Today, we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Cerand.
Hi Lauren, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I am an independent public relations representative and consultant, largely focused on literary and cultural projects. I have freelanced for two decades, primarily in New York. About a year and a half ago, I moved to Baltimore for a better quality of life (as defined for myself by myself) after living in Italy for a year in 2019-2020, returning to New York in August 2020, and realizing I needed a different setting to thrive in Spring 2022.
At first, I assumed that everything would still revolve around New York for me since that’s where so many of my friends and colleagues are, and I spent almost my whole adult life there. I soon discovered that the Baltimore art scene is incredibly inspiring, lively, and hugely welcoming. The Hidden Palace Reading Series, which takes place monthly at Fadensonnen, brings in local talent and draws authors from around the country and the world.
In turn, I’ve been inspired, in response to demand and repeated requests and invitations, to create more literary programming and events here, starting with a bestselling British author I worked with last summer, Patrick Gale, who asked to have a Baltimore event on his U.S. tour for his newest novel, Mother’s Boy. It’s been a delight and an adventure, and most recently, I’ve been arranging some book talks for a new political biography that has a special resonance this year with the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Self-Destruction: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of U.S. Senator Daniel B. Brewster by journalist John W. Frece. And now New York venues are really interested, and I’ve been exploring possibilities in Washington, D.C., and Middleburg, Virginia, as well.
I’m also doing fun projects with friends, like launching a new reading series called WRB Presents with book review editor Michael Barron and Chris McCaffery of the Washington Review of Books in D.C., and I’m also going to help the DC Writers Room organize a new publishing mixer for everyone interested and/or involved in the industry to meet up. Tickets sold out in about a day, and there’s now a waitlist. In the past six months, I have also helped to create and launch a new online literary magazine called R&R for a local publisher, Relegation Books, which is free to read, pays artists and writers, and is edited by Baltimore-based writer Joseph Grantham (who also does Hidden Palace with his partner, author Ashleigh Bryant Phillips). I’m intrigued by the talent here, both in terms of what gets published and what’s behind the scenes and the warm and engaged audiences. I’m largely taking a break from travel this year beyond where I can go by train, so it’s been lovely to get to know the region better.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Leaving New York was difficult because I never wanted to live anywhere else before I went to Florence, Italy, for the first time in my late thirties. I vividly remember walking across a bridge the first day I was there and understanding that I would live there in my lifetime. I would never have guessed it would be a year or two later, and when I moved, I hoped to live in Italy permanently.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible due to global circumstances and my own financial situation. So, coming to terms with the heartbreak of letting that dream go has been a multi-year process. I’m content where I am and grateful for the experiences I have had and am having, but it is always on my mind.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I specialize in publicity for books, organizing media coverage, and helping authors to connect effectively with engaged audiences. I’m probably most known for my independence — I’ve never worked in-house in corporate publishing, and my creativity and initiative are my hallmarks, as well as the relationships I have around the world. I’m not focused on any one thing for projects that I work on so much as the strategy for an author or organization at this moment. I’ve worked with many authors who have become household names, and I’m proud to have built a sustainable career that continues to evolve. I see freelancing as a way of buying back my time, and that view of work as well as the freedom to make my own choices have been my driving force.
Looking ahead, I’m currently focused on the books I’ve selected for my summer and fall publicity list: Hiding For My Life: Being Gay in the Navy by Karen Solt (June), already featured on CNN as part of its coverage of the repercussions of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”; The Bone Whisperers: Two Women Scientists and their Work to Connect Lost Lives in Bosnia-Herzegovina (July) by Taina Tervonen, the 2022 recipient of the Jan Michalski Prize for Literature and newly translated from the French by Sarah Robertson; The Trees by Claudia Peña Claros, translated from Spanish by Robin Myers and timed for publication during Women in Translation Month (August); and No Ship Sets Out To Be A Shipwreck, the new book by National Book Award finalist Joan Wickersham (September).
Who else deserves credit for your story?
My biggest influences are Denise Mitchell, the head of media outreach at the AFL-CIO, under whom I worked for the first year of my career (2001-2002), and Brenda Marsh, head of author relations at Barnes & Noble when I consulted for the “Upstairs at the Square” series pairing authors and musicians at the flagship store on Union Square from 2006-2013.
They both, each in their way, set a standard in their behavior for integrity and professionalism that I strive to meet each day. Working for Denise for a single year taught me enough to blaze a path of my own for decades. Later, I complained to Brenda about a scheduling issue I had not created, and she replied, “It may not be our fault, but it’s our responsibility.” I think of that (and act accordingly) often.
Contact Info:
- Website: LaurenCerand.com
- Instagram: @Laurencerand
Image Credits
Lauren Cerand: Girls and Their Cats
