Dive Brief:

• Last week a group of bestselling authors, not all published by Hachette Book Group, wrote an open letter urging readers to write Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to quit his campaign to gain advantage in the e-retailer's publishing dispute by making books unavailable to customers.

• Meanwhile, though, self-published authors took to online petition organization Change.org to dispute those assertions, saying that all Hachette wants to do is save “New York publishing” and interfere with readers' access to e-books.

• Meanwhile, comedian Stephen Colbert continued his outspoken fight against Amazon in the matter, boosting a first-time author in the process. 

Dive Insight:

The dispute between Amazon and Hatchette Book Group is dragging on well into summer. Now self-published authors are entering the fray, shaking things up with their argument that Amazon is, after all, on the side of readers in the long run. Of course, the matter is rather more complicated than that. So far, while all parties say their actions are in readers' best interest, the truth is that, right now at least, each is protecting its own territory regardless of what readers want or need.