The great digital rights siege of 2010 seems to be over as uber-agent Andrew Wylie has brokered a peace with Random House and is “in discussion” with Penguin Books.
After breaking ranks with traditional publishing because of disputes over paying his authors for electronic rights, Wylie founded his own online publishing company. But if you want to buy from Odyssey Editions for your Kindle, you’d better be quick because the list has shrunk from the original 20 titles to 7. Of the remaining books, 2 are Penguin titles (Saul Bellow’s Adventures of Augie March and William Burroughs' Junky) so the list may be reduced even further.
And the price paid for getting Wylie’s authors back inside Random House? According to Publisher’s Weekly’s source at Random House, royalties on digital editions are “built around a sliding schedule that can approach 40%”. Wylie hasn’t made any comment on dismantling Odyssey Editions, as it could still prove a useful weapon in Wylie’s war.