Are you making this big mistake when promoting your book through social media?

If you are ignoring the power of LinkedIn – you really ARE making that mistake!

As an author, you might think of LinkedIn as primarily a platform for job seekers, recruiters and businesses selling their services.  However, it offers immense opportunities for writers as well.  

Here’s how…

YOUR PERSONAL PROFILE

Even if this is set out for you to promote your business or find employment, there is absolutely no reason why you can’t add your book to it!  You could do any or all of the following:

• Add it to the strapline under your name – “Author of xxxx” or even “Bestselling Author of xxx”  If it’s a business book, then add a few words about what readers stand to gain by getting hold of a copy.
• Pop a picture of the book onto your banner – and maybe a sentence about it that will intrigue people.
• Put a photo and link to where your book can be purchased into your ‘Featured’ section. Be sure to write something that gives people a reason to click and buy.
• Talk about it in your “About” section and maybe include a couple of great lines from one of your best reviews.
• Add it to your experience section and, in there, expand on the benefits of buying the book – maybe add another review.

POSTS

Now there are a lot of things that make a LinkedIn post reach more people and a lot of things that can hold it back, so …

Don’t put a picture on every post – believe me, posts with pictures on just do not get as many impressions as posts without. Rather, give excerpts that will make people want to read more. Post reviews, talk about why you wanted to write the book… 

Experiment with different styles of posts – maybe do a poll post about reading tastes or habits.  You will be able to see who has voted, and which way, and that will give you content for a follow-up post.

Remember that you MUST learn the art of getting a conversation going via comments on your post – or LinkedIn will simply not show it to many people.  Talk WITH your audience, not at them, and ask their opinion.  Always resist the temptation to add more than three or four hashtags. 

Join us again next month when Pam will be discussing finding our audience, getting your posts in front of your target markets and virtual book launches!