[shiven]

Amazon/Bezos are ruthless - they could not care at all what is fair

I fail to see how the authors getting 35%, unhindered by the publisher's whims, can be unfair.

[ghshephard]

The point I'm trying to make is that Bezos is suggesting that number because it drives a wedge between the authors and the publishers. It's entire purpose is to weaken the solidarity (such as it is) that exists between hachette and their authors.

[larrys]

What is interesting is that the technique (wedge) will work even if the authors are fully aware that that is what Amazon is doing.

[tjl]

If you read the John Scalzi piece on this, it's not working with him.

Everyone is talking about the price, but that's not the only thing they're negotiating. We've heard about some of Amazon's demands from some of their other negotiations, so I'm not surprised that Hachette is holding the line.