In a Bertelsmann report released today, the corporate owners of Random House reported that revenues at the publisher had dropped 6.3 percent to 1.7 billion euros (about $2.3 billion) during 2008.

While sales declined in the United States, the report noted that the balance sheet remained "stable" as these losses "were largely offset by higher book sales and increased market shares in key European markets." The year's bestselling book was the novel "Brisingr" by Christopher Paolini--which managed to sell four million copies in three months on sale in North America, Germany and the U.K.

Here's more from the report: "Operating EBIT declined by 20.8 percent during the period under review, from 173 million [euros] to 137 million [euros], further reflecting developments in the economy, the marketplace and currency exchange rates, as well as higher author costs. The publishing group had 5,779 employees at the end of the year (December 31, 2007: 5,764)."