I have to disagree with this: "most reputable US-based agents do choose to join AAR" as there are many reputable agents who have not and there are reputable agents who were and no longer are, me included. If you are not located in NYC, being a part of the AAR makes little sense. You'll attend none of the meetings and receive little benefit beyond some handouts now and then.
And even if you are in NYC, you may simply choose not to belong because of the lack of benefit. When I joined the AAR, it was to learn more about being an agent and, I'd hoped, to get some group health insurance or something. But the AAR had no such benefits when I joined, so I petitioned to create a Member Benefits Committee and was the founding chair. We got some discounts on office supplies and a few other things, but insurance never worked out.
I quit the AAR when I realized that I was spending quite a bit of time on AAR items (I was chair of the Royalty Committee) but just not getting a lot out of it. I thought that I had something better to do with my $150 a year membership fee and, honestly, I knew at least a couple of agents who had dropped out for similar reasons. The best thing about it for me was the gossiping at the Royalty Committee meetings. And since those were held only 6 blocks away, why not? If they had been cross-town, I'd probably not joined the committee.
The Canon of Ethics is a good idea, but there is a limit to how much the AAR can do. It can't stop a member from charging a 50% commission. It can't negotiate boilerplate with publishers. It is actually very toothless when it comes to publishers, though publishers may sometimes take the outcry of the membership as an indication that they should alter a policy.
In the end, I think it's a fine organization, but did little for me. And I would never suggest that an author should take or reject an offer of representation simply on the basis of whether or not that person is a member of the AAR. Plenty of good agents are not.
Z
