Amazon and book publisher Hachette resolve quarrel, sign multi-year deal

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Karen Ducey

Amazon and Hachette reached an agreement over ebook pricing after months of debate.

Rachel Lerman

Staff Writer- Puget Sound Business Journal

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Amazon and major publisher Hachette Book Group have finally reached an agreement after months of bitter, closed-door negotiations.

The companies signed a multi-year agreement for e-book and print books, they said in a joint press release Thursday.

Hachette and Amazon will immediately resume normal trading, the companies said.

Hachette will set its own prices for e-books, according to the press release, and will "benefit from better terms when it delivers lower prices for readers."

During the negotiations, which began in the spring, Amazon drew criticism from many major authors, as well as Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert. Colbert offered stickers online that read "I didn't buy it from Amazon."

The negotiations were apparently over e-book pricing.

Amazon appealed to authors in an August letter, describing its plight to lower "unjustifiably high" e-book prices. It said Hachette CEO Michael Peitsch was overcharging for e-books.

Pietsch said at the time that e-books were cheaper than print versions and called for Amazon to stop the "sanctioning tactics" against Hachette's titles. The months-long debate saw Amazon refusing orders for future Hachette Books and slowing shipping on some titles.

In August, 900 authors took out a full-page ad in the New York Times asking Amazon to stop using writers as hostages in the Hachette negotiations.

The companies did not offer further details about the deal.

Rachel Lerman covers technology and retail for the Puget Sound Business Journal.