Amazon and Hachette Continue Battle

Amazon continues its battle over terms with Hachette Book Group, removing the ability to pre-order a number of titles including the new Robert Galbraith novel. They are listed as "currently unavailable" instead of the "pre-order" option.

J K Rowling's Galbraith novel, The Silkworm, and Tom Rob Smith's The Farm, are among the many titles affected by the removal of the pre-order option on Amazon. It is also reported that even the pages promoting the books have disappeared, wuch as Anne Rivers Siddons's "The Girls of August," coming in July.

Amazon and Hachette are trying to work things out.

Jeffery Deaver and James Patterson are among the authors affected by slow delivery times. On his Facebook page, Patterson said: "Currently, Amazon is making it difficult to order many books from Little, Brown and Grand Central, which affects readers of authors such as Malcolm Gladwell, Nicholas Sparks, Michael Connelly, me, and hundreds of others whose living depends on book sales. What I don't understand about this particular battle tactic is how it is in the best interest of Amazon customers. It certainly doesn't appear to be in the best interest of authors.

"More important-much more important-is the evolution/revolution that's occurring now in publishing. Small bookstores are being shuttered, book chains are going out of business, libraries are suffering enormous budget cuts, and every publisher-and the people who work at these publishing houses-is feeling a great deal of pain and stress. Ultimately, inevitably, the quality of American literature will suffer.

"If the world of books is going to change to e-books, so be it. But I think it's essential that someone steps up and takes responsibility for the future of American literature and the part it plays in our culture. Right now, bookstores, libraries, authors, and books themselves are caught in the cross fire of an economic war. If this is the new American way, then maybe it has to be changed-by law, if necessary-immediately, if not sooner."

Deaver commented, "Equally troubling to me personally Amazon has added banner ads on my page for novels of other authors in the same genre, with the none-too-subtle headline: "Similar items for a lower price."