LinkedIn for Authors: Your book is not your LinkedIn strategy

I recently had a conversation with Nicky about using LinkedIn as an author, and it got me thinking about a mistake I see quite often.

Authors tend to fall into one of two camps.

Either they’ve written a brilliant book, but you’d never know it from their LinkedIn profile.

Or their profile has become a bit like a human bookstore, with the book taking centre stage in almost everything they do.

Neither is ideal.  If you’ve spent months or even years writing a book, of course you want people to know about it. But I think you’re missing a much bigger opportunity if your only goal on LinkedIn is to sell copies.

Your book can help establish you as an expert. It can give you something interesting to talk about. And it can open the door to conversations and opportunities that go well beyond the book itself.

Start with your expertise, not the fact that you’ve written a book

One of the first things I look at when I’m working with someone on LinkedIn is their profile.

When someone lands on it, can they quickly work out who you are, who you help, what you’re known for and why they should believe you?

This is particularly important for authors because it’s very easy to assume that putting ‘Author’ in your headline tells people enough. It doesn’t.

Your book is an important part of your credibility, but people also need to understand the expertise behind it.

Expert first. Author second.

Your book then becomes part of the proof that supports what you’re saying about yourself.

Your headline, for example, could communicate what you do, who you help and the outcome you create, with your book providing an additional credibility marker.

And remember that your headline follows you around LinkedIn. It appears alongside your comments, posts, connection requests and messages, so those first few words matter.

One of my favourite LinkedIn principles is simply:

Be clear, not clever.

I see a lot of profiles that are full of vague empty phrases such as ’empowering leaders’ or ‘unlocking potential’.  And headlines full of confusing titles such as ‘Life Ninja’, ‘Business Architect, ‘Data Prophet’…

You might think they sound good but they don’t tell me very much about what the person actually does.  Your profile isn’t the place to make people work it out.

Make it easy for them.

Your book should be visible

I’m definitely not suggesting that you hide your book.

Mention it in your headline where it makes sense. Talk about it in your About section. Add it to your Featured section and Publications. Include reviews and testimonials. Share content based on the ideas and experiences behind it.

But your book doesn’t need to take over every part of your profile.  Think of it as one piece of evidence that supports your expertise.

Someone should be able to land on your profile and understand what you do first. Then they discover that you’ve also written a book about it.

And this is where I think authors sometimes miss a trick.  Your book can be both a product that you’re selling and a marketing asset for the wider business behind it.

The book might lead to a speaking opportunity. Or a podcast invitation. Or a corporate training enquiry.

Perhaps someone discovers you through your book and then becomes a client. You might even find opportunities for bulk orders or collaborations.

So rather than thinking only about how many individual copies you can sell through LinkedIn, it’s worth asking – what could my book help me unlock?

LinkedIn isn’t just somewhere to promote the book

I still hear people say that LinkedIn is really for recruiters and job seekers.

But for a business or non-fiction author, think about what your potential readers are already doing on LinkedIn.  They’re talking about their industries. They’re discussing problems and challenges. They’re sharing their experiences and looking for ideas.

Those are the conversations your book is probably based around.

You don’t need to interrupt all of that with another ‘buy my book’ post.

Instead, join the conversation. Share an idea from your book. Tell a story that illustrates something you’ve learned. Answer a question.

Give people your perspective on an issue in your area of expertise.  Your content then gives people a reason to discover you, rather than simply asking them to buy something.

Talk about the thinking behind it.

Give people a taste of how you see the world and what you know.  The book can then become the natural next step for someone who wants to go further.

You don’t need a huge following

I wouldn’t get too caught up in LinkedIn follower numbers.

I’d much rather see an author build a smaller network of people who are genuinely relevant to their work than spend all their time trying to attract thousands of people who will never become readers, clients, collaborators or useful connections.

The question I’d ask is:

Who do I want to build relationships with?

Because LinkedIn is primarily a networking platform as well as a place to publish content.

Some of the opportunities I’ve seen come from LinkedIn haven’t come from a post doing particularly well. They’ve come from a conversation started in the comments, a DM, an introduction or someone getting in touch because they’ve been quietly following.

That’s why I don’t think you need to spend hours creating content.

You need a way of combining your positioning, your content and your conversations so that people can get to know you and understand what you can help them with.

And no posting isn’t a system.

Don’t forget the person behind the book

AI has made it incredibly easy to produce content that sounds polished but doesn’t necessarily tell us anything about the person who wrote it.

Your experience, stories, opinions and personality are what make your content yours.  So don’t be afraid to let people see a little of the person behind the book.

Your LinkedIn profile doesn’t need to read like a corporate brochure.

People want to know whether they trust you. They want to get a sense of what you’re like and whether they would actually want to have a conversation with you.

And sometimes the more personal things are what give someone a reason to start that conversation.  I like to think of them as serendipity hooks.

Think beyond launch day

You spend months writing it, prepare for publication, tell everyone about it, celebrate when it finally arrives…And then what?

Your book isn’t a one-day event.  If the book is helping you establish your expertise, you have a huge amount of material to work with long after launch day.

The ideas in your chapters can become LinkedIn posts, newsletter topics, conversations, podcast discussions and speaking topics.

You can continue sharing reviews and stories from readers. You can talk about questions the book has prompted. You can use it as a reason to connect with people who are interested in your subject.  In other words, don’t feel that you have to keep promoting the book itself.

Keep talking about the subject you wrote the book about.  That gives you a much more sustainable way to stay visible.

So what should you actually be doing on LinkedIn?

POSITION — Make it immediately obvious who you are, who you help and what you’re known for.

PROVE — Use your book alongside your experience, testimonials, results and other evidence of your expertise.

PARTICIPATE — Don’t just broadcast. Comment, connect and have conversations around your subject.

PERSONALISE — Let people see the human behind the expertise. Your personality matters, particularly when so much content is now being produced with AI.

PROFIT — Don’t think only about book sales. Think about what your book could help you create next: speaking, clients, corporate work, partnerships, media opportunities or bulk orders.

And perhaps the biggest thing I’d encourage you to remember is that you don’t need to turn yourself into a book marketer to make LinkedIn work for you.  You need to be clear about your expertise, build the right relationships and give people reasons to trust you.

Your book can help with all of that.

But your book isn’t your brand – you are

This blog was written by Jen Corcoran

Jen Corcoran is a multi award-winning LinkedIn strategist and founder of My Super Connector.

Known as “The LinkedIn Lead Jen”, she helps experienced experts turn the expertise they’ve spent years building into visibility, relationships and opportunities. Since 2017, Jen has supported 700+ women to position themselves as the authority they already are, build genuine relationships and make LinkedIn work with their personality, strengths and energy — not against them.

Her signature PACT® Blueprint (Presence, Action, Connect, Track) provides a simple, repeatable approach to positioning your expertise, building the right network and creating opportunities without performative marketing or chasing algorithms.

A former corporate EA named “Most Networked PA in London” Jen has worked with organisations including Amazon, BT, London South Bank University and the University of Exeter. She was also voted the UK’s #1 Trusted Marketing Adviser by Enterprise Nation.

Her mission? To help brilliant, experienced people stop being a best-kept secret — and become known for what they know.

📍 Based in Devon | 🌐 mysuperconnector.co.uk | 🎤 Media, speaking & workshops

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