The nation’s largest trade book publisher reports that its earnings, before interest and taxes, surged 72.5 percent in the first half of 2011.
   
Random House attributes the increase in profits to a strong performance by its bestsellers and to large ebook gains. The publisher experienced 200 percent growth in ebook sales, according to a letter Random House chairman Markus Dohle sent to employees.

Digital sales so far in 2011, have already surpassed sales for all of 2010. They account for more than 20 percent of revenue.

However, tree books remain important to the company. In his letter, Dohle said strong print sales “reminds us that the print side of our business is an indispensable contributor to our greater publishing success.”

Read the full Publishers Weekly article here.

This is turning out to be an excellent day.

I received a phone call from Shirley Hailstock, president of the New Jersey Romance Writers, who informed me that my Regency manuscript, Tempting Bella, is a finalist in the 2011 NJRW’s “Put Your Heart in a Book” contest.

I am thrilled! The NJRW’s group is pretty special to me. I won in this category last year with my manuscript, Seducing Charlotte, and another of my manuscripts, Compromising Willa, placed second.

I think their judges get me!

The final judges, who will choose the winner, include Avon editor Tessa Woodward, bestselling author Cathy Maxwell (I’m a huge fan of her books) and agent Ethan Ellenberg.
       

The final winners will be announced at the NJRW’s October conference. I plan to be there. I went last year and it was a fantastic, inspiring experience.

The workshops and panels featured bestselling authors and top editors. I came back super-motivated. It’s rare when an experience exceeds expectations, but that was definitely the case last year.

Maybe it will be so again this year!   

Simon and Schuster has closed a distribution deal with author John Locke, the first self-epublished author to sell a million copies of his books through Amazon’s Kindle Store.

It’s the latest sign that the publishing world is adapting to the rapidly-changing landscape brought about by ebooks. 

Under the deal, the publisher will handle sales and distribution for the print editions of the author’s titles.The arrangement gets print editions of Locke’s books out to traditional book sellers, making them more widely available. 

Simon and Schuster will distribute eight of Locke’s Donovan Creed novels. The titles are expected to be on sale by February 2012. The publisher says more books will follow under the deal.

Locke retains the rights to edit and publish his titles.

The publisher says the arrangement is a standard distribution agreement, similar to the deals distributors regularly strike with small publishers.

The deal was negotiated by literary agent Jane Dystel.