Three months after Amazon pulled e-book titles off of its site from clients of the distributor IPG over a dispute on terms, the two sides have reached an agreement. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Amazon’s actions in February came after negotiations between the online retailer and IPG over Amazon’s request for better terms and higher co-op broke down. Since late in 2011 Amazon has been meeting with publishers and distributors looking for, among other things, co-op on e-books.
IPG president Mark Suchomel said in February that if he agreed to Amazon’s terms his clients would not be able to make money selling Kindle titles. He noted that he was willing to keep doing business under its old terms and that it was up to Amazon to make the next move.
In a letter sent Friday to clients informing them of the deal and that Amazon was restoring their e-books to the Kindle store, Suchomel thanked publishers for their support and said that “I only regret that we weren't able to make up for all of the lost revenue when your Kindle titles were not available.” To give a boost to its publishers, IPG will not take a distribution fee on Kindle sales on titles sold from June 1 through August 31, the letter said.
The dispute with Amazon, Suchomel added, ”has clarified some things for us and our clients, and that now we are all even better equipped to navigate through this rapidly changing industry.”
Although Amazon jas never commented on negotiations with its vendors, the company believes that the investments it has made in the e-book market and the fact its terms have been in place for a significant amount of time warrant a better deal.
