Girls co-creators Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner are expanding the Lenny media operation, and getting into the book business. The creative duo revealed that they’ve launched a new publishing imprint at Random House, also called Lenny.
The Lenny publishing banner will publish books by “exciting, emerging voices” in fiction and nonfiction; the kind of authors one might expect to read in the Lenny newsletter, Random House said in a press release. The publisher, which worked with Dunham on her 2014 memoir, Not That Kind of Girl, called the deal a “natural extension” of their relationship.
In an interview with Buzzfeed, Dunham agreed, and added that she and Konner hoped to use the imprint to “push the ball forward on the issues that matter to our audience.”
“While we love our home on the Internet, Jenni and I are both voracious readers (of books and book reviews) who are constantly trading titles and allowing them to stir us creatively,” Dunham told Buzzfeed. “Our friendship often doubles as a book club. We feel like the Lenny voice lends itself to a diverse list of authors and we are so excited to work with Random House – they get our mission completely. Lenny books will aspire to push the ball forward on the issues that matter to our audience, with wit and style. We hope to see them sticking out of purses and riding public transportation everywhere.”