Lauren Cerand advises her clients on buzz, and how to get it. Her projects so far this year have included “Upstairs at the Square” for Barnes & Noble, the Mazama Festival of Books, the National Book Critics Circle Awards, and the Authors Guild Centennial Gala (taking place on June 4 at the Edison Ballroom), as well as publicity representation and strategic consultation for authors such as Jeet Thayil (Narcopolis), Dallas Hudgens (Wake Up, We’re Here), Tayari Jones (Silver Sparrow), and Pauls Toutonghi (Evel Knievel Days).
Says Publishing Perspectives, “Lauren Cerand, an independent publicist based out of New York City, always seems to be a step ahead of the game.” “She really knows how to do campaigns right,” says Mediabistro, and has been called one of the “cultural gatekeepers in the literary world” by Time Out New York, the “Best of New York” by The Village Voice, and “a social media pioneer” by Svenska Dagbladet (Swedish Daily Paper). According to the Nervous Breakdown, “Lauren Cerand is a singular powerhouse of vision and personality… there isn’t a hotter freelance publicist in the country.” She is “known for her stellar taste” according to Flavorwire and “as a freelancer of exquisite taste who only takes on projects that interest her,” says the Millions, and her work has been described as “honorable, uber-modern, and interactive” by Daily Candy.
Poets & Writers commissioned her articles, “Social Media for Authors: Forever in Search of Buzz” (online), and “How to Use Twitter to Connect With Readers” (online). She regularly speaks to audiences, including Book Expo America in New York (watch online) and Penguin Books in London (watch online), and will appear next at Adelphi University in February, the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in March, Pace University in April, and the Backspace conference in May.
Lauren is a 2001 graduate of Cornell University.
Selected Recent Clients
DIGITAL MEDIA
Booktrack
Figment
Storyville
Fictionaut (advisor)
The New Inquiry (advisor)
She Writes (advisor)
PUBLISHING INDUSTRY
The Authors Guild
Barnes & Noble’s “Upstairs at the Square”
Idlewild Books
The Penguin Press
AUTHORS
Anne Landsman (The Rowing Lesson)
Ben Greenman (Correspondences, Please Step Back)
Christopher Bollen (Lightning People)
Dallas Hudgens (multiple titles)
Jean Thompson (Throw Like a Girl, Do Not Deny Me)
Jonathan Baumbach (YOU, or The Invention of Memory)
Meg Cabot (multiple titles)
Min Jin Lee (Free Food for Millionaires)
Roxana Robinson (Cost)
Tayari Jones (The Untelling, Silver Sparrow)
Terese Svoboda (multiple titles)
ART & DESIGN
Diana Balmori
Jen Bekman Gallery
Goethe-Institut New York & Ludlow 38
MUSIC
Japanther
Everloving Records
FILM
North Lake FIlms
PRIVATE EQUITY
Level Equity
Press
In addition to the videos of talks at Penguin Books and BEA, you can also listen to “Pro Book Publicity Tips” on Mediabistro’s Morning Menu, as well as Hip Tranquil Chick Podcast #32: Be Your Authentic Brand, and download “Build Your Platform: DIY Publicity with Lauren Cerand.” “Social Media for Authors: Forever in Search of Buzz,” appears in the May/June issue of Poets & Writers, and online. “How to Use Twitter to Connect With Readers,” appears in the July/August issue of Poets & Writers, and online.
Recent Press:
The Millions, “Adventures in Self-Publishing: Dallas Hudgens’ Wake Up, We’re Here” (April 27, 2012)
The Awl, “Nine Writers and Publicists Tell All About Readings and Book Tours” (April 10, 2012)
Metro, “Madame Bovary: A Desperate Housewife” (March 5, 2012)
Book Boroughing, “Event Coordinator and Literary Publicist Lauren Cerand on Upstairs at the Square and Author Events” (February 14, 2012)
The Literarian, “Guess What’s Next: Literary Predictions for 2012” (January 19, 2012)
2011
Galleycat, “Should I Hire a Book Publicist?” (September 13, 2011)
The Grindstone, “Public Relations Is A Woman’s World Now, By Happenstance And Determination” (July 25, 2011)
Svenska Dagbladet (Swedish Daily Paper), “It Pays to Be Nice, Right?” (June 14, 2011)
The Nervous Breakdown, “New Directions in Publishing: Public Relations Representative Lauren Cerand” (May 15, 2011)
She Writes, “Five Questions for… Lauren Cerand” (May 3, 2011)
The New York Observer, “Jonathan Baumbach Kicks and Screams in ‘Dreams of Molly’” (April 26, 2011)
Publishers Weekly, “What’s Ahead in 2011” (Jan 3, 2011)
2010
Electric Literature, “A Gathering of the Minds” (December 4, 2010)
L’eau, “Interview Project #3” (December 1, 2010)
Fictionaut, “Fictionaut Five” (September 22, 2010)
NOGOODFORME, “The NOGOODFORME Interview” (September 14, 2010)
Publishing Perspectives, “People We Admire” (August 5, 2010)
The New York Observer, “My Town of Kind!” (February 23, 2010)
2009
Three Guys One Book, “Picking Lauren Cerand’s Brain” (July 14, 2009)
Flavorwire, “FW Required Reading: Jonathan Baumbach’s YOU or The Invention of Memory” (January 16, 2009)
2008
Time Out New York, “Shelf Esteem” (April 2, 2008)
