Amazon ends Hachette feud. Deal called 'great news for writers.'
| New York
One of publishing's nastiest, most high-profile conflicts, the months-long standoff between Amazon.com and聽Hachette聽Book Group, is ending.
Amazon聽and聽Hachette聽announced a multiyear agreement Thursday. With e-book revenues reportedly the key issue,聽Amazon had removed pre-order tags for聽Hachette聽books, reduced discounts and slowed deliveries. Those restrictions are being lifted immediately, according to the announcement.
"This is great news for writers. The new agreement will benefit聽Hachette聽authors for years to come. It gives聽Hachette enormous marketing capability with one of our most important bookselling partners,"聽Hachette聽CEO Michael Pietsch said in a statement.
"We are pleased with this new agreement as it includes specific financial incentives for聽Hachette聽to deliver lower prices, which we believe will be a great win for readers and authors alike," said David Naggar, vice president for Kindle,聽Amazon's聽e-book store and device.
The agreement takes effect early next year.
The Amazon-Hachette dispute had dominated publishing headlines and conversations for much of the year. James Patterson, John Green and hundreds of authors had condemned聽Amazon's聽actions, and Stephen Colbert had mocked the online retailer. Meanwhile, Hugh Howey, J.A. Konrath and other writers published by聽Amazon聽had blamed聽Hachette聽and praised聽Amazon聽for keeping prices low and allowing authors unhappy with traditional publishers to release their work elsewhere.
Neither side had seemed to benefit.聽Hachette聽sales on Amazon.com, the country's biggest bookseller, had dropped sharply.Amazon, meanwhile, issued a disappointing earnings report last month, although the impact of聽Hachette聽books was unclear.
Hachette, whose authors include Patterson and Donna Tartt, was among five publishers sued in 2012 by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly fixing e-book prices. The publishers, who had worried that聽Amazon聽was charging too little for e-books, settled and were required to negotiate new deals with聽Amazon聽and other retailers.
Under the new agreement,聽Hachette聽set prices for e-books, "and will also benefit from better terms when it delivers lower prices for readers."
Amazon聽last month reached a multiyear deal with Simon & Schuster, another publisher that was sued in 2012 and eventually settled.
