Amazon.com Inc. reached a new multiyear publishing contract with Hachette Book Group covering print and digital books, according to a report November 13 by Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg in The Wall Street Journal. Read the full WSJ story here.
“The settlement ended a seven-month dispute that showed how the online retailer’s growing clout is roiling the book industry,” the Journal said.
New e-book terms will begin in early 2015. Under the new agreement, Hachette will set the prices of its digital books, but will have built-in price incentives to “deliver lower prices for readers.”
Amazon and Hachette, a unit of Lagardere SCA, were locked in battle over how e-books should be priced and how revenue from them should be shared. In the lengthy dispute, Amazon removed preorder buttons on Hachette titles, delaying shipment of some books. The move was heavily criticized by some authors.
Amazon has restored the preorder buttons and is treating Hachette titles as it did before the dispute.
