Oh what a week!  As critics and pundits debate the merits of non-literary fiction (whatever that might be), agents and writers are debating the merits of agents shifting from a representative model of payment to a pay-per-service model.

It’s getting hot up in here!  But, let’s slip quietly out the back door of this tavern brawl and just read some literary agent links, okay?

♦ Janet Reid warns writers to never assume that no response means No (at least not after the query stage).

♦ Nathan Bransford explains why he writes vague rejection letters.

♦ Kristin Nelson at Pub Rants shares recent trends in her query inbox.  Among the expected vampires and “Greek mythology characters in a modern setting,” there was this inexplicable pattern:

Also, we’ve been seeing a lot of stories about women who have discovered their husbands cheating, getting divorced, and then moving to a small town where they start their own business—like a B&B. They always move to the small town as the key feature.

♦ At Dystel & Goderich Jane discusses how to choose a title and Jim explains what happened when a book selected by an agent nevertheless goes unsold.

♦ At BookEnds, Jessica gives us a peek into the work rhythm of a literary agent.