Amazon Details Spat With Hachette

Earlier this month, Hachette lobbed an accusation against Amazon, claiming the retail giant was meddling with its sales and causing book shipments to be delayed by many weeks. After weeks of rumbles over this, Amazon has confirmed the spat in a forum post, with the reason revolving around contract issues.

In a statement on the Amazon forums made by The Amazon Books Team, the company says that it is now stocking less inventory for Hachette books, and that it has reduced its levels of so-called safety stock, as well as eliminating pre-orders for books.

As a result of this, customers who place an order will see a delay, as Amazon must then order the book from Hachette if there aren't any left in stock. This delays the shipping process, and has caused some customers to complain.

According to the Amazon team, "these changes are related to the contract and terms between Hachette and Amazon," which was the anticipated reason. Failure to reach "mutually-acceptable" terms has caused Amazon to ramp up its pressure on the publisher.

Says Amazon, it has offered to "fund 50% of an author pool – to be allocated by Hachette – to mitigate the impact of this dispute on author royalties, if Hachette funds the other 50%." The publisher hasn't yet responded to that offer, according to Amazon.

VIA: The Verge