Amazon and Ingram just announced they have struck a deal to distribute and make Amazon titles available to their competitors. The deal will cover only those titles from Amazon’s New York based imprint. The digital distributor for Ingram, CoreSource will make Amazon’s ebook titles available to direct competitors such as Apple, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. While there are no stipulations that these competitors will have to stock Amazon’s titles, it does give their publishing arm a significant marketing and distribution boost.
Phil Ollila, Ingram Content Officer said in a statement: “We welcome Amazon Publishing’s New York adult group to the growing list of publishers who use our service.”
Timothy Ferriss’s The 4-Hour Chef, Penny Marshall’s My Mother Was Nuts are a couple of the launch titles from Amazon publishing
Last year, Barnes & Noble refused to stock any of Amazon’s print titles because the online retailer would not allow them to sell their ebooks. With this new distribution agreement, that may change, again giving Amazon a significant marketing outlet. There has been no word yet, as to when or if these other outlets will stock Amazon’s titles.
Also, the pending Department of Justice lawsuit against Apple and other publishers over the “setting” of ebook prices could affect Amazon’s distribution to Apple, even with the Ingram deal.
