The book seller behind Harry Potter, Bloomsbury Publishing, said that half of
its best selling titles were now sold as e-books in some markets.
Cookery books such as Masterchef: the Finalists and the Paul
Hollywood's Pies and Puds (co-presenter of the Great British Bake Off)
were behind a strong increase in profits in the first half of the year.
"Our Adult division enjoyed a very good interim result, reflecting an
impressive new book programme including And the Mountains Echoed by
Khaled Hosseini (author of The Kite Runner) and The Bone Season by
Samantha Shannon, as well as a flourishing cookery list," said
Nigel Newton, chief executive.
The Bone Season is the first of a seven-installment sci-fi novel written by
21-year-old Samantha Shannon, and was acquired this week by 20th Century Fox
and Chernin Entertainment for a major new film.
The film version is to be co-produced with 20th Century Fox and The
Imaginarium a company founded by Andy Serkis, who starred as Gollum in Lord
of the Rings.
Elizabeth Gilbert's The Signature of All Things, the follow up to the
bestselling Eat, Pray, Love, is also expected to generate strong
sales over the Christmas period.
The publisher added that new titles in the adult book division increased
adjusted operating profits by 77pc to £1.1m during the first six months of
the year.
The company said that in some markets the proportion of e-book sales of new
titles was as high as 50pc.
In the UK e-book sales were up 58pc year on year. Digital sales are now 12pc
of Group sales up from 11pc last year. They mainly comprise sales of e-books
10pc of Group revenue, which are up 14pc year on the year to £5.1 million.
Bloomsbury has been expanding its presence in academic book publishing.
Bloomsbury acquired the academic law publisher, Hart, in September for £6.4m
in cash.