After one of the most bitter publishing feuds to go public in recent years, online retail giant Amazon and publisher Hachette have finally resolved their dispute. The two sides reached a multi-year deal.
The two sides did not give any further details on the deal, although both said they were happy with the results of their talks.
“This is great news for writers,” Hachette CEO Michael Pietsch told The New York Times. “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.”
Amazon executive David Naggar also expressed pleasure with the results. He said that the deal “includes specific financial incentives for Hachette to deliver lower prices, which we believe will be a great win for readers and authors alike.”
Amazon and Hachette’s dispute goes all the way back to May, when Hachette accused Amazon of deliberately delaying shipments of their books. Some high-profile pre-orders, including a book by J.K. Rowling, were also removed from Amazon. Stephen Colbert, whose books are published by Hachette, even urged fans to boycott Amazon. Several major authors also voiced support of the publisher.
There were signs that the two sides were back on friendly terms in recent days. As Gigaom notes, some sites noticed that pre-orders for Hachette books were back on Amazon.