Smashwords' CEO and founder Mark Coker has written an in-depth look at the battle raging between Amazon and one of the Big Five publishers, Hachette Book Group. The battle over contract terms has seen Amazon raise the price of Hachette titles while directly offering consumers a cheaper alternative title, the out-of-stock notices that inform readers they'll have to wait an … [Read more...] about Coker: Publishers Are Disposable to Amazon
agency model
Apple Fires Back at the Justice Department in iBooks Trial
The USA Justice Department was looking into allegations that Apple colluded with major publishers to establish agency pricing. This created an environment where the publishers dictated the pricing for digital books and created an outcry in Europe and the USA against price fixing. All of the publishers have settled their cases by abandoning the agency model for two years and … [Read more...] about Apple Fires Back at the Justice Department in iBooks Trial
HarperCollins and Hachette Disband Agency Model for the UK
HarperCollins and Hachette are the first major publishers to absolve the agency pricing model for the UK version of Amazon. The two literary giants have removed the text that appears under ebook listings that said "The Price has been set by publisher." This move was due to the European Justice Department ruling that basically said price fixing cartels were illegal under EU … [Read more...] about HarperCollins and Hachette Disband Agency Model for the UK
Publishers Agree to Agency 2 Pricing Model
Many book retailers were put out by the requirement to write all new contracts with the publishers following the Department of Justice settlement with a handful of the Big Five, but it looks like a viable pricing model may have been found. Since those publishers were forced to abandon the "agency pricing" model, in which the publishers dictate to the retailers how much the book … [Read more...] about Publishers Agree to Agency 2 Pricing Model
eBook Price Fixing Settlement in EU
While the US courts hear arguments about alleged price fixing and anti-trust issues between Apple and five of the Big Six publishers’ effort to reduce Amazon’s hold on the ebook industry, a similar investigation has been going on in the EU over the same accusations. Just as three of the publishers—Simon and Schuster, Hachette Group, and HarperCollins—settled in the US, Apple … [Read more...] about eBook Price Fixing Settlement in EU
European Commission Launches Antitrust Investigation Against Apple and eBook Agency Pricing
The European Commission has formally launched their official investigation against Apple and various book publishers. Hachette Livre , Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, Penguinand Verlagsgrupp are accused of price fixing ebooks via a cartel, which is illegal in Europe. The European Commission starting today is investigating the fact that Apple and its iBookstore formed a … [Read more...] about European Commission Launches Antitrust Investigation Against Apple and eBook Agency Pricing
European Union officials raid eBook Publishers
Anti-Trust authorities based out of the EU have raided several major publishers on the premise of price fixing and artificially inflating the prices. Accusations abound that several publishing companies are getting together under the cartel model to agree on industry standard price fixing. The European Commission admitted to the Associated Press that it had "reason to … [Read more...] about European Union officials raid eBook Publishers
Smashwords adopts an Agency Model for eBooks
On Wednesday December 1st in an epic Blog Post, Smashwords founder Mark Coker outlined his business moving into an agency model for eBook pricing. We can't help but wonder if it is best for customers. As of Wednesday publishers and authors will now be the people sole determining the price of eBooks under this new business model and increased the royalties distributed per … [Read more...] about Smashwords adopts an Agency Model for eBooks