This article is from the archive of our partner .

Today in books and publishing: Girls creator has inked a huge deal; Wikileaks founder has a book deal; and uncertainty over Penguin's future ownership.

Dunham's book reportedly goes for $3.5 million. Spokespeople still aren't commenting on the advance, so we remain skeptical, but anonymous "publishers" are saying that Random House has purchased Lena Dunham's book for $3.5 million. "We’re thrilled to welcome Lena to Random House editor-in-chief and publisher Susan Kamil. "Her skill on the page as a writer is remarkable—fresh, wise, so assured," writes Random House 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." In Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s Learned, Dunham will pen essays about personal experiences and offers advice for success. Judging from how quickly she's ascended the ladder from low-budget filmmaker to darling of the New York cultural stratosphere, she must know a thing or two about success. [The New York Times]

WikiLeaks founder, other "cypherpunks" to release book. No, not "cyberpunk"—"cypherpunk." Sorry to everyone hoping to read Assange's Hackers fan fiction. OR Books has announced the November 26th release of a book co-written by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange about Internet freedom and government surveillance. Cypherpunk's other authors include Jacob Appelbaum (Tor Project member and WikiLeaks representative), Jérémie Zimmermann (co-founder of La Quadrature du Net), and Andy Müller-Maguhn (Chaos Computer Club hacker), some of whom have been targeted by law enforcement agencies due to their work. "In March 2012 I gathered together three of today’s leading cypherpunks to discuss the resistance," Assange said in a statement about the book. "Their words, and their stories, need to be heard." Let's all hope it goes better than his $1.3 million deal with Canongate, which resulted in demands he return the money paid, publication of his autobiography over Assange's objections, and miniscule book sales. [The New York Times]