Writing Daze Chats with Kfir Luzzatto author of The Evelyn Project

Welcome to Writing Daze, Kfir. Can we begin by having you tell us a little about your book?

The Evelyn Project is a thriller spanning two centuries. Today’s events are influenced by a loving father's attempt, a hundred years ago, to save his dying daughter. When his cry for help gets into the wrong hands,and a hundred years later, things get out of control.

What is the first thing you did to promote your book? In other words, what's your suggestion to authors just starting out?

Obtaining honest reviews of the book is the best way to promote a (good) book in today’s social networked environment. With so many books out there readers want some comfort that they will not waste their time reading your book; they will trust reliable book bloggers and other readers with a proven record (which can be easily checked in Goodreads or Amazon.com). Of course, if the book sucks that might not be such a good idea.

If you had to pick just one book marketing tool that you’ve used to promote your book, which would you say has been the most effective?

I don't believe there is a single marketing tool that in isolation can give good results. You really have to use a combination of the available marketing channels and, of course, different books and different authors will find success with different combinations.

Do you do more promoting online or offline and which do you prefer?

Offline is nice and tangible and does good to your self-esteem, but to get results you must be online.

Do you use social networks such as Twitter and Facebook to promote your books and have you had any success with it?

I only recently became more engaged in Twitter and Facebook. I don’t really believe that they should be used as marketing tools, though. Social networks are for building relationships, to get to know interesting people and to connect with people that otherwise you would never meet. Does that help marketing books? Of course it does, but in a very indirect way. Social networking is all about giving, not getting. When I see someone who only tweets about his own books I automatically lose interest in him or her.

Do you own a blog and how often do you update it?  Did you set up your blog solely to promote your book and what is its effectiveness?

I only started blogging in January of this year and my blogging frequency is increasing. Currently I try to post once or twice a week. Although my blog is a part of my literary website (www.kfirluzzatto.com) I do very little promotion on it. I blog about things that interest me, such as antique books. I occasionally review books, and I have a whole section devoted to “True Color Blindness”, a sociologic topic that is of particular interest to me but has nothing to do with writing (although it inspired my SciFi novel, The Odyssey Gene).

Do you recommend authors getting publicists to help them promote their books?  Do you have one? 

I have used publicists in the past. My last one was great and I learned a lot working with her, so I would not recommend against experiencing with a publicist (not the big firms, though, unless you are looking for ways to get rid of a lot of money.) Ultimately, however, it is the author’s personality that counts and the amount of time and effort she or he puts into marketing the book. No publicist, no matter how gifted, can do the author’s work.

If an author does not decide to hire a publicist, where should they start?

The best place to start is your peers. As someone wrote (I can't remember who it was), authors are not another author’s enemies, they are his friends. True, we all compete for the reader’s attention, but together we can get more of his attention than we can do separately. The name of the game is “connecting”. There is a lot to learn and much good advice available for free on the web, and that is the place to start.

What's your take on making use of bloggers for promoting your book?

Bloggers are a two-edged sword. On the one hand they are the best way to get the word about your book out there, but on the other they can do some damage to your marketing efforts. I have learned that it is extremely important to make sure that you are pitching your book to the right kind of blogger. If you have a Western novel and you give it to read to a blogger whose interest lies mainly in Young Adult dystopian fiction, chances are that your book will receive a bad review not because the  blogger is mean, but simply because yours is a genre he enjoys less and doesn't know so well. So, like in many other cases, you should research first and then submit wisely.

Thank you for coming, Kfir. We wish you much success!

About the Evelyn Project 

Evelyn’s father did everything in his power to save his dying daughter, black magic included. But when a century later his plea for help gets into the wrong hands, all hell breaks loose. Caught in the slippery battlefield between the Vatican and a cult that wants to change the past, a young Italian professor and a beautiful French actress are too busy running away from murder and conspiracy to let physical attraction develop into love. And it further complicates things when Her Majesty’s Secret Service decides to take an interest in what everyone else is doing to pull some strings of its own. Love that lasts through the veils of time, a mystery, and a race to end a conspiracy, “The Evelyn Project” is a story that will stir both your heart and your intellect.

Author’s website:  http://kfirluzzatto.com

Purchase this book through:  Amazon and Barnes and Noble