As Amazon and Hachette’s contract dispute wears on, Amazon has had little to say publicly about it: The company released an unattributed statement on the Kindle forums at the end of May, but until now no executive from the company had commented. That changed Tuesday, when Russ Grandinetti, Amazon’s VP of Kindle content, gave a few quotes to the Wall Street Journal. Amazon has been criticized for tactics like turning off pre-orders on upcoming Hachette titles. Grandinetti told the WSJ that Amazon is working “in the long-term interest of our customers.” He also seemingly confirmed reports that Amazon is demanding a larger commission on ebook sales, up from the 30 percent it currently receives: “This discussion is all about ebook pricing. The terms under which we trade will determine how good the prices are that we can offer consumers.”
Read the full story at Giga OM, and the original report at The Wall Street Journal (paywall).