It wasn’t so long ago that all of the world was transfixed by the drama unfolding between Amazon and book publisher Hachette. Now that the petty fighting and shady scare tactics are in the rearview mirror, executives with Amazon have their fingers crossed for an era of peace.

The Associated Press reports that with a new multiyear agreement in place between the e-retailer and publisher, Amazon now hopes to usher in an era of only goodwill toward the publishing industry.

Speaking at the three-day Digital Book World gathering Russ Grandinetti, senior vice president of Amazon’s Kindle e-book and publishing division, addressed the standoff between the company and publisher by saying such public disputes are rare.

The feud between the two companies began during negotiations last spring when Amazon removed the “buy” buttons and delayed the shipping of some Hachette publications. The retailer’s strong-arm tactics were met with outrage by authors, customers and the publishing community at large.

In November, nearly six months after the feud, Amazon announced it had reached a multiyear deal with Hachette. However, neither party disclosed terms of the agreement.

Grandinetti said Wednesday that the company has moved on by now being “super focused on happy authors” and treating them with the same dedication the company treats customers.

If fact, Grandinetti assured audience members that harsh words and public bickering are a thing of the past for the company.

He said the retailer’s interests and those of the publishing industry are “highly aligned,” creating an atmosphere “focused on growing the business.”

According to the AP, in an attempt to grow its publishing division, Amazon plans to experiment with new business models, such as the recently launched Kindle Unlimited subscription that allows readers to pay $10 a month to access a library of thousands of book title that can be downloaded for free.

“More approaches to publishing I think is pretty healthy: The more competition there is, the more choices there are for authors, the more we figure out what succeeds,” he said. “It’s hard to predict when things emerge that cause you to have to change the business.”

Amazon executive hopes for era of peace with publishers [The Associated Press]

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