On the heels of the Wylie Agency’s eBook push and exclusive deal with Amazon, Random House has decided not to strike any “new English-language business agreements” with the major literary agency until the matter is settled.
The Wylie Agency and Amazon shocked the publishing world with a deal publish 20 eBooks through the literary agency’s brand new Odyssey Editions imprint–selling the books exclusively through the Amazon Kindle Store.
Random House spokesperson Stuart Applebaum had this statement: “The Wylie Agency’s decision to sell e-books exclusively to Amazon for titles which are subject to active Random House agreements undermines our longstanding commitments to and investments in our authors, and it establishes this Agency as our direct competitor. Therefore, regrettably, Random House on a worldwide basis will not be entering into any new English-language business agreements with the Wylie Agency until this situation is resolved.”