To that end, most Keywords books will be crowdsourced, meaning that Mr. Dawson and his fellow authors will directly involve their followers in storytelling decisions from the earliest stages. That is a big change from the traditional book publishing model, which is centered on formal written proposals. Keywords also aims to get books into the marketplace much faster than a traditional imprint could.

“There wasn’t a publishing apparatus out there that could really take advantage of the unique nature of online stars and their relationship with fans,” said Brent Weinstein, head of United Talent’s digital division. “So we decided to go out and create one.”

The upshot: Keywords represents a bending by old-line publishers to the work practices of the YouTube generation. “I’ve always wanted to write a book, but the proposal process is kind of crazy,” said Ms. Ezarik, who has parlayed YouTube stardom into an acting, endorsement and fashion career. “I would say, ‘Why can’t I just do it?’ That’s what we are used to doing online.”

What will Ms. Ezarik’s book be about? The details are still fuzzy.

“I have so many random, behind-the-scenes stories to tell, and I really want it to be inspirational,” she said. “But I also want to know what my fans want my book to be like.” With any luck, she added, “the book will be successful, and we can turn it into a movie or a TV series.”

Atria, whose traditional authors include Brad Thor (“The Last Patriot”) and Rhonda Byrne (“The Secret”), and United Talent, whose movie star clients include Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp, provided little information about the Keywords business model. It involves an advance payment, but authors are meant to share in profits to a larger degree than is typical. Keywords authors do not necessarily need to be United Talent clients.

Keywords Press is only one example of increased digital innovation at United Talent and Simon & Schuster, which is owned by the CBS Corporation. United Talent, for instance, helped incubate AwesomenessTV, a fast-growing YouTube empire focused on preteenage girls. DreamWorks Animation bought Awesomeness last year in a deal valued up to $117 million and brokered by the agency.

And on Wednesday, Simon & Schuster announced that it would make some 10,000 backlist titles available on the emerging e-book subscription services Oyster and Scribd, becoming the second of the five major publishing houses to test those waters, after HarperCollins. Some publishers worry that subscription services like these, which provide broad access to a digital library for a monthly fee, will puncture single-copy sales.

“Consumers have clearly taken to subscription models for other media, and we expect that our participation in these services will encourage discovery of our books,” Carolyn Reidy, the Simon & Schuster chief executive, said in a statement.