Bertelsmann, the corporate parent of Random House, reports a surge in profits for the first half of 2010. E-book sales alone jumped by 300%.

A financial report from the German-based media giant singled out Random House as a particularly successful division.

Peace appears to have broken out between Random House and the Wylie Agency.

Wylie struck a deal with Amazon to produce digital editions of classics by authors including John Updike, Norman Mailer, Philip Roth and Ralph Ellison. Random House objected, claiming digital rights existed even when not specified in original contracts

Trade magazine Publishers Weekly is targetting self-published authors by offering paid space in a new supplement.

PW Select is described as "a quarterly supplement announcing self-published titles and reviewing those we believe are most deserving of a critical assessment."

Four authors have withdrawn from a literary festival after a fellow writer was banned from speaking.

Ellen Hopkins, whose books deal with drug addiction, incest and teen prostitution announced in her blog last week that the organizers of the annual Teen Lit Fest in Humble Texas had withdrawn her invitation.