Online giant Amazon and publisher Hachette have resolved an unpleasant row over the pricing of print and ebooks. The companies have been battling over the terms of a new contract since early May.
Amazon was accused of using “aggressive” negotiation tactics, such as preventing customers pre-ordering books, reducing discounts and delaying shipments of the publisher’s titles, hitting sales. These actions triggered outrage from nearly 1,000 authors.
Douglas Preston, a bestselling author whose books are published by Hachette and who spearheaded the Authors United petition, said: “I’m very relieved both for myself and for my fellow Hachette authors. I don’t know the full details but I’m sure Michael Pietsch would not have accepted anything that was not beneficial for his authors, so I’m quite satisfied and happy about it”.