Zando has partnered with Crooked Media, the progressive media company founded in 2017 by former Barack Obama administration officials Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, and Tommy Vietor, on a new books imprint.
Crooked Media Reads will acquire works of fiction and nonfiction, as well as books for children and young readers, in categories including politics, current events, pop culture, memoir, history, and investigative journalism. The partnership allows the parties to develop book projects based on Crooked Media’s existing content, as well as content in development, in addition to original works. The imprint plans to publish between 3-6 books over the next three years.
"We know our audience of passionate engaged dweebs loves reading and they’ve questioned if we’d ever do more with books than just using them as background props to seem smart on Zoom," Crooked Media co-founders Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor said in a joint statement. "Today, we are answering that question. We can’t wait to point listeners to brilliant authors telling stories and breaking down issues in ways that are inspiring, challenging, and entertaining. And we’re thrilled to be working with Zando to help us lift up those voices."
The imprint's first book, Mobility by Lydia Kiesling, is set to publish in August 2023. The novel is Kiesling’s second, after The Golden State, which MCD/FSG published in 2018; Zando head of editorial Emily Bell, who acquired Mobility from William Morris Endeavor's Claudia Ballard, acquired The Golden State for MCD/FSG in 2017. The novel is, the publisher said, "a domestic coming-of-age novel set against a geopolitical backdrop about class, power, politics, and desire told through the life of one young woman, Elizabeth 'Bunny' Glenn.
The deal with Crooked Media is the latest in a string of partnerships Zando has signed with prominent outside partners. In May, Zando and The Atlantic inked an agreement, and others who have signed up include Sarah Jessica Parker, John Legend, Gillian Flynn, and Lena Waithe.
