Entertainment
Jenna Bush Hager: ‘Today’ Show Co-Host, Literary Tastemaker and Now, Publisher
Nearly six years after becoming a literary heavyweight with “Read with Jenna,” she’s starting her own publishing venture with Penguin Random House.
Jenna Bush Hager, who became one of the most influential figures in publishing when she launched a book club on the “Today” show nearly six years ago, said on Wednesday that she now plans to do more than just recommend books: She’s going to publish them.
Hager announced she is starting her own publishing venture with the Random House Publishing Group, called Thousand Voices x RHPG. Through the partnership, Hager will publish four to six books a year at various imprints within Random House, which is part of Penguin Random House.
She’s looking to acquire books across a range of genres, including memoir, literary fiction, romance and historical fiction, she said.
“I love books that are propulsive and fun and people can’t put them down, but also are conversation starters,” she said in an interview.
Hager — who before her rise as a literary influencer was best known as one of former President George W. Bush’s daughters — became a prominent book booster in 2019, when she became a co-host of NBC’s “Today” show and launched her monthly book club.
In doing so, she joined the ranks of celebrity book club hosts like Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Emma Roberts, and gave authors a rare platform in front of a mass television audience. Her first pick, “The Last Romantics” by Tara Conklin, was an instant New York Times best seller.
