"It's an ensemble comedy with a female lead set in the publishing world, but it's really about the characters and their relationships," Lerner said. "Books" was based on an idea Lerner had been developing in the back of her mind for years. It is inspired by the time she spent as a temp in the publishing world at the beginning of her career and by the experiences of her sister Betsy, who worked as a book editor for 15 years before becoming a literary agent.

"I like the frustrations, the collaborative process," Lerner said of publishing. "Publishing is a lot like sitcoms. Although both are supposedly dying, that only makes people more passionate about creating the next great novel or show." Lerner said she knew she had to write the project on spec because "there were too many elements that weren't very development-friendly."