Lauren Cerand advises her clients on buzz, and how to get it. Her campaign projects this year include programming and publicity for the high-profile event series, “Upstairs at the Square” for Barnes & Noble, and the Mazama Festival of Books (returning for a second year, September 7-8, in Washington State’s Methow Valley) as well as publicity representation and consultation for exceptionally talented authors such as Anouk Markovits (I Am Forbidden, Hogarth), Katherine Bucknell (+1, Odyssey Editions), and Masha Hamilton (What Changes Everything, Unbridled); and the extraordinary artist Molly Crabapple. Lauren will also handle publicity for the Authors Guild Dinner.

She has been called one of the “cultural gatekeepers in the literary world” by Time Out New York, and one of “50 Up-and-Coming New York Culture Makers to Watch in 2013″ by Flavorwire. 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.”

Lauren is known ”as a freelancer of exquisite taste who only takes on projects that interest her,” says the Millions. She is “a social media pioneer,” says Svenska Dagbladet (Swedish Daily Paper) and a “specialist in literary social networking,” says the Telegraph (UK). According to the Rumpus, Lauren is “in that rare category of people in publishing who are both arbiters of taste and a kind of ‘brand’ in and of themselves.”

Poets & Writers commissioned her articles, “Social Media for Authors: Forever in Search of Buzz,” and “How to Use Twitter to Connect With Readers.” She regularly speaks to audiences as varied as publishing professionals at Book Expo America and Penguin Books in London, and faculty within the Psychology Department at New York University. Most recently, she discussed innovative social media applications with CEOs of six emerging companies at a venture capital firm’s annual meeting. Her one-time strategic consultation service is tailored to the needs of the client, which has ranged from a shipping firm to artists and public speakers eager to expand their audience, reach and influence.

Lauren serves on the Membership Committee of PEN American Center, and donates her publicity services to the National Book Critics Circle for its annual awards. She is a graduate of Cornell University.