Lena Dunham is Turning ‘Lenny Letter’ into a Publishing Imprint

Image by Getty Images

By JTA April 7, 2016

(JTA) — Lena Dunham and writing partner Jenni Konner have signed a deal with Random House to turn their lifestyle newsletter Lenny into a publishing imprint.

Dunham and Konner will oversee a line of books featuring “exciting, emerging voices in fiction and nonfiction,” Random House announced Wednesday. Both women are Jewish.

“Working with Lena, Jenni and the editors of Lenny, we plan to publish a select number of titles each year to build a varied, compelling, and voice-driven list,” Random House said in a statement. “Drawing on their eye for talent and love of books, we see this as a perfect opportunity to broaden what we do at Random House, while staying true to our mission: to work with writers we love and to publish them well.”

The publisher called it a “natural extension” of its relationship with Dunham. Random House published Dunham’s best-selling memoir, “Not That Kind of Girl” in 2014.

“Lenny books will aspire to push the ball forward on the issues that matter to our audience, with wit and style,” Dunham told Buzzfeed. “We hope to see them sticking out of purses and riding public transportation everywhere.

After the announcement, Dunham tweeted: “It’s true! We’re gonna make some books 4 u.”

Lenny launched last September and covers topics such as feminism, politics, fashion and current events.

Dunham is the creator and star of the HBO series “Girls,” which is set to end after its sixth season in 2017. She also writes the show with Konner.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO