Lena Dunham Signs $3.5 Million Book Deal, Chats With 'Girls' Fans At New Yorker Festival
Lena Dunham's breakout comedy series "Girls" premiered on HBO only last year, but she is already a nationally recognizable name.
Dunham has used her fresh comedic voice to launch an instantly successful career, and she hit a new benchmark this week when she pulled in more than $3.5 million for an advance on her first book, according to The New York Times.
Several publishing houses entered a bidding war for Dunham's work before the actress and writer chose Random House Publishing Group.
Random House's editor-in-chief Susan Kamil released a statement Monday sharing the publishing company's excitement about bringing Dunham on board.
"We're thrilled to welcome Lena to Random House. Her skill on the page as a writer is remarkable - fresh, wise, so assured. She is that rare literary talent that will only grow from strength to strength and we look forward to helping her build a long career as an author," Kamil said in the statement.
Random House said Dunham's work is "in the tradition of Helen Gurley Brown, David Sedaris, and Nora Ephron," and in it Dunham shares "frank and funny advice on everything from sex to eating to traveling to work."
Dunham got some face time with fans over the weekend at the annual New Yorker Festival, where she chatted about "Girls" and some of the criticism the show has received. Dunham said she listens to negative feedback, but she considers herself her own worst critic.
"I've been in therapy since I was seven - I thought I had cornered the market on self-criticality," she said.
The second season of "Girls" has been filming around New York City and is set to premiere on HBO in January.
Dunham shared a teaser trailer for season two in September, writing on Twitter, "We're coming back, this time with a slo-mo thuggish attitude."
CLICK HERE to see the teaser trailer for season two of "Girls."
