I don’t understand or know what to think about the change in the AALA policy regarding agents charging for some services… can you give us a primer? How will this change things for trad authors (the PW article mentioned self- and hybrid-authors).

If you missed it, this is the PW article to which OP is referring. For those interested in learning more about it, the AALA has provided a point-by-point breakdown of each change to the Canon of Ethics , including the old language, the new language, and the rationale for changing the language. (It's an excellent primer, far more thorough than I could possibly be, and I strongly suggest you read it…