The Columbia Publishing Course, that postgraduate rite of passage for so many of the book industry’s worker bees, was the scene of a dust-up last Monday when an afternoon panel discussion took an unexpected turn. At stake was nothing less than the honor of fearsome literary agent Andrew Wylie and his firm. If the youngsters in the audience had known better, they might have shielded their eyes.

Earlier that day, one of those youngsters had asked Lindy Hess, the head of the program, why Mr. Wylie seemed to have such a dark reputation. (Can-of-worms alert! This is what happens when people who have never worked in publishing suddenly find themselves immersed in and disoriented by the set of myths and unfamiliar traditions that, taken together, form the consciousness and the heartbeat of this industry.  read more »

Page Six is reporting a beef between Andrew Wylie and author Helen DeWitt, who took issue with the literary agent's success at managing foreign rights—normally considered one of Wylie's strong suits—in a letter posted to the comments section of Lloyd Grove's recent interview with Mr. Wylie for Portfolio.com.

"AW's account of his agency bears no resemblance to my experience of the service offered," Ms. DeWitt wrote in her letter, which was posted on Christmas. Ms. DeWitt wrote that she signed on with Mr. Wylie because she thought he could help her manage the sixteen foreign contracts she'd scored for her book The Last Samurai, but found that the rights people continued contacting her directly: "The chaos engendered by this style of organization drove me to a complete breakdown."