Inc. reached a new multiyear publishing contract with Hachette Book Group covering print and digital books, bringing to an end a bitter dispute that showed how the online retailer’s growing clout is roiling the book industry.
The companies were fighting over how e-books should be priced and how revenue from them should be divvied up.
Under the new e-book agreement, which will take effect in early 2015, Hachette will set the prices of its consumer titles.
The companies said Hachette will get better terms when it “delivers lower prices for readers.” Both companies declined to make executives available to comment further.
As the seven-month battle dragged on, Amazon took steps that were heavily criticized by some authors, including removing pre-order buttons on Hachette titles and delaying shipment of some books. Pre-orders are often key to catapulting books onto the national best-seller list. Those lists, in turn, often drive sales.
Amazon said on Thursday it has resumed treating Hachette titles as it did before the dispute.
