Contact: Sasha Steinberg

STARKVILLE, Miss.--What does your Twitter profile say about you? How can tweeting make you smarter and help your career? In what ways can tweeting make for a more focused and productive life?

Mississippi State alumna Germany Kent seeks to answer these questions and others in her newest book, "You Are What You Tweet: Harness the Power of Twitter to Create a Happier, Healthier Life."

The 300-page inspirational self-help guide outlines how the increasingly popular social networking site--when used properly--can be a powerful tool in helping people improve their relationships, careers and communication skills. Released earlier this summer, the book was published by Culvar City, California-based Star Stone Press.

Along with offering tips, hints and secrets to tweeting and crafting an effective Twitter profile, the book has been designed to empower readers to better identify goals, forge and manage valuable professional connections, and establish deeper ties with their communities. For more information, see www.whatyoutweet.com and twitter.com/whatutweetbook.

"This engaging book will teach you how to become influential on social media and, in the process, greatly improve your own life and the lives of others," Kent writes in the introduction. "Whether you're just 'dipping your toes in the water' and want to understand how Twitter works, or you're looking to grow your audience, this book will enhance your entire Twitter experience."

Born Evelyn Palmer, Kent is a Greenville native who graduated from North Panola High School in Sardis. She graduated in 1998 with a bachelor's degree from MSU, where she majored in marketing, counseling and journalism and served as Student Association attorney general. She later went on to earn a master's degree in administration from the University of Alabama.

Regarded as "The Hope Guru," Kent's decades of experience in personal branding, social networking and entertainment have made her a nationally and internationally recognized social media enthusiast, author, public speaker, coach and consultant.

Currently based in Los Angeles, Kent also is a successful Hollywood commercial actress and media personality who has interviewed Oscar, Emmy, Golden Globe and Grammy-winning performers, professional athletes, business leaders and newsmakers.

Prior to moving to America's second-largest city in 2011, she worked as a corporate executive and award-winning college administrator.

In addition to "You Are What You Tweet," Kent is the author of "The Hope Handbook: Powerful, Inspirational, Hopeful Tweets that Encourage, Motivate, and Speak to Your Spirit" (Star Stone Press, March 2015).

Copies of both works are available online from Amazon and Barnes and Noble as well as via Kent's website, www.germanykent.com.

Kent also may be found on facebook.com/GermanyKentPage and twitter.com/germanykentnews.

MSU, the Magnolia State's flagship research university, is online at msstate.edu, facebook.com/msstate, instagram.com/msstate and twitter.com/msstate, using hashtag #WeRingTrue.