DISQUS

Dan Wickett · 5 months ago

Having had the pleasure of co-running a few e-panels with Lauren, I can say if I had a new book being published next year, I'd hope beyond hope that she loved it and would take a look at working with me.


Great interview.

DH · 5 months ago

That's a great interview, JE. Lauren sounds so cool. One thing I picked up on is that a writer should know their audience...before they speak or blog about their work.


Do all writers have a sense of who their audience is? Or want to know that?

Kimberly M. Wetherell · 5 months ago

This was a GREAT interview! Encouraging AND enlightening! Thanks for posting!

DH · 5 months ago

I agree with Lauren's statement...and JR's take on it...mostly. The more original the work, the more the artist is creating their own audience...educating people to support their work.


But I also like a sense that the writer is trying to reach out to a community of which they are a part...

Natasha Solomons · 5 months ago

Thanks, most insightful.


Do you know how Lauren manages to work/ co-ordinate with the publicists at the big publishers? They usually have firm ideas of how they see a book/ its campaign. It sounds like careful diplomacy is needed.

jonathan evison · 5 months ago

. . .excellent question, natasha, and one i've been meaning to ask LC . . .maybe i can lure her back to address this one . . .

Dan Wickett · 5 months ago

Dzanc has had two or three authors that also hired independent publicists. We've also worked on a reading tour with one of our authors and one from U-Arkansas Press and are in the process of setting up some readings with one of our authors and one from Spiegel & Grau.


We've obviously smaller and do not have one person assigned to each book like the larger publishers, but we've never had a problem. If there is communication early enough, there's rarely duplication of efforts. If the indie publicist has an inside track with a reviewer from a paper, or a curator of a reading series and we do not - hell, let her/him take the lead. I think a lot of it goes back to JE's drive for community building. Take advantage of whomever has that lead - the author, the publisher, the publicist, somebody's third cousin - whatever it takes.



It would be cool to hear though if it's much different when working with one of the bigs.

Greg Olear · 5 months ago

Great interview.


Well, I've got the sense of urgency part down pat. I don't think I'm going to be able to relax until Christmas, if then...

jonathan evison · 5 months ago

. . .glad you saw this, greg . . . i can say from experience that greg is doing everything right . . . his book, "totally killer" (which i blurbed!) launches october 1-- it's a hilarious send-up of 90s thriller ala "the firm" . . . greg has been putting the heat on and audience building for five or six months, which is exactly as it should be . . . i predict that greg, with his own efforts, will impact his book sales enough to better his position for round two-- which most writers, alas, never make it to . . . the difference? hustle, baby . . .every young writer has to play like peter rose in today's game!

Greg Olear · 5 months ago

Thanks, JE. Appreciate the kind words -- and the blurb, of course!


If I were really like Pete Rose, I'd bet on myself -- and then I'd get thrown out of the Hall of Fame and...OK, so the analogy has broken down.

jonathan evison · 5 months ago

. . . by all means bet on yourself! steroids have blurred the hall of fame prerequisites beyond recognition, anyway . . .

Lauren Cerand · 5 months ago

I design my work to be complementary to what in-house services publishers provide, which depends on a wide array of factors including the size of the house, the resources for the book, etc. When I started out, I focused on online media and dynamic events because that's what I'm into, but also because that was missing from the scene in 2003/4/5. There's more room for healthy, fruitful strategic collaboration than there is for anyone to get squeezed, in my opinion. I've discovered in consulting to organizations beyond the campaign model that it's a real asset to provide an external perspective; much of what's problematic within industries comes from a myopic worldview and stagnant groupthink. I can encourage people to take risks and restructure certain outdated ways of approaching systems in a straightforward manner that I can appreciate as impossible to direct from within "in-house." It's all good.

jonathan evison · 5 months ago

LOVE this bit, LC:


"I've discovered in consulting to organizations beyond the campaign model that it's a real asset to provide an external perspective; much of what's problematic within industries comes from a myopic worldview and stagnant groupthink."



. . . this is so so soooo true! i've found that where i've been successful at nearly every stage is by being counter-intuitive to the prevailing logic, and getting outside my comfort zone-- and this is equally true as an artist and a marketer . . .

Greg Olear · 5 months ago

Worldview myopia and groupthink stagnation, incidentally, is what is killing/has killed newspapers.


A nimbler industry would have -- to continue the baseball metaphor, JE -- knocked the hanging curve that was the Internet revolution out of the park, instead of taking it and waiting for another pitch.



And don't even get me started on the music industry...

It really is three guys. · 5 months ago

Lets be honest, the music business "model" is gone, like a fart in a blizzard, the book business model, well, it's holding on, but as they used to say in Chelsea Billiards when a game was over and the player losing didn't know it..."You're dead, you just forgot to lay down."
-jr

Natasha Solomons · 5 months ago

Thanks so much for answering my question. Sceptre and Reagan Arthur (who are publishing my book in the UK and US respectively) have really interesting ideas for reaching readers - and we are discussing different ideas for promoting online. It's a new world for me.


So, thanks again Lauren and 3 guys...

jonathan evison · 5 months ago

. . .i love reagan arthur, btw . . . she's one of the best in the business, and a total class act!

Gina Frangello · 5 months ago

It's always really thrilling to hear from Lauren, someone who unabashedly only does what she loves and has made that, more than anything else, her mission as a publicist. I've heard her speak in person in both small and large conferences, from Pilcrow to BEA, and there is no one more sincerely enthusiastic or having a better time in publishing than LC--and it shows. I think one of the great things for the authors who work with her is that everyone who knows her knows there is no bullshit involved--if she says she loved it and it rocked her world, you can damn well believe it, and her intensity is such that you start to figure it'll rock yours too. Great interview!

James P. Othmer · 5 months ago

More great stuff. Thanks Guysx3 and Lauren. My first job out of college was as publicist for Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Yates, and about 20 other authors. I wasn't very good at it. Which is why every time I speak with my publicist today I realize how hard their job is and how many books they're juggling during leaner and leaner times. I've been lucky to have two energetic and collaborative in-house publicists work on my books. I try to give them as much info and ideas as I can early on and then try to stay out of their way. I'd thought of working with an independent publicist for my next (nonfiction) book, and I'm certain it would have helped for all the reasons mentioned, namely, to Lauren's comment, for the complementary,external perspectives, and, I imagine, a different set of close contacts. Who wouldn't want that? However, what I couldn't determine, was how much it would help, short or long term, in relation to what it would cost. I'm certain it would ultimately be a worthwhile investment, but (see leaner and leaner times) one I couldn't swing this time around. I'd love to see the discussion continue with an emphasis on something I've been giving an unhealthy amount of thought to, advertising and promotion.

Drinks with Tony · 5 months ago

great info.


i love the 'don't quit your day job' line JE.



i've avoided a day job...by working 60 hours a week sometimes, to keep up my freelance writing. now in this economy, i just might have to learn how to steam milk for a latte.



still wouldn't trade the writing trade fo' nothin'. it's kind of like writing a epitaph for a very long time.