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Using Linked In As An Author

We recently talked about social media and how Linked In can help an author network. Friend of the blog Jen Owenby (author name J.A. Owenby ) stepped up to explain LinkedIn for us.

LinkedIn_logo_initials

There are several ways LinkedIn can help authors. First of all, the connections. The more connections you achieve, the higher ranking you have during word searches. Example: developmental editor, NY Times Bestselling Author, EBook cover designers. If you’re looking for recommendations, reviews, and connecting with services LinkedIn is a hot spot, and it’s all very professional.

 

It’s important to build an author page. You have one, and it’s great! When you achieve 500+ connections it increases your ranking during searches. Authors can list their websites, books, information about themselves (good solid summary and skills), they can recommend other authors, share their posts and build communities across the world.

 

There are also writing groups. One group trades Facebook likes. There are over 700 people participating. I look through several links a week and like someone’s page if I’m interested in their writing. I then message them and tell them I’m in the LinkedIn group and give them my information in case they are interested as well. If not, that’s fine. I want real fans, not ones that will drop off in 2 days.

 

There are groups to help with self-publishing, writing questions, and anything else. You simply conduct a keyword search and the more you interact, the more you’re viewed.

 

You also build (over time) a solid following. People become your fans once they see you giving something back. The biggest mistake writers make is self-marketing alllll the time. I don’t even pay attention to them. lol. I caught myself doing that very thing on my FB page and began posting positive and encouraging quotes as well. I have a blog that I also try and give a lot of fun information and encouragement to writers. I sound positive about writing, and I would say 92% of the time I am, but everyone needs support and tools to help them learn because sometimes the lessons are difficult to swallow.

 

Concerning my business, I post an article once a week on LI concerning resume best practices, job search strategies, and LinkedIn just to name a few. A large portion of my business comes from LinkedIn. I’m able to build trust before I ever speak to someone on the phone. They can see who I am as a person, see my writing, and other relevant factors before hiring me.

 

Please let me know if you have additional questions. I work with clients who stumble through LinkedIn because it’s different, but it can truly be your friend.

Jen Owenby

 

So THERE you go! Some basic things y0u can do to help yet another social media outlet market your work. Thanks to Jen for showing us these steps and explaining Linked IN!

YOU can reach Jen at the following links:

www.onbproresume.com

https://www.facebook.com/JAOwenby/

https://jenowenby.wordpress.com/

@JAOwenby

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferowenbyresumewriter

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Please feel free to ask any questions below!

22 replies on “Using Linked In As An Author”

Thanks for sharing this!
My son (who’s not a writer) uses Linked IN a lot and has made some great professional connections that helped boost his career. This is a good reminder that writing, especially for indies, is a business…we need to learn to take advantage of all of the resources available to grow.

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We tend to use networks that WE like, forgetting that other people might use something else – what THEY like. (How dare they!)

Being aware and taking a little time every once in a while to stop in and check out other forms of social media can make a BIG difference.

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Oh, that is interesting. I have accounts in so many social media formats that I have trouble keeping up with it all. I purposely skipped LinkedIn because I don’t see myself as a “business person” needing contacts. Thanks for opening my eyes. I think I will put this on my to-do list.

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Thanks a lot for this. I’m on LinkedIn under my full name as a ‘scientist’ and it has served me well, though I had a reputation so didn’t have to prove myself or try too hard to get consultancy work. That aspect of my life is winding down and recently I have been beating myself up about labelling myself ‘scientist and writer’ when all I have to show as a writer is my blog! I feel I should wait until I publish which will be early next year (haven’t defined early yet!) and then feel justified to use ‘scientist and author’ … any views?

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Just been checking my Oxford English Dictionary (albeit Concise) and their definition of author and writer overlap. From a non-fiction perspective I could justify the use of both but for me it’s part of being a credible scientist, no publications, no reputation, no status. Fiction is entirely different, an area where I’ve not published, have no reputation and no status and as such it doesn’t sit easy with me to claim to be a writer or author until I have published. So for me, until I do I remain a scientist, albeit spending 3 to 4 hours a day writing prose and some odd bits of poetry.

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I had no idea that your connections on LinkedIn had that effect, thanks for the information. I try to post good content to my LinkedIn groups as often as I can.

I like what you had to say about wanting real fans, that’s very important to me. A lot of the authors I have connected with come off as invasive and demanding without providing any real interaction. They post their ads and pages in my feed and don’t ever bother to say hello or comment. These kind of connections are worthless to me. I am bombarded all day long with notifications about their ads posting to my groups on Facebook and it gets old. Twitter can be just as bad. I seem to have had pretty good luck with LinkedIn so far.

I’m not going to buy from an author who hasn’t taken the time to establish their platform and brand. I am looking for content and getting to know their writing, then I will buy their books.

Thanks for posting 🙂

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