Amazon strikes major deal with Simon & Schuster

Amazon has struck a multi-year deal for the sale of print and e-books from publishing giant Simon & Schuster. The news comes as a bit of a surprise, as Amazon has been struggling to reach a deal with Hachette, another major publisher. It is believed that the companies are at an impasse over the price of e-books.

Amazon has inked a multi-year deal with Simon & Schuster, the second major Big Five book publisher it has been negotiating with about the price of e-books, a source with knowledge of the situation tells Business Insider. Amazon has been in a brutal battle with Hachette since the publisher’s contract expired in March, but Business Insider’s source says that negotiations with Simon & Schuster took only took three weeks and closed two months before its contract expired. The publisher and the tech giant have signed a multi-year, print and digital contract. Simon & Schuster made its original offer and an agreement was reached after only a few tweaks by Amazon, according to our source.