Veteran book publicists Brittani Hilles and Amelia Possanza have launched Lavender Public Relations, a literary PR agency specializing in representing queer and feminist authors and organizations.

Lavender's current client roster includes the authors J.C. Cervantes, Alvina Chamberland, Elyssa Friedland, Laura Hankin, Stephen McCauley, Kelsey McKinney, K.T. Nguyen, Lilliam Rivera, Alana Saab, and Suzanne Scanlon. The agency also represents literary organizations, including the LGBTQ+ nonprofit Lambda Literary, Amherst College–based literary magazine The Common, and publishing startup Bindery Books.

Hilles was most recently senior publicity manager at William Morrow, where she spent nearly four years and led campaigns for Lucy Foley’s The Guest List and The Paris Apartment, Kirstin Chen’s Counterfeit, and Danya Kukafka’s Notes on an Execution. Previously, she worked as a senior publicist at Algonquin and a publicist at St. Martin's Press.

Possanza was most recently associate director of publicity at Flatiron, where she spent nearly eight years and led campaigns for Elliot Page’s Pageboy, Angie Cruz’s Dominicana, and Jane Harper’s Aaron Falk series. Previously, she worked as a publicist at the Simon & Schuster imprint Touchstone and an associate publicist at Little, Brown.

Hilles and Possanza, who each bring more than a decade of in-house publicity experience to Lavender, told PW that they hatched the idea for the agency during an excursion to celebrate the birthday of mutual friend Holly Rice-Baturin, a senior publicist at Atria.

Over Labor Day weekend, Hilles, Possanza, and a group of friends—all of whom identify as queer—absconded to a pastoral retreat, which the duo cheekily dubbed "Lesbian Log Cabin." In the hot tub, conversation broke out about what they were reading (they both loved Meryl Wilsner's sapphic romcom Cleat Cute) and their shared passion for queer books. Soon, the discussion turned to teaming up.

"We both had such mutual admiration for each other as publicists throughout the years," Hilles said, and have long had "a really good working relationship" as well. Conveniently, they're also good friends. "I remember when I was at St. Martin's—my very first job in publishing—Amelia was at Flatiron," Hilles recalled, "and we got hot chocolate one day and just talked about Laurie Frankel."

At Lavender, Hilles plans to focus on debuts and genre fiction—including thrillers, romance, and fantasy—and will spearhead publicity for Bindery Books. Possanza will focus on debut novels, literary fiction, and memoirs, and will handle publicity for The Common.

"I feel like we both have a perfect mix of experience and passions in different areas," Hilles said. "We have projects separately, we have projects together, and we're excited about what we've done so far." Possanza, for instance, calls Hilles "our influencer expert," while Possanza—herself a writer and the author of the 2023 book Lesbian Love Story—has a firm grasp on the "literary" corner of publishing, although she herself is skeptical of this catchall term. ("What does 'literary' even mean?")

Possanza stressed that, in a time of rapid change for book publicity, it's important to be nimble. "Sometimes the traditional media, the things that we used to rely on, might not be moving [the needle]," she said, so publicists should be vigilant about "what else is out there that is moving it." She noted that while book publicists once primarily worked with editors, they are increasingly working with freelancers and influencers—a shift she attributes to a general change in book promotion and the ongoing wave of media layoffs.

Hilles hammered home the importance of "treating influencers like media contacts and building relationships with them." She also remarked that it's vital to diversify a publicity campaign, so that various modes of outreach—such as working with a TikTok influencer, a Substack newsletter, or a national book club—all fit together like "pieces of the puzzle."

In starting their own agency, Hilles said, there has been "a huge learning curve, but it's also exciting to be at the point in your career where you can still be learning things." Possanza called the freedom to set your own priorities "both a blessing and a curse." Looking ahead, the pair dreams of finding a way to provide pro bono services to debut queer authors who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford a publicist. They also plan to attend AWP in 2025.

"Launching a new adventure has been thrilling," Hilles said. "We cannot wait to see what comes from merging our passion for storytelling with our industry expertise."