The Amazon and Hachette Feud Is Over, For Now

Posted:

Amazon and Hachette have finally reached an agreement.

The world's largest online retailer and the huge publisher have for months been in a nasty and at times public battle reportedly over the share each company would get for eBook sales.

The negotiations turned nasty and public when Amazon began slowing the shipping speeds on some Hachette titles and even refused to take pre-orders on others.

The issue has galvanized authors on both sides -- many big name published authors have come out in support of Hachette, while self published authors, many of whom have benefited from Amazon's platform, have been vocal supporters.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but both companies released statements from executives that indicate they are happy with the terms. The deal was reported earlier by The New York Times.

'This is great news for writers,' Michael Pietsch, CEO of Hachette Book Group, said in a statement. '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.'

David Naggar, vice president of Kindle at Amazon, said in a statement that 'We are pleased with this new agreement as it includes specific financial incentives for Hachette to deliver lower prices, which we believe will be a great win for readers and authors alike.'