Amazon.com ends dispute with Hachette Books

NEW YORK – One of publishing’s nastiest, most high-profile conflicts, the monthslong standoff between Amazon.com and Hachette Book Group, is ending.

Amazon and Hachette announced a multiyear agreement Thursday. With e-book revenues reportedly the key issue, Amazon had removed pre-order tags for Hachette books, reduced discounts and slowed deliveries, hurdles that should be gone well before the crucial holiday shopping season.

“This is great news for writers,” Hachette CEO Michael Pietsch 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, an Amazon vice president, said the company was pleased 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.”

The agreement takes effect early next year. Restrictions on Hachette books are being lifted immediately, according to the announcement, although delays on Carlos Santana’s “The Universal Tone,” J.D. Salinger’s “Nine Stories” and other works remained in place several hours after the news broke.

The Amazon-Hachette dispute had filled publishing headlines and conversations for much of the year, extending to debates over the power of Amazon and the viability of traditional publishing. James Patterson, John Green and hundreds of authors from various publishers had condemned Amazon.

Meanwhile, Hugh Howey, J.A. Konrath and other writers published by Amazon had blamed Hachette and praised Amazon for keeping prices down and allowing authors unhappy with traditional publishers to release their work elsewhere.