As expected, the three US Settlers (Harper, Hachette and Simon & Schuster), along with Macmillan and Apple, have settled the EU investigation into ebook pricing as previously negotiated. The European Commission has formally “accepted the legally binding commitments” from the settling parties. Their announcement provides a lengthy way of saying that the EC has accepted […]
Agency
Simon & Schuster Also Moves to New Agency Lite Pricing
Over the weekend Simon & Schuster became the last of the three Settlers (publishers settling the ebook pricing case with the Department of Justice) to implement new Agency Lite ebook pricing and new sales contracts with ebook retailers. As with the other Settlers, the best place to research S&S’s new pricing is on the publisher’s […]
HBG Moves to Agency Lite with Amazon and Others
Hachette Book Group has reached a new overall sales agreement with Amazon. As part of that agreement, HBG now moves to selling ebooks on an “agency lite” basis with the US trade’s leading retailer. Amazon no longer lists HBG ebook prices as having been set by the publisher, but does still list the titles themselves […]
Popular Accounts of Pending EC Agency Settlement Lose Sight of Primary Effect–Which Is the UK Only
In another bit of clean-up, yesterday’s Reuters report–which simply reaffirmed that the mid-September offer from Apple, Hachette, Harper, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster to settle the European Commission investigation into the introduction of agency ebook pricing on terms very similar to the Department of Justice settlement in the US is likely to be approved–has added […]
How the State Settlement Will Boost the Book Business
Yes, it’s another settlement piece. But there’s some good news for the entire industry that has not been fully appreciated yet. While the pending settlement with the states will cost the Settlers money, almost all of that money–and potentially more–will flow right back into the book business. The way the settlement is constructed, you could […]
Annals of Agency Lite: Wednesday
While people wait for the next shoe (or two), here are some additional observations on nouveau Agency. Feel free to send us your questions (or post them in the comments). Will Everything Go Faster? A process that could have taken over a month to recalibrate now looks like it could be mostly resolved by the […]