For the first time in a decade, Amazon has publicly threatened a major publisher with banishment from its site as a negotiating tactic. It happened yesterday when the company said that as of tonight, it would stop selling Bloomsbury print books in the U.K., Europe, and Australia and stop selling Bloomsbury e-books worldwide. (Bloomsbury print books in the U.S. were not affected.) But several hours later, both Amazon and Bloomsbury announced that they had come to an agreement and that Bloomsbury titles would continue to be sold as usual. The spat was reminiscent of public battles over the agency model and e-book pricing with Hachette, Simon & Schuster, and Macmillan in the U.S. in 2014 and with Macmillan in 2010. The terms at issue in the current dispute were not divulged.
The public fight began yesterday when Amazon posted a notice on its U.K. website, announcing the ban and blaming Bloomsbury: "Our contract to sell Bloomsbury titles was scheduled to expire last year. We extended the contract under its current terms several times in an effort to reach an agreement, but despite our best efforts over the last seven months, Bloomsbury has refused to engage in a good faith negotiation to discuss a new contract to sell their titles in our store. Unfortunately, the latest extension expires at midnight on the 23rd of January and after that time, Amazon will no longer be able to sell Bloomsbury print books in the U.K., Europe, and Australia, or Bloomsbury Kindle books worldwide."
Amazon added, "Our expired terms with Bloomsbury were far out of sync with other publishers who sell books through our store. Unlike other U.K. publishers, with whom we've successfully negotiated in recent years, Bloomsbury has refused to recognize our continued investments in bringing books in all formats to readers. Among other investments, we have built comprehensive distribution throughout the U.K. and E.U. post-Brexit, added innovations in digital reading, and expanded our printing network and capacity, all of which have benefited readers and authors, and proved profitable for publishers."
Later that evening, Bloomsbury issued this statement: "Yesterday evening, Amazon informed Bloomsbury that they would no longer sell Bloomsbury print books in the U.K., Europe, and Australia, or Bloomsbury e-books worldwide from midnight. We have been in discussions with Amazon over terms since last summer. At no point during these discussions did Amazon say that they would take such action. We learned about this at the same time that Amazon issued a public statement and was contacting Bloomsbury authors and agents. We have now reached agreement with Amazon in order to ensure the continued availability of our titles on Amazon."