Watch out Oprah – Lena Dunham is starting her own empire
Oprah Winfrey might have a new contender when it comes to a female entrepreneur with her fingers in many, many pies. Lena Dunham has just announced that, not content with running a newsletter, writing a successful TV show, authoring a book and numerous articles, she's going to be launching a publishing house, Lenny Books.
Lenny Books will be an imprint of publishing giant Penguin Random House, and will see Dunham partner with her Lenny newsletter co-creator Jenni Konner. Announcing the move to Buzzfeed, Dunham said that, "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. 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."
In an accompanying statement, Random House said we could expect to see "the kinds of exciting, emerging voices — in fiction and non-fiction — that Lena and Jenni Konner are already attracting and publishing so successfully in their newsletter and on their site." In a way, it makes perfect sense for Dunham to be setting up her own publishing house. After all, her newsletter Lenny has been a runaway success, securing coups such as Jennifer Lawrence's self-penned response to the Sony leaks alongside interviews with the likes of Hillary Clinton. There's no news yet on when Lenny Books might launch, but if you're a Dunham fan (which many of you are) – watch this space.
