Amazon Agrees to Book Deal With Simon & Schuster; Authors United's Preston Responds

Amazon confirmed in a statement Tuesday it reached a multiyear agreement with Simon & Schuster (S&S) to sell its print and digital books in the U.S. “The agreement specifically creates a financial incentive for Simon & Schuster to deliver lower prices for readers,” said Amazon. “We are very happy with this agreement as it is economically advantageous for both Simon & Schuster and its authors and maintains the author’s share of income generated from eBook sales,” said S&S CEO Carolyn Reidy in a Monday letter to its authors. The deal "addresses our mutual concerns about preserving the value of our intellectual property in the marketplace, as it is a return to a version of agency pricing that, with some limited exceptions, gives control of eBook pricing" to S&S, she said. The agreement comes as Amazon continues it e-book pricing dispute with Hachette (see 1410020087; 1407100037; 1406020077). “I’m delighted that the Sword of Damocles … has been removed from the heads of Simon & Schuster authors,” emailed author Doug Preston, who spearheaded Authors United in opposition to Amazon’s negotiating tactics with Hachette. “The big question is this: are the terms Amazon offered S&S the same as are being offered to Hachette? Or is Amazon reserving an especially vindictive set of terms to Hachette alone?” Preston asked. The new agreement won’t affect Authors United's forthcoming letter to the Justice Department seeking an antitrust investigation into Amazon, he said.