Lena Dunham Gets $3.5M+ Book Deal (Report)

Book from "Girls" creator sparks intense auction

"Girls" creator Lena Dunham has scored a more than $3.5 million book deal with Random House after a heated auction, The New York Times reported.

Getty ImagesThe 26-year-old Emmy-nominated writer and star of HBO's "Girls" showed publishers a 66-page book proposal for a debut essay collection called “Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s Learned.”

Bidding climbed past $3.5 million, several publishers involved in the negotiations told The Times. Random House declined to comment on the amount of the advance.

Susan Kamil, the editor-in-chief and publisher of Random House, confirmed the acquisition.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Lena to Random House. Her skill on the page as a writer is remarkable — fresh, wise, so assured," Kamil said. "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.”

Random House said the book was “in the tradition of Helen Gurley Brown, David Sedaris, and Nora Ephron.” It said it would offer "frank and funny advice on everything from sex to eating to traveling to work." One chapter was described as"“an account of some radically and hilariously inappropriate ways I have been treated at work/by professionals because of my age and gender."

The essay collection will be edited by Random House executive editor Andy Ward.

Dunham said in a statement that she was "thrilled to be working with and learning from the brilliant minds at Random House, and to be among their incredible roster of authors."

"I look forward to digging deep with Andy and co. to produce the most thoughtful and personal book I can," she said.

Dunham's first film, "Tiny Furniture," was released in 2010.

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