JK Rowling's new detective novel has been caught up in a row between her publisher and online retailer Amazon over the price of e-books.

Hachette Book Group, her New York-based publishers, has apologised to its authors for the pricing dispute with Amazon that prompted the online retailer to block pre-orders for some of the publisher's forthcoming book releases.

The disagreement has led to the removal of pre-order buttons for a number of titles on Amazon.com including her The Silkworm novel written under Ms Rowling's pen name Robert Gilbraith.

"Please know that we are doing everything in our power to find a solution to this difficult situation, one that best serves our authors and their work, and that preserves our ability to survive and thrive as a strong and author-centric publishing company," said Hachette chief executive Michael Pietsch said in a letter to authors.

Numerous Hachette authors have criticized Amazon in recent weeks, including James Patterson, who on his Facebook page noted that the purchase of books written by him, Malcolm Gladwell, Nicholas Sparks and others had been made more difficult.

"What I don't understand about this particular battle tactic is how it is in the best interest of Amazon customers," Patterson wrote.

A ruling by US District Judge Denise Cote, in July last year, found Apple played a "central role" in scheming from late 2009 into early 2010 with five publishers including Hachette to raise e-book prices and impede competitors such as Amazon.com.

Executives from the companies would meet in the private dining rooms of New York restaurants to bemoan the low prices charged by Amazon, and what they could do about it, Judge Cote said in her ruling.

The US Department of Justice said the conspiracy was created to challenge Amazon's dominance in the e-book market. The publishers and Apple sought to raise e-book prices above the $9.99 price tag favoured by Amazon.