Macmillan book titles have returned to Amazon after a one-week hiatus, with both sides finally settling their price dispute over the weekend, although the exact details of the deal weren't disclosed.
The week-long public dispute between the two sides originated when Macmillan demanded Amazon increase the price of popular e-book titles from $9.99 to $12.99-$14.99 each last week. The new pricing scheme will go into effect after the Apple iPad tablet is released sometime next month.
The popular e-tailer was forced to agree "because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books."
Several media outlets claim Macmillan wanted Amazon to increase e-book prices from $9.99 up to $15 per title. Amazon moved relatively quickly because it will face continued pressure from other companies releasing e-readers, including Apple, Asus, Barnes & Noble, Sony, and other companies looking to cash in.
The International Digital Publishing Forum said Q3 2009 wholesale e-book revenue increased from $13.9 million up to $46.5 million compared to Q3 2008.
Amazon giving in to Macmillan's demands led HarperCollins and Hachette to also show interest in raising the price of their e-books. I'm still amazed by these book publishers -- they obviously don't know how to keep up with the digital age -- as raising e-book prices as high as $15 makes no sense at all. Consumers are equally baffled by the price hikes, especially since printing, publishing and distribution costs are taken out of the equation with e-books.
It would be a shame to see such a promising technology snuffed out because publishers try to get greedy.
