Random House wins literary standoff with Andrew Wylie's agency

Random House Inc. and the Wylie literary agency have settled their dispute over e-book rights, the New York Times reports. The publishing house will hold the electronic rights to 13 books that the Wylie Agency, whose eponymous founder was profiled in Harvard Magazine, had begun to publish in July under a new digital venture, Odyssey Editions.  Random House took such umbrage at this move on Wylie’s part that it ceased doing business with the agency, refusing to acquire any new books from its more than 700 author clients.  The new development leaves Odyssey with only seven books in its portfolio, rather than the original 20.