Lauren Cerand

"My first call is to Lauren Cerand, a highly sought-after independent publicity guru who exudes an easy bookish glamour."
— Poets & Writers

Lauren Cerand is the founder and owner of Lauren Cerand Public Relations, and has been active in the field since 2001. In 2025, Morgan Jerkins said, when profiled in Princeton Alumni Weekly, “I knew it would take a village—in-house with HarperCollins and with outside publicist Lauren Cerand—for Zeal to succeed.”

Cerand is available for select strategic consulting in 2026, and for full book campaigns requested by new clients, she is currently reading for 2027 publication dates.

In 2026, Cerand will speak to audiences in-person at Dartmouth and the Chesapeake Writers’ Conference, and, in January, she will launch two new literary event series in Brooklyn, at Anaïs and the Urbane Arts Club.

Her publicity list in 2026 includes:

Winter: Generator by Rinny Gremaud, a debut novel, translated from the French by Holly James, that _Shelf Awareness_says, “provides a deeply meditative examination of identity––’relative, if not fluid’––provocatively conflating nuclear power with biological ancestry,” Foreword Reviews called “an enthralling, genre-bending novella,” and Publishers Weekly says, “leaves readers with much to chew on” (Schaffner Press, January); Hostages: A Counter-History of Colonial Plunder by Taina Tervonen, new narrative nonfiction from a winner of the Jan Michalski Prize for Literature, translated from the French by Sara Hanaburgh (Schaffner Press, February).

Spring: The Daughters by Joanna Margaret (Mysterious Press, March); Deborah Brown English’s Time’s Breath art exhibition, opening at Creative Alliance in Baltimore in early March, after rave reviews for the accompanying book in September, including by Jack Livingston in Bmore Art: “It transported me back to that golden age of publishing. As I sat down with the book and flipped through its pages, I discovered something more intricate—a modern reinterpretation of this genre. It’s both a deconstruction and a reconstruction of the classic illustrated fantasy fiction books of the past.”

Summer: Two newly reissued novels by Howard Rodman in May; Brahms Comes to Dinner by Boman Desai (Schaffner Press, June).

Fall: Any Kind of Known Tomorrow by Leah De Forest (a debut novel; Betty Books, September), and Dope Calisthenics by Sylvia Jones (Relegation Books, Fall 2026).

In 2027, confirmed authors include Kirmen Uribe.

She holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Industrial & Labor Relations from Cornell University. She serves on the advisory committee of Film Forum in New York, and lives in Baltimore.

Photo: Joanna Tillman. Web design: Bud Parr.