It’s no joke: the agency model arrived today, at least in part, and as previously reported and predicted, there will be at least a few discrepancies and business interruptions along the way as systems and contracts are switched. Most notably so far, buy buttons for the Hachette Book Groups’ ebook titles disappeared today, first reported here, including current top sellers such as Nicholas Sparks and Stephenie Meyer. But HBG’s print books remain available directly from the site. In a site post, Amazon said that they have signed a new agency agreement with the publisher, however: “We recently signed an ‘agency’ […]
eNews
No New eBook Agreement Yet Between Penguin and Amazon
Penguin USA ceo David Shanks wrote to agents this morning on the current state of play as they move to an agency model: “In recent weeks we have been in discussion with our retail partners who sell eBooks, including Amazon, to discuss our new terms of sale for eBooks in the U.S. At the moment, we have reached an agreement with many of them, but unfortunately not Amazon – of course, we hope to in the future.” As a result, “your newly released eBook is currently not available on Amazon, but all of your eBooks released prior to April 1 […]
Awards, People and More
The New York Public Library’s Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers has named its new class of fourteen fellows. The list includes fiction writers David Bezmozgis, Maile Chapman, Mary Gaitskill, and Wells Tower; poet Geoffrey Brock; New Yorker staff writer Larissa MacFarquhar; graphic novelist and artist David Sandlin; and Pulitzer-winning author Annette Gordon-Reed. Jo Ann Miller, former editorial director of Basic Books, has formed J.A. Miller Associates to provide ghost writing, editorial collaboration, developmental editing, and author coaching. At Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Maire Gorman has been promoted to the new position of vp of trade sales […]
Hachette Says There May Be "Short-Term Interruption" In eBook Availability
Hachette Book Group ceo David Young wrote to authors and agents with a short update on their April 1 transition to an agency model: “We are pleased to let you know that we have made arrangements with most of our eBook distributors to operate under this model. However, as with any transition, we expect there will be a few hiccups along the way, and you may even see some short-term interruption in the availability of our eBooks, especially in the first few days, as systems are being adapted to accommodate changes. We fully expect any such issues to be resolved […]
Ready or Not, Here It Comes
There are a lot of crossed fingers, late hours, furrowed brows and open questions as at least part of the publishing business prepares for an April 1 to April 3 switchover to the agency model for ebooks. (Yes, even the day of change is unclear, since some of the Agency Five–now an accepted term of art–are switching models tomorrow while others are reportedly not doing so until Saturday, April 3.) Among the latest supply chain players to communicate with accounts is Overdrive, which powers a number of ebook retailers. Company ceo Steve Potash tells us they “are adapting as best […]
Agency Model Means Ingram Can't Wholesale eBooks Until New Agreements Are In Place
Another implication of the new agency model for selling ebooks hit home yesterday as Ingram Digital sent a letter from general manager Andrew Weinstein to approximately 65 retailers the company serves. He alerted them to “the very real possibility that Ingram will have to discontinue the availability of ebook titles from all publishers wishing to do business under an agency model…on or before April 1.” He indicated that “the publishers opting to do business in an agency model have left us little choice,” adding that “it has become clear that not only will Ingram need to agree to do business […]