amazonwalmartbooksWalmart and Barnes & Noble are taking advantage of Amazon’s contract dispute with the Hachette Book Group.

While Hachette and Amazon are currently locked in a stalemate over pricing and profit margins for e-books, Walmart is offering big discounts on books written by authors like James Patterson, David Baldacci and Robert Galbraith, all of whom publish with Hachette.

CNN notes that Walmart’s book sales were up 70 percent last week. Barnes & Nobles is also offering special deals on Hachette titles.

Meanwhile, Amazon customers are seeing delays of up to 5 weeks on printed books from Hachette authors. Some titles from Hachette authors aren’t even available for pre-order on the site.

Critics have called out Amazon for unfairly wielding its power over the book business. Amazon, however, has defended its stance, noting that its actions aren’t any different from what other retailers do when negotiating with their suppliers. The Seattle company recommends customers look for “a new or used version from one of our third-party sellers or from one of our competitors,” if they want to purchase a Hachette book.

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