Poets & Writers is proud to highlight past cohorts of Get the Word Out, a publicity incubator for early career authors. Under the mentorship of an accomplished book publicist, these writers developed and executed publicity strategies to maximize the exposure of their first or second book, reach readers, and create a platform to propel their literary careers.
2023 Fiction Cohort and Publicity Mentor
Congratulations to Alisa Alering, Bruna Dantas Lobato, Christina Cooke, Esinam Bediako, Jessie Marshall, Kathya Alexander, Lena Valencia, Lynn Stansbury, Marissa Higgins, and Parul Hinzen, our 2023 Get the Word Out fiction cohort!
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2023 Fiction Publicity Mentor
Born and raised in Malaysia, May-Zhee Lim is a writer and freelance publicist living in New York. During her time with Riverhead Books, she has worked on all kinds of book campaigns, helping launch the careers of debut authors and continuing to expand the readership of prize-winning authors including Hernan Diaz, Olga Tokarczuk, James McBride, Masha Gessen, Patricia Lockwood, C Pam Zhang, Claire Vaye Watkins, and Sigrid Nunez, just to name a few. In 2021, she made the Publishers Weekly Star Honoree list for her creative, out-of-the-box publicity ideas, including a partnership with a New York City bakery to print a short story by Etgar Keret on their cake wrappers and a curated, open air, pop-up reading room series around the city. She was previously an executive assistant at PEN America. Currently, May-Zhee is at work on her first novel and moonlighting as a communications consultant for EMPAC, a center for experimental media and performing arts, and Cento Lit, a literary/nonprofit consultancy agency started by Katie Freeman.
2023 Poetry Cohort and Publicity Mentor
Congratulations to Ashia Ajani, Caitlin Cowan, Ae Hee Lee, Sebastian Merrill, Sahar Muradi, Olatunde Osinaike, Dimitri Reyes, Leslie Sainz, Violet Spurlock, and Jorrell Watkins, our 2023 Get the Word Out inaugural poetry cohort!
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2023 Poetry Publicity Mentor
Morgan LaRocca is the publicist at Milkweed Editions. Prior to joining Milkweed in 2022 they worked as a freelance publicist, publicity associate at Graywolf Press and served as marketing and publicity intern at Tin House Books. They are a graduate of Towson University and a proud Baltimorean.
2022 Fiction Cohort and Publicity Mentor
Congratulations to Federico Erebia, Kristen Gentry, Anita Gail Jones, Chin-Sun Lee, Magogodi Makhene, Mark Ernest Pothier, Shannon Sanders, Brenda Wilson, Lauren Yero, and Ada Zhang, our 2022 Get the Word Out inaugural fiction cohort!
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View readings by the 2022 Fiction Cohort
2022 Fiction Publicity Mentor
Get the Word Out will launch in November 2022 with the program’s inaugural cohort of debut fiction authors. The Publicity Mentor for this group will be Lauren Cerand.
Cerand has twenty years of experience running her own thriving global communications consultancy, driven by an intensive personal focus on each client’s needs and desires, a vast network of relationships, and unparalleled expertise and ingenuity. She helps creative professionals to connect with audiences and inspire community, often through the lens of media. Cerand has advised writers, artists, publishers, and media and cultural organizations that are household names throughout her career and guided many more that are still finding their path. After two decades in New York and a year in Florence, Italy, she now lives in Baltimore and continues to work internationally. For more information, visit LaurenCerand.com.