Waterstone's Starts Selling Hachette eBooks Again

theBookseller: "Waterstone's is now selling Hachette titles as e-books after removing them two months ago when the publisher switched to agency terms. The move means Waterstone's is on agency terms with both HarperCollins and Hachette, though has yet to the new terms with Penguin. However, the retailer has now stopped offering Card points on all of its e-books, paving the way for agency terms across its entire range of e-book titles."

Google Strikes Deal With French Publisher

NYTimes: "PARIS — Google said Wednesday that it had reached a deal with the publisher Hachette Livre, which has broken ranks with its French rivals and agreed to allow Google to scan thousands of out-of-print books for its digital library project. Under the agreement, which follows a landmark settlement with U.S. publishers last year, Google will be allowed to sell the books it scans as e-books or in other electronic formats. But there is one important difference between the U.S. settlement and the deal with Hachette, the largest publisher in France and the No.2 trade publisher by sales worldwide, after Pearson. Hachette, not Google, will determine which of the books covered by the deal — those that remain under copyright but are no longer commercially available — can be scanned."

Amazon UK Makes Switch to Agency Terms with Three Publishers

Seems the big boys continue to insist on shooting themselves in the digital feet. theBookseller.com: "Amazon.co.uk has moved on to the agency model in the UK with publishers Hachette, HarperCollins and Penguin now setting their own e-book prices. Customers buying an e-book from the Kindle store from any of the three publishers are told: 'This price was set by the publisher.' A Penguin spokesperson said: 'I can confirm we are now on the agency model with Amazon as of today.' Penguin and HarperCollins have followed Hachette, which switched to agency pricing in September. Amazon is the first online e-bookseller to make the switch, with no Penguin or Hachette e-books yet available for sale on either Waterstones.com or W H Smith's website. ... "

With a Friend Like Hachette ...

Philip Jones, FutureBook: "[The Agency Model has] been badly implemented in the UK already. Maybe there are reasons for this, mostly legal for sure, but retailers we've spoken to appear to be unclear why Hachette set a fixed 'D-day' for some, but not—most noticeably for Amazon—others. Some retailers are unhappy that a measure brought in to fix Amazon has actually given the company a huge window of exclusivity at this key period. This is more than a problem of availability and the ugly messages that now appear on some retailers' websites when a Hachette title is picked, consumers planning their Christmas purchases are unlikely to plump for a device with such a demonstrably flakey back-end. If I'm Waterstone's I'm wondering why Hachette has just kicked me in the teeth, when I'm basically on-side with agency pricing."

Britain: In Response to Force-Fed Agency Model, Hachette eBooks Removed from Waterstone's, WHS, and Book Depository Web Sites

Who will blink first? From theBookseller.com:

Hachette e-books have been removed from the websites of Waterstone's, W H Smith, Tesco and The Book Depository after the publisher said it would move to agency terms from today (20th September). But Amazon.co.uk is still selling Hachette titles on the Kindle, and appears to still be setting the prices.

The Bookseller reported late on Friday that Hachette planned to move to the agency model, whereby it sets the prices of e-books, from Monday, with Gardners, which wholesales e-books, telling its customers that this arrangement included Amazon and Apple. An email sent by Gardners read: "These are not Gardner terms, but the publisher's and may I suggest that should you wish to 'discuss' the terms, direct the queries to the publisher."But as of Monday morning Amazon is continuing to set prices of Hachette e-books below that of Apple, which is already on agency terms.

Other retailers, including Waterstone's, Tesco, WH Smith and The Book Depository have removed the e-book editions from sale. Titles such as the Breaking Dawn e-book are listed as "out of stock" on the The Book Depository. On Waterstones.com and Tesco.com they simply do not come up in the search, while on W H Smith's website they are listed as "not available".

Kieron Smith, managing director of The Book Depository, which is supplied e-books by Gardners, said the company had taken the decision to remove the books from sale and did not plan to sign the agreement.

Smith said: "One of the many reasons is we want to apply consistency of offer to the customer. One of the stipulations is we can't offer coupons or discount vouchers. If we did an e-book offer we would have to have a massive list of exceptions for Hachette titles. We are not being straight with the customer. Unless I can control a customer's experience, selling e-books with the price set by the publisher is not something I want to do."

In an email seen by The Bookseller, Gardners, who provides e-books including Tesco, The Book Depository and independent bookshops, said: "[Retailers] shall agree that it shall not alter the customer price of any e-book without [Hachette's] prior written consent." The wholesaler said booksellers must sign up to the agreement if they were still to continue selling Hachette e-books. ...

James Patterson Sets eBooks Sales Record - More Than a Million Units

From Daemon's Books:

Prolific author James Patterson has sold more ebooks than any other author. This according to his publisher, Hachette Book Group, who claim he has sold over 1 million ebooks—a new record. There is no independent data on ebook sales, so this is based on Hachette’s own numbers. ...