysia', I believe it is the first book focused on the emergence of microcelebrities/influencers in an Asian context and the data is based on long-term ethnographic on- and offline fieldwork. In a nutshell, this book traces the beginnings of what are now know as social media influencers. I started looking at them in about 2005 and the book starts with a 'blog war' in the pre-monetised Malaysian blogosphere. I use this a starting point to discuss the components of personal blogging - the performance of authenticity and the interaction of blogs and self expression. The chronological development of the chapters intersperses detailed academic and theoretical discussions with case studies and thick descriptions suitable for classroom discussion. The book uses actor-network theory, assemblage and affordances as its theoretical foundations. It describes lifestyle bloggers as entrepreneurs of the dividual self and suggests that they offer prototypes of future forms of self-expression and being. The account ends with a regional blogmeet in 2009 that - in hindsight - might have been the high point of blogging in Malaysia and Singapore, before Facebook, Twitter and Instagram came to dominate. I'd like to thank all of the bloggers who gave me their time, the School of Arts and Social Sciences at Monash University Malaysia, the many academics who provided feedback and support over the years and the very patient editors at Berghahn Books. For those who are interested, there is a two months limited time 50% discount available for purchases via the publisher website. The book is here: https://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/HopkinsMonetising and the code HOP185 can be used when an order is placed via this site. Best regards, Julian --- *DR JULIAN HOPKINS* Adjunct Senior Research Fellow School of Arts & Social Sciences Monash University Malaysia Recent publication: https://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/HopkinsMonetising E: julian.hopkins@monash.edu W: http://julianhopkins.com *Your reaction is more important than who is right.*