Hachette, Amazon reach agreement for eBook sales

Hachette Book Group and Amazon.com Inc said on Thursday they reached a multi-year agreement for eBook and print book sales after months of acrimonious fighting pitting authors, agents and publishers against the world's largest online retail store. Hachette, a unit of France's Lagardere SCA, said the new eBook terms will take effect early next year and that it will have the responsibility for setting consumer prices.

Amazon, which earlier pulled several of Hachette's books from its inventory, will immediately resume selling all of Hachette's catalog. The books will be prominently featured in promotions. In a statement, Hachette Book Group CEO Michael Pietsch said, "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."

Amazon Vice President of Kindle David Naggar said in a statement, "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."