Amazon and Hachette End Pricing War

November 18, 2014

Last week, after months of publicly battling over a contract, Amazon and book publisher Hachette have finally resolved their dispute and signed a multiyear contract. According to The New York Times, Hachette will now be able to set the prices on its e-books.

“The new agreement…gives Hachette enormous marketing capability with one of our most important bookselling partners,” said Hachette CEO Michael Pietsch, in a statement. “[The] approach, known as the Agency model, protects the value of our authors’ content, while allowing the publisher to change e-book prices dynamically to maximize sales.”

The dispute began when Amazon supposedly sought concessions on the book sales from Hachette, which Hachette turned down. Amazon responded by delaying the delivery of Hachette books, which lead to an uproar from Hachette authors, and the literary community at large. Amazon fought back, with a letter that argued that Hachette was “overcharging” for its books.

David Naggar, vice president of Kindle, said that the new agreement allows Hachette “responsibility for setting consumer prices of its e-books, and [Hachette] will also benefit from better terms when it delivers lower prices for readers. Amazon and Hachette will immediately resume normal trading, and Hachette books will be prominently featured in promotions.”

The new agreement comes after one recently reached between Amazon and Simon & Schuster.

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