For readers, there is one easy win to come from the current fight between Amazon and publishers over how to price and sell ebooks, and it is that at least one of the publishers demanding a change in terms has said that it will stop delaying ebook releases if it can practice variable pricing.

Young said the company would release e-books simultaneously under the new model–Hachette USA had been one of a number of US publishers to window new releases because of the price they were being offered for sale on Amazon.com’s Kindle device.

The second bit of good news, although this is more for authors, is that the new model gives authors and their agents room to demand higher royalty rates for digital sales. Publishers Weekly reports that Macmillan has already announced it will bump up digital royalty rates from 20% to 25% moving forward.

The bad news, which you already know, is that the next new ebook release from Macmillan or Hachette might be $15, as there’s no guarantee that Amazon will be the cheapest ebook store in town anymore. Unfortunately, thanks to digital rights management (DRM) across the marketplace, for now at least you won’t be able to comparison shop from your Kindle.

“Hachette moves to ‘agency model’ in the US” [The Bookseller] “Sargent Says Deal is Closer; Macmillan Royalty Rate to Rise” [Publishers Weekly]

(Photo: Jandro S)

Two of the best explanations I’ve found come from published writers who have an obvious interest in what Amazon and publishers end up doing:

Read “Amazon, Macmillan: an outsider’s guide to the fight” by Charles Stross

Read “Why my books are no longer for sale via Amazon” by Tobias Buckell

Bonus! Read “Kindle Numbers: Traditional Publishing Vs. Self Publishing” by Joe Konrath for an alternate take on earning money from ebooks if you’re a midlist writer.

Set aside 10-15 minutes and read these two (or three) guys for some great insights, for example on Amazon’s reasons for holding to the $10 price point (hint: it’s not really for our benefit), on how much it costs to publish a high quality ebook, and on how to price more efficiently to take advantage of what different customers are actually willing to pay (hardcore fans are usually willing to give more support to their favorite authors).

This post originally appeared on Kindlerama.

(Photo: kretyen)

Two of the best explanations I’ve found come from published writers who have an obvious interest in what Amazon and publishers end up doing:

Read “Amazon, Macmillan: an outsider’s guide to the fight” by Charles Stross

Read “Why my books are no longer for sale via Amazon” by Tobias Buckell

Bonus! Read “Kindle Numbers: Traditional Publishing Vs. Self Publishing” by Joe Konrath for an alternate take on earning money from ebooks if you’re a midlist writer.

Set aside 10-15 minutes and read these two (or three) guys for some great insights, for example on Amazon’s reasons for holding to the $10 price point (hint: it’s not really for our benefit), on how much it costs to publish a high quality ebook, and on how to price more efficiently to take advantage of what different customers are actually willing to pay (hardcore fans are usually willing to give more support to their favorite authors).

(Photo: kretyen)

Amazon posted a strongly worded announcement on its own forums to let customers know what went down, and to make it clear that it disagrees:

Macmillan, one of the “big six” publishers, has clearly communicated to us that, regardless of our viewpoint, they are committed to switching to an agency model and charging $12.99 to $14.99 for e-book versions of bestsellers and most hardcover releases.

We have expressed our strong disagreement and the seriousness of our disagreement by temporarily ceasing the sale of all Macmillan titles. We want you to know that ultimately, however, we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan’s terms because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books. Amazon customers will at that point decide for themselves whether they believe it’s reasonable to pay $14.99 for a bestselling e-book. We don’t believe that all of the major publishers will take the same route as Macmillan. And we know for sure that many independent presses and self-published authors will see this as an opportunity to provide attractively priced e-books as an alternative.

Kindle is a business for Amazon, and it is also a mission. We never expected it to be easy!.

I don’t know that anyone is surprised that a publisher wants to have the final say over the price of the books it sells. And to be honest, I don’t think $12 or $15 is a bad price for a new book, provided that the ebook version is released at the same time as the hardcover. If Macmillan delays release dates and tries to charge a premium, *shrug*, I can just go buy something else.

But–and I write this as someone who thinks the Kindle is awesome in a lot of ways–Amazon needs to drop the sanctimonious act. From the beginning of the Kindle, the company has strong-armed publishers on prices and profit agreements, and it’s screwed over readers like you and me by telling us that we’re “buying” ebooks when in reality we’re just licensing them. (Check the fine print of the agreement–you’ll see that you never actually own your digital copy of the book you “buy” on Amazon.)

I can put it even more plainly. Amazon calls its Kindle endeavor a “mission,” but it uses a locked-down format that prevents customers from buying ebooks from other stores, or from reading Amazon ebooks on other devices. The whole ecosystem, while fairly pleasant for consumers to participate in provided nothing ever goes wrong, is deliberately designed to give all the power to Amazon and keep publishers, authors, and customers powerless. And when Macmillan put up a fight, Amazon pulled all Macmillan titles, digital and print, off its website as a negative incentive to get Macmillan to cave. That’s the sort of dirty trick you pull when you’re a business, not when you’re on some sort of higher mission.

Okay, end of rant! My point is, this is bad news mainly for Amazon, because higher prices tarnish its expensive marketing campaign that promises $10 books, and because this means it might lose a competitive edge when it comes to pricing for Macmillan books in the future. In other words, from now on you’ll probably pay the same price for a Macmillan book whether it’s from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Apple.

But this isn’t the end of the world for customers. $15 for a new release is still a good price. And as Amazon points out, there are dozens–no, probably hundreds–of independent publishers and authors out there who would love to sell you an entertaining novel for $10 or less. (Edit: or you can just wait a few months for the ebook price to drop.) You shouldn’t worry too much about what two giants are fighting over when there’s so much great stuff waiting for you everywhere else.

(Photo: mikebaird)