A Sweet Sip of Professional PR

Thanks to a tip from my friend, Kirsten Menger-Anderson on the Zoetrope writer's workshop, I signed up for an online class on Innovative Publicity Basics for Writers with Lauren Cerand, who is a well-regarded publicist (and friends with awesome editor Rachel Kramer Bussel as well). The class was very informative and at the end Lauren offered to do individualized consultations. I know I could never afford the full services of a publicist, but I decided to take my Winter Solstice gift early this year and give it a try.

I was really pleased with our discussion. We covered a lot in thirty minutes and I could tell I was dealing with a smart, savvy professional. Lauren gave me lots of great detailed advice, but the main big picture strategy was to embrace and celebrate my erotic interests holistically and not separate myself into a "literary" good girl and a "smutty" slut. After getting the snooty treatment from a number of booksellers because my dirty novel is beneath them, this was truly balm to me.

A good publicist should of course help you with the details, the bookings and the interviews and so forth, but my talk with Lauren made me realize it's important to have a strong overall vision as well.

As a cherry on the sundae, Lauren mentioned me on her blog, Lux Lotus: Art, Politics and Style Broadly Defined as a person she likes. I have to be honest and admit it--I like Lauren, too!