Lauren Cerand is an independent public relations representative specializing in strategic consultation, whose clients this year include Barnes & Noble ("Upstairs at the Square"), the bands Japanther and The Growlers, and the authors Meg Cabot (Insatiable), Maria Semple (This One is Mine), Diana Balmori (A Landscape Manifesto) and Terese Svoboda (Pirate Talk or Mermalade). Lauren has been called one of the “cultural gatekeepers in the literary world” by Time Out New York and the “Best of New York” by The Village Voice, and featured in a New York Observer article on “The New Nice." She is “known for her stellar taste” according to Flavorwire, and her work has been described as “honorable, uber-modern, and interactive” by Daily Candy. She has spoken at Book Expo America in New York (watch online) and Penguin Books in London (watch online), and appears this year at New York University (January), Columbia University (March), Rider University (March), “Writing the Future” (Maryland, March), University of the Pacific (California, April), Oxford University Press (New York, April), New York Round Table Writers Conference (May), Nebraska Summer Writers Conference (June) and Squam Art Workshops Readers Retreat (New Hampshire, September). “Innovative Publicity Now” is available. Lauren is board chair of Girls Write Now (check out 20x200’s benefit edition!), and a graduate of Cornell University.