Amazon is often criticized for its tactics in the book publishing business, whether it is trying to slash prices or distribute books in a new way.
The confrontational nature of the business was not lost on Amazon SVP Russ Grandinetti, who was interviewed on stage today during Digital Book World, a three-day industry event in New York.
In addressing the battle with Hachette Book Group over e-book prices, Grandinetti, who previously has been called the most influential person in publishing, said the only surprising thing about this case was how the disagreement became so public.
During negotiations, Amazon prohibited pre-orders of some Hachette’s books and delayed shipments of some titles. Authors were outraged and letters were sent back-and-forth between company executives.
Now with the dispute between Amazon and Hachette Book Group settled, and a multi-year agreement in place, Grandinetti said such public battles are “rare” and he looks forward to an era of “focusing on growing the business,” according to the AP.
One way for Amazon to grow its book publishing business is by experimenting with new business models. One of its most recent efforts include the roll-out of Kindle Unlimited, which allows customers to pay $10 a month to access a library of hundreds of thousands of book titles that can be downloaded for free.
Some authors have claimed the subscription service results in fewer sales, and say they dislike having to make their e-books exclusive to Amazon in order to participate. GigaOm reports that Grandinetti dismissed these concerns, saying that the program is helping authors achieve earnings that have doubled since the program’s launch in July.
“It’s only been six months,” he said. “More approaches to publishing is pretty healthy…In every single digital media category, subscriptions are succeeding at some level,” and he doesn’t expect books to be an exception.
