NEW YORK – “Gone Girl” author Gillian Flynn is a household name on bestseller lists, but her personal reading tastes go towards books most haven’t heard of.

“I start every conversation about books with ‘What are the strangest things you’ve read this year? What book did you read and think about later, what was that? What an interesting and original little book, ”she told The Associated Press in a recent interview with Zoom.

Flynn will now use his judgment in a more official role. She and Emmy-winning writer-producer-actress Lena Waithe will each lead the imprints at Zando, a new house run by Molly Stern, who helped establish Flynn when she was Crown publisher. Stern founded Zando in 2020 as a platform for publishing his own books and for launching fingerprints by others.

“Lena Waithe and Gillian Flynn are dream publishing partners for Zando,” Stern said in a statement. “I am no different from the millions of other readers who know what these remarkable creators stand for, respect their unique vision and trust their taste. Lena and Gillian are cultural pioneers who devour and celebrate exciting new literary works and share my desire to support new voices. “

Flynn’s imprint will be called Gillian Flynn Books and Waithe’s will be an extension of the Hillman Grad production company she founded with Rishi Rajani. Waithe, whose credits range from writing and producing the crime film “Queen and Slim” to creating the Showtime series “The Chi”, met Stern in 2017 after the publisher contacted her in the hope she writes a book.

“When I first met Molly several years ago, I knew we were going to create something special,” Waithe said in a statement. “As Hillman Grad grew up, Rishi and I had the opportunity to support under-represented voices in film, television and music. Now we can do the same for the books and we couldn’t be more excited. “

Each edition will publish four to six books per year, according to Zando. Hillman Grad will feature “a vibrant and richly imaginative work of underrepresented voices including memoir, literary fiction and YA”, and Flynn’s imprint will focus on “a propulsive, culturally incisive and dynamic work of writers working in all genres ”.

Stern left Crown in the midst of a corporate restructuring in 2018, but remains close to Flynn and other writers she has worked with. Flynn has said that she and Stern are so closely aligned that for her imprint, she will often rely on the suggestions Stern sends her.

“She is a force of nature, and she really interested me in this particular mission,” said Flynn.

Stern’s other books at Crown ranged from “Becoming” by Michelle Obama, which sold millions of copies, to “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City” by Pulitzer Prize winner Matthew Desmond in 2017.

“If someone else had come to me about this, I’m not sure I would have been interested,” Flynn said.