On the eve of the authors' deadline to opt-out of the Google Books settlement, the Authors Guild attacked Amazon (AMZN) in a blistering statement.

As we noted last week, Amazon, Microsoft (MFST), and Yahoo (YHOO) have banded together with the Open Book Alliance in opposing the Google Books settlement--an agreement reached through an Authors Guild lawsuit in federal court. The Authors Guild responded with an assault on Amazon's values, criticizing the low e-book prices that the online bookseller has set for the Kindle.

Here's more from the statement: "Amazon's hypocrisy is breathtaking. It dominates online bookselling and the fledgling e-book industry. At this moment it's trying to cement its control of the e-book industry by routinely selling e-books at a loss. It won't do that forever, of course. Eventually, when enough readers are locked in to its Kindle, everyone in the industry expects Amazon to squeeze publishers and authors." (Via Publishers Weekly)