Hearst, Conde Nast Among Major Magazine Publishers Inking Deals With Amazon's New Tablet

Amazon is set to launch its new tablet, meant to compete with Apple's iPad, on Wednesday, and already, several major magazine publishers have already inked deals to sell digital versions of their titles, All Things D reports citing industry sources.

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Hearst, Conde Nast and Meredith are all on board at the moment, with the most obvious holdout being Time Inc. A person close to negotiations says a deal between the two parties won't be done by Wednesday, but "hopefully by the end of the year." Publishers who have signed on with Amazon view the partnership as an easy decision, desiring more distribution methods for their properties and not fewer.

“You’ve got beauty and design with Apple, which we love,” a publisher who has an Amazon deal said. “But with Amazon you have marketing, and ease of use. We’re very optimistic.”

Hearst titles include Harper's Bazaar, Elle, O The Oprah Magazine, Esquire and Cosmopolitan; Conde Nast counts Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and Wired as some of its properties; and Meredith publishes Fitness and Ladies' Home Journal magazines, among others.

Entertainment Weekly, Sports Illustrated, People and Fortune are several publications under Time Inc.

There are indications that Amazon's terms are similar to that Apple has established. Publishers would keep 70 percent of Amazon sales with the retailer sharing customer information with the publishing companies. But, the report notes that depending on the title and customer offer, Amazon could take more or less than 70 percent.

Time Inc. sells its individual magazine titles via Apple's App Store, but has yet to finalize a deal to sell subscriptions through the device.

Several publishers are expecting that Amazon will unveil a device closer in size to the iPad next year. Both tablets will use the Android operating system.