Wylie and Random House Ceasefire

In news that will have broad implications in e-book rights, Andrew Wylie and Random House have “resolved their differences,” according to a joint statement from Mr Wylie and Markus Dohle, Random House’s chairman and chief executive.

The feud began when the powerful literary agent announced plans to issue 13 titles as e-books exclusively through Amazon.com under a new imprint, Odyssey Editions.  Random House, which holds U.S. print rights to titles in Mr Wylie’s stable, contested Wylie’s right to issue the e-books.

A Random House spokesman said the agreement was “consistent with agreements we’ve reached with other literary agencies for other backlist e-book rights.”  Random House, which said it was resuming normal relations with the Wylie Agency, will now be the titles’ exclusive e-book publisher.

It will make the titles available through a variety of e-book outlets including Amazon, Barnes & Noble and the Sony Reader store.

It’s not clear exactly what Mr Wylie’s plans are for future e-book releases of the authors in his stable, but last month he told the Financial Times his actions were principally an attempt to make a point about the importance of getting the right terms in the e-book era.