Macmillan books still missing from Amazon following spat |
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Macmillan books still missing from Amazon following spat
It's been nearly two days since Amazon.com backed down in its dispute with Macmillan, one of the big six publishing houses, over electronic book prices. The online retailer said that "ultimately" it would have to "capitulate and accept Macmillan's terms" for higher retail prices on e-books. But Amazon, which removed the buy button on all Macmillan books (both hardcover and digital) from its website as part of the dispute, has yet to restore many of the titles. Given Amazon's role as the dominant online bookseller, that could be causing Macmillan some serious pain — and be a sign that Amazon will play hardball with other publishers on the e-book issue.
I just looked up some of Macmillan's prominent titles, including "The Politician," the tell-all book from John Edwards' former aide Andrew Young (from Macmillan's Thomas Dunne imprint), and "Wolf Hall" a Man Booker Prize-winning novel by Hilary Mantel (from Macmillan's Henry Holt imprint). Both still don't have a buy button on Amazon.
Meantime, the Authors Guild weighed in on Macmillan's fight with Amazon, calling it a "necessary one for the industry." The Guild writes on its website:
Thousands of authors and titles are affected; hardest and most unfairly hit are authors with new books published by Macmillan that are in their prime sales period.
Yet if Macmillan prevails, the eventual payoff for its authors (and all authors, if a successful result ripples through the industry) is likely to be significant and lasting.
Despite Amazon's public concession on e-book prices, some believe Amazon will come out on top in this battle. James McQuivey, a Forrester Research analyst, writes that Amazon will make more money under the "agency" (read: Apple) model favored by Macmillan and other publishers, in which publishers set their own prices (up to $14.99) for e-books and let retailers like Amazon take a 30 percent cut. Under that system, Amazon would make about $5 on a $14.99 e-book. Amazon currently sells many of its $9.99 e-books at a loss.
Update: Rupert Murdoch, CEO News Corp., which owns publisher HarperCollins, said Amazon is now "willing to sit down with us again and renegotiate" e-book prices. Murdoch has been a vocal critic of Amazon's pricing structure. See more of his comments at All Things D's MediaMemo.
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