Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. (GeekWire File Photo)
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. (GeekWire File Photo)

Macmillian Publishers announced today that the company has reached a distribution deal with Amazon to allow the e-commerce company to sell physical and electronic copies of its books. The multiyear deal, which was revealed in a letter from CEO John Sargent to Macmillan authors posted to the publisher’s website, goes into effect on Jan. 5.

As a part of the deal, Amazon will sell Macmillan e-books under an agency pricing model, which will allow Macmillan to set the price at which its titles are sold, and give Amazon a cut of the proceeds. It’s similar to the deal that Amazon struck with Hachette Book Group, after the two companies spent months in a drawn-out fight over e-book pricing.

Amazon, for its part, is happy with the deal.

“We are happy with this agreement, as it allows us to grow our business together with Macmillan and their authors,” company spokeswoman Sarah Gelman said in an email to GeekWire. “Importantly, the agreement specifically creates a financial incentive for Macmillan to deliver lower prices for readers.”

That financial incentive is similar to Amazon’s deals with Hachette and Simon & Schuster. Both Hachette and Macmillan have the power to set prices for their e-books, but their contract with Amazon will give them better terms if they sell at lower prices.

In addition to the e-book deal, Sargent also said in the letter that the company is going to be looking into subscription services for e-books. While he was previously against the idea of using subscription services, saying that he was concerned they would devalue Macmillan authors’ books, the company plans to experiment with providing certain titles to subscription services and see how that works out.

Like what you're reading? Subscribe to GeekWire's free newsletters to catch every headline

Job Listings on GeekWork

Find more jobs on GeekWork. Employers, post a job here.