Literary agents, authors and publishing executives gathered in New York on September 30 for the Association of American Literary Agents’ (AALA) second annual People of Publishing conference amid a dispute over the expanding roles of agents and the revenue that results from it.

Dystel, Goderich & Bourret resigned from the AALA in late September after the organization revised its ethics framework for members who offer paid editorial, marketing and web services to authors they do not represent. DGB, who says the arrangement creates an inherent conflict of interest and an imbalance of power, also objected to revisions that allow agents to retain their editorial fees if they decide to sign the authors as agency clients.

“For us, that’s a pretty hard red line—for someone to be paid for doing editorial work and then also being compensated as an agent, whether that’s from their commission or some sort of fee structure,” DGB partner Michael Bourret told PW.

“One of the great things about being an agent is that the interests of agents and authors are aligned and that’s why we can work in concert together. The changes that they’re making are taking away that alignment and making it so that there are ways that agents can profit when authors don’t,” Bourret said.

AALA has allowed agents to charge non-clients for editing since 2022. The organization says its revised ethics rules prohibit agents from conditioning representation on the purchase of services and include safeguards intended to protect authors. Agents are not permitted to charge clients for edits they make while preparing manuscripts for submission.

AALA president Regina Brooks said no other members have resigned as a result of the changes.

“For the lion’s share of [agents], it’s still a commission-based business,” Brooks told PW at the conference. "But there are people doing business models that are totally different, and they have responded to the needs of authors and the changes happening in publishing. There’s hybrid publishing, self publishing, there are so many other ways to get published these days, and the idea that we are not willing to respond to some of the changes that are happening in our industry, I think, is not a good move.”

Agents at the conference said they have been considering how to maintain their integrity while building a financially sustainable business.

Ericka Phillips, an agent with the Stephanie Tade Agency who works on commission only, said the firm has discussed whether to charge clients for marketing services such as pitching authors for media appearances and booking them for speaking or teaching events.

“I definitely struggle with the ethics around it,” Phillips told PW. “I do think I should be compensated for the work that I do, but I never want an author to feel like having an agent is a pay-to-play thing, so that’s where that becomes really tricky.”

Amelia Sheldon, who created her own agency in 2023, said she freelance edited her main client 20 years before the client asked her for representation. Sheldon said she doesn’t typically charge new clients for editorial services, but she welcomes the ethics revisions made by the AALA.

“I like the flexibility this offers, because some people really do want to hire you to develop their work,” Sheldon said. “I can understand people just wanting your agent to agent, and I can understand the editorial services just wanting to do editorial. But I think to make a living these days, if you’re an agent who has experience and you’re a one-man show, I think it’s nice to be able to have the opportunity to do both.”