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.
She’s since selected 74 books for her club — including debut novels like “The School for Good Mothers” by Jessamine Chan and “The Cloisters” by Katy Hays, and older works, like Sandra Cisneros’s 1984 novel, “The House on Mango Street” — and sent many of them skyrocketing up the best-seller lists.
Among her selections, 47 titles became New York Times best-sellers, and 34 have been optioned for the screen, including nine that Hager optioned for her own production company, Thousand Voices. In 2024, Hager’s book club picks outpaced sales in the overall adult fiction market by more than 30 percent, according to Circana BookScan.
Starting her own imprint felt like a natural evolution from choosing books for the club, she said. When weighing options for the book club, Hager often wishes she could make editorial suggestions and reshape some of the books.
But the imprint is a separate project from “Read With Jenna,” and Hager won’t select books for her club that she published, she said.
“I still want the book club to have its own ethos,” she said. “But everything we’ve learned from the book club, I can put to use for these authors.”
Starting an imprint will test how far Hager’s influence among readers extends without the built-in audience from the “Today” show. In recent years, publishers who are looking to grab readers’ attention in a crowded marketplace have tried launching celebrity-led imprints, with mixed results.
Still, Hager has advantages over other first time publishers. She’s built a network of relationships with authors, agents and booksellers. And with the sales track record of her club choices, she’s gained a reputation for being able to spot books that have the potential to be commercial breakout hits.
With her imprint, Hager plans to be closely involved in everything from acquiring books and giving editorial notes, to deciding on cover designs and making marketing and publicity plans. She also intends to have joint television and bookstore appearances with authors, she said.
“She knows how competitive it is for new writers to get attention, so she’s strategic and thoughtful, and willing to get creative to help them,” said the literary agent Christy Fletcher, a co-head of the publishing division for United Talent Agency, who had early conversations with Hager about her vision for the imprint.
Hager conceded it will be a challenge to add publishing to her other jobs, which include co-hosting the “Today” show as well as running her book club and her production company. But she has been reading proposals and manuscripts for months, and has already acquired six books, managing to squeeze in author meetings early in the morning in her office at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
“My assistant will say, Jenna you have to go, you’re about to be on television,” she said.
The first book, which will be released by Ballantine in October, is Ariel Sullivan’s debut novel, “Conform,” a dystopian romance that takes place in a postapocalyptic future. Hager described it as so compelling that she finished reading it at 5:30 in the morning on the treadmill. Other upcoming releases include Anna McCallie’s debut, “Abby Offsides,” a romance about a woman who falls for a married Scottish football star, and Emma Brodie’s novel “Into the Blue,” about two lovers who are divided by a tragic secret.
Hager will be considering the books she publishes for potential screen adaptations for Thousand Voices, but that’s not her main objective, she said.
“The goal is to develop writers — to find the next Emily Henry, to find the next Sarah Maas — and support them,” she said. “That’s what I’ve been most obsessed with.”
