Pricing dispute between Amazon, Hachette at an end

The ongoing battle between Hachette Book Group and Amazon is finally at an end. The two companies recently reached a multi-year agreement for book sales. This is great news for readers since throughout the dispute, Amazon has been postponing the availability of books by the Hachette Group, including J.K. Rowling’s The Silkworm, penned under pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

MuggleNet first reported the tension between Amazon and Hachette back in May when it became apparent that the dispute could have an impact on J.K. Rowling fans. The Silkworm was ultimately shipped to consumers in a timely manner due to pressure from consumers but was not available for pre-order on Amazon.

The dispute began when, while negotiating new contracts, Amazon wanted Hachette to price all of their e-books at $9.99 or less, and Hachette refused to comply. According to recent negotiations, Hachette will be setting the price of their e-books sold on Amazon and will receive financial incentives for pricing them lower. This does not mean that all of Hachette’s e-books will be priced at $9.99, but hopefully, it will translate to lower costs for consumers.

In the press release, Michael Pietsch, CEO of Hachette, is quoted as saying,

This is great news for writers. The new agreement will benefit Hachette authors for years to come. It gives Hachette enormous marketing capability with one of our most important bookselling partners.

Vice president of Kindle David Naggar also commented on the agreement:

We are pleased with this new agreement [since] it includes specific financial incentives for Hachette to deliver lower prices, which we believe will be a great win for readers and authors alike.

You can read the original article here, and the full press release can be read on the Business Insider website.

Are you relieved that the dispute seems to have come to an end? Are you looking relieved you’ll be able to pre-order the next installment in the Cormoran Strike series when it comes out? Let us know in the comments below!