Use Live Video to Keep Your Book Visible

If you've been following along with my Easy Peasy Author Marketing newsletter, you know I'm a big fan of video for authors.

Most advice about video focuses on launch week. Book trailers. Announcement videos. Testimonials.

But here's what rarely gets discussed: Your launch lasts a week. Your book lasts for years.

So what happens after the confetti settles and the congratulations posts slow down?

Unfortunately, a lot of authors go quiet. They move on. And their book just sits there collecting digital dust on Amazon.

But it doesn't have to be that way.

I've previously shared strategies in:

• The Author's Guide to Video Marketing on LinkedIn
• Launch Your Book with LinkedIn Live & Recorded Video

Those articles focus heavily on launch strategy. This article focuses on keeping your book visible long after launch week ends.

Turn Your Book into an Ongoing Conversation

Here's the mindset shift I want you to consider. Stop thinking of live video as a one-time book launch event and start thinking of it as your own personal book club.

You wrote a book about a topic you're passionate about, right? You could talk about it all day. So why not create a regular LinkedIn Live series where that's what you do?

This isn't about getting on camera and repeating "buy my book" over and over. Nobody wants to watch that. And you don't want to be that guy (or gal)!

Instead, think of your Linkedin Live events as a way for people to get to know YOU, the author, and the ideas behind your book. It's about building brand awareness, not an infomercial. When people feel connected to you and see the value you bring to a conversation, they'll naturally become curious to learn more about the book you wrote.

Setting Your Schedule

You get to decide the rhythm. You can schedule these lives in advance or set them up on short notice. There's no right or wrong answer here.

A quick heads up: Starting June 22, 2026, LinkedIn is requiring all live events to be scheduled ahead of time. Yes, the ability to go live completely spontaneously is going away. But don't panic... you can still schedule your event just minutes before you want to go live. So it's really just one extra step, not a major roadblock. Think of it less as a limitation and more as a nudge to be intentional about your lives (even if that intention happens five minutes beforehand).

Once a week might work if you're really leaning into building a community around your topic. Once a month is more practical if you're new to live video. And once a quarter is perfectly fine if you want to stay visible without overcommitting.

The key is picking a schedule that is sustainable. Consistency builds familiarity. Familiarity builds trust. Trust leads to readers. It's better to do a quarterly live consistently than to announce a weekly show and disappear after three episodes. You know your calendar and your energy. Be honest with yourself about what you can really maintain.

One Topic Per Session. That's It.

This is important, which is why I'm going to say it loud and clear: don't try to jam too much content into one live session.

Pick ONE topic. One chapter. One exercise. One concept. Then go deep.

When you try to cover everything, you end up covering nothing well. Your audience leaves feeling overwhelmed instead of inspired. But when you focus on a single idea and really explore it? That's when the magic happens. People feel they got real value. And they will be more likely to come back for your next live.

Plus, think about it this way. If your book has ten chapters, that's ten LinkedIn Lives right there. You've just planned out ten months of content without breaking a sweat.

Ideas for Your Book Club Lives

So what do you actually talk about? Here are some ideas to get the wheels turning.

• Teach from your book (not read from it). Take a concept and explain it like you're talking to a friend over coffee. Share examples, tell stories, chat about what's happened since you wrote that chapter.
• Demonstate your framework live. This one is especially powerful for non-fiction authors. If your book has worksheets, frameworks, or exercises, do a live walkthrough with screen sharing. Let people follow along in real time. Give them a taste of the book's value without it feeling like a sales pitch.
• Invite conversation with a guest. Bring on someone who relates to your book's topic. A colleague, a client, a fellow author. Conversations are easier than monologues, and your guest might bring along their audience too.
• Answer reader questions in real time. Turn those comments, DMs, and Amazon reviews into live content. People love hearing their questions answered in real time. And it shows that you care and you're listening.
• Celebrate milestones. Hit a review number milestone? Audiobook just launched? Book anniversary coming up? Foreign language edition? All of these are great reasons to go live and celebrate.
• Do a "year later" reflection. Talk about what's changed since you wrote the book. What would you add? What have you learned from readers? This kind of honesty is exactly what makes live video so powerful.
• Share behind-the-scenes moments. Working on your next book? Give people a peek into the process. Writing struggles, cover design decisions, funny moments from the editing process. This all makes your audience feel like insiders.

Prep Your Toolkit Before You Go Live

You don't need much, but having a few things ready will make a big difference.

Have links to where people can purchase your book ready to drop in the comments or display on screen. Use tools like Booklinker, which I wrote a whole article about (The 5-Minute Fix Authors Need Before Sharing Amazon Book Links), so people anywhere in the world can find your book on their local Amazon marketplace.

If you have resources related to your topic — a checklist, a worksheet, a guide — have those ready to share. You can offer them as a free download right in the comments, host them as a PDF on your website, or gate them behind an email signup if you're building your list.

Make use of easy peasy marketing tools like QR codes you can display on screen while you are talking, or short custom links that are easy for people to type. The fewer hoops people have to jump through, the more likely they are to take action.

And if you're using a platform like StreamYard or Restream, take advantage of banners or even a simple slide deck (I like to make mine square) to keep yourself on track and display key information during the live.

The Golden Rule of Live Video: Engage With Your Audience

I cannot stress this enough. Always, always, always respond to your live audience.

Show their comments on screen. Read their names out loud. Answer their questions in the moment. When someone takes the time to type a comment during your live, they're raising their hand and saying "I'm here, I'm engaged, I care about this." If you ignore them, they will ignore you right back. And they'll be less likely to attend your next live event.

The whole point of live video is that it's interactive. It's a two-way conversation, not a one-way broadcast. You want people to feel like they walked into a networking event, not a lecture hall.

If you struggle with managing comments while also staying focused on your topic, try the buddy system. Ask a friend to join you on the live. They can read the questions and comments while you focus on teaching and chatting. It takes the pressure off and makes the whole thing more fun.

But What If Nobody Shows Up?

It happens. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. You might go live and see zero viewers.

Just keep swimming.

Act as if the room is full... because eventually, it will be. Keep talking. Keep teaching. Keep bringing your energy. Because here's what most people forget: the replay is where the real magic often happens. A lot of people prefer watching replays (me included) over catching lives in real time.

So that live you did where "nobody showed up"? It's still going to get views. It's going to get engagement. And it will live on your LinkedIn profile forever.

And here's a little trick for when the comments section is quiet during a live. Bring up questions or comments you've received elsewhere, like in the DMs, on Amazon reviews, in emails, wherever. You can say something like "I had someone ask me this the other day..." and suddenly you've created the same interactive feel even without a live audience typing in the comment realtime.

The Repurposing Goldmine

Here's one more reason to love live video. Every single live you do becomes a content goldmine.

You can download the recording and chop it into short clips for YouTube Shorts, LinkedIn video posts, or Instagram Reels. You can have the video transcribed and use the transcript to create a LinkedIn article or blog post. (I do this all the time.) You can copy/paste a great a great soundbite and turn it into a quote graphic using Canva. You can embed video clips on your website. The sky's the limit.

One 30-minute live can easily become 5–10 pieces of content across multiple platforms. That's a fabulous return on a 30-minute investment of your time.

It's Never Too Late

And listen, if you're reading this thinking "but I published my book three years ago!" So what? It's never too late to start showing up with live video.

You could schedule a live tomorrow and say "Hey, I want to talk about my book because it's been a while." Talk about how people are using it. Talk about why you wrote it. Talk about what's happened since it came out. You're the expert on this topic. That didn't expire when your book launch week ended.

Your book is an ongoing asset for your brand and your business. Be sure to treat it that way.

Remember: your book isn't just something you publish. It's something you continue to talk about.

Getting Started

If you've never done a LinkedIn Live before, start simple. Grab a friend. Pick one topic from your book. Set up a StreamYard or Restream account (I'd suggest paying for it so you get the downloads and all the good features). And just do it.

You don't need a perfect live stream studio (mine fits into a suitcase — and yes, I wrote an article about that too: Livestreaming from a Suitcase: A Digital Nomad's Guide). You don't need to be a polished speaker. You don't need to rehearse for hours. Live video is very forgiving. That's the whole beauty of it. You hit GO LIVE, you talk about what you know, and whatever happens, happens.

The only mistake you can make is not doing it at all.

What do you think? Have you ever thought about using live video to promote your book beyond the launch? Drop your thoughts in the comments... I read and respond to every single one.

P.S. Love the idea of using live video to market your book but feeling a little nervous about where to start? I get it. Sometimes you just need someone to help you map it all out. If that's you, consider booking a Power Hour with me. We'll create a simple, personalized live video strategy tailored to your book, your audience, and your comfort level... so you can hit GO LIVE with clarity and confidence.

💻 Book a Power Hour with Gillian

📖 About the Newsletter Author

Gillian Whitney is a Business Book Coach and Author Visibility Strategist who helps professionals turn their expertise into clear, compelling business books. A six-time author, she is also the host of the Easy Peasy Books Podcast, where she talks with authors about writing, publishing, and getting their books into the right hands.