Amazon, book publishers agree on e-book pricing

Amazon has reached pricing agreements with two book publishers, according to the Wall Street Journal, as the popular e-tailer looks to fix a turbulent situation with publishers.

Amazon angered book publishers by offering all titles for just $9.99 -- but it still took a while before  publishers were willing to pull their titles from the popular online store.

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The anticipated Apple iPad tablet launch is looming around the corner, which has forced Apple to become even more flexible with e-book pricing.  The CBS Corp Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins will offer e-books at $12.99 to $14.99, with some best sellers available at $9.99.

The Apple iBookstore will have titles from HarperCollins, Penguin, Hatchette Book Group and Macmillan, although Random House is still left out.

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As we noted in an article last month, consumers are the biggest losers when Amazon, Apple and book publishers are butting heads.  E-book prices have gone up, even though many consumers feel the price should be lower when printing, distribution and shipping costs are taken out of the equation.

Charging consumers more for an e-book instead of a paperback still seems like very backwards logic to me.  If the book publishers are having problems, I'm still unsure why I should have to be the one who has to pay more -- and I simply won't.

As e-books become even more popular, there is a growing risk of pirated e-books circulating around the Internet.  However, most e-readers will ship with some type of DRM protection to prevent pirated e-books from being accessed on the portable devices.

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