Amazon on the same day as it posted financial results obtained a potentially key book deal in its escalating wars with Apple and Barnes & Noble. The online retailer has bypassed publishers entirely and agreed with agent Andrew Wylie to exclusively publish books online by famous authors he has represented. Wylie's agreement gives the Kindle store sole e-book rights to authors such as the late Norman Mailer and John Updike as well as Philip Roth and 17 other writers.
