Random House

With e-book sales exploding in an otherwise sleepy market, Random House Inc. was expected to announce today that it was making thousands of additional books available in digital form, including novels by John Updike and Harlan Coben, as well as several volumes of the "Magic Treehouse" children's series.

Random House said it will publish a long-anticipated autobiography by Walt Disney Co. Chairman Michael Eisner, probably in October. The book, which Eisner, who has been collaborating with writer Tony Schwartz for about four years, is expected to cover his views of the entertainment business and his tenure at Disney since he was hired to turn the company around in 1984.

The memoirs of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the object of an international bidding war that went on for days, have been acquired by imprints of Random House Inc. in the United States and England. "I hope my memoirs will provide a serious and thoughtful, but also entertaining, reflection on my time as a member of Parliament and as prime minister," Blair said in a statement issued Thursday by publishers Hutchinson in England and Alfred A. Knopf in the United States.

Thousands of readers scoop up Jonathan Kellerman's psychological thrillers, including President Clinton, who read "The Web" during his August vacation in Wyoming. Fans probably don't care which publisher brings the writer's goodies to market. But among publishers, it matters a great deal to have on board a writer who routinely turns out one bestseller a year involving a character long established with his audience.

Harold Evans, founding editor-in-chief of Conde Nast Traveler, has been named president and publisher of Random House Adult Trade Books at Random House Inc. He will replace Joni Evans, who is giving up the position as publisher of the Adult Trade Books imprint, which publishes general fiction and nonfiction, to start her own list of books for Random House, Alberto Vitale, chairman of Random House, said in a release. Harold Evans, 61, also has been named executive vice president of Random House.

Random House Inc. of New York said Monday that it has established a new division, Random House Entertainment in Newport Beach, to create children's properties that can be licensed for development as books, toys and films and in other formats. Shane DeRolf, former executive vice president and creative director of the World POG Federation, has been named president of the division.

Random House Inc. and Focus Features will join forces in a new production entity, Random House Films, the companies announced Thursday. The two firms will share financial, creative and production responsibilities for adapting books to film and turning film material into books.

Stuart Berg Flexner, 62, who was editor in chief of the reference department at Random House from 1980 to 1989. He was in charge of the second edition of the unabridged Random House Dictionary of the English Language, a 2,478-page work that took more than 300 lexicographers nine years to compile. He also was co-author, with Harold Wentworth, of The Dictionary of American Slang and author of "I Hear America Talking" and "Listening to America." In Greenwich, Conn., on Monday of bone cancer.

Random House Inc. has settled a lawsuit against an e-book publisher that was selling digital versions of Kurt Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle" and seven other popular titles. RosettaBooks will continue publishing the works, which predate the rise of the Web, and will collaborate with Random House on additional books. But the settlement leaves unresolved the issue of whether authors or publishers control rights to e-books when the contract has no specific language about the electronic format.

Random House Inc., the book publisher owned by Bertelsmann, agreed to buy a 90% stake in Virgin Books and signed Richard Branson to a five-book deal. Branson will retain a 10% stake in the London-based company through his Virgin Group Ltd., the companies said. His previous titles include an autobiography and a business book.