Ever wonder why you’ve never received thirteen of anything for the price of a dozen at any bakery you’ve ever visited?  Well, wonder no more, because there’s no point in worrying about it.

And, while you’re getting over your disappointment, enjoy the follow “Baker’s Dozen” links on publishing and writing!

Stacey at Dystel & Goderich tells us why she is a literary agent.  I should also thank two other D&G notables: Jim for pointing me to agent Adrienne Kress’s list of four things you should ask yourself before you query, and Lauren for linking to a New York Times’ piece on how easy it is for readers to contact writers in the digital age.

The ever-prolific Jessica at BookEnds LLC dropped three great bits of advice in the past week: how taking an offer from a smaller press can affect your career, what the heck a “sell through” is and why it’s important, why a bad agent can be worse than a scam agent.

On the subject of new-fangled book publicity, Janet Reid explains “the art of promoting books in 140 characters,” and you don’t immediately recognize that as a Twitter reference you really need to click that link and read up.

Meanwhile, on the subject of old school book publicity, Kirstin Nelson is applauding the “reanimation” of Kirkus.

Nathan Bransford discusses the possible causes of his recent query deluge, while Rachelle Gardner investigates how the online “culture of free” affects book-buying decisions.

Kassia Kroszer at Booksquare discusses the upcoming (Feb 22-24) Tools of Change for Publishing Conference in New York … in New York … of course.

Finally, Eric at Pimp My Novel explains the value of negative reviews, while Alan Rinzler offers memoirists “7 tips for defeating your inner critic.”

Enjoy the links!