Joan Brandt Agency

05-03-2007, 04:17 PM

Has anyone worked with or have any info on The Joan Brandt Agency out of Atlanta, GA?

Thanks

batgirl · 05-09-2007, 12:43 AM

Any connection with Joan Brandt of Sterling Lord? That is/was Amiri Baraka's agent, which complicates the search if they're not the same person. She isn't currently listed there, so maybe it is the same person, left NY and off on her own to Atlanta?

The Brandt agency is listed on P&E but without notes one way or the other. No sign of a website, only snail address. They appear in various listings of agents:
The Joan Brandt Agency
788 Wesley Drive
Atlanta, GA 30305-3933
(404) 351-8877
Contact Joan Brandt

Toni Kelner cites a Joan Brandt as her agent here, in a joking award speech. She's been published by Kensington and Five Star. I'm not sure either of those require an agent for submissions.

I found a listing for a client, Tony Hays, a Tennessee writer on WritersNet, who has two books out from Iris Press, who say outright that they're very small. I'd be surprised if they paid any substantial advances.
Yikes! "An important goal of Iris was, and still is, to give talented but underappreciated writers an audience and to help them reach their potential."

So, um, not a lot of web-presence or visible track record. You could maybe contact Toni Kelner, who seems very nice on her website.
-Barbara

Aprylwriter · 05-09-2007, 06:48 AM

I know Kensington does not require you to have a literary agent, because one of the editors requested a partial from me and I don't have an agent.

Which Five Star are you talking about? Does anyone have a link? There's one publisher called Five Star Books and another called Five Star Publications...

Apryl

batgirl · 05-10-2007, 12:58 AM

Kelner's website says "Without Mercy, coming from FiveStar Mysteries". That's all I know. She had a mystery series with Kensington, and is co-editing an anthology with Charlaine Harris (to be published by Ace) - she and Harris are both Southern writers, so I'd suspect the linkup came that way.
Five Star Mysteries previously discussed here. I seem to remember they market to libraries, and pick up series that have been dropped - so perhaps Without Mercy is the latest in the series Kensington was handling? If so, better than a poke in the eye, but not really a step up from Kensington.

Not looking really impressive for J Brandt thus far.
-Barbara

Popeyesays · 05-10-2007, 01:16 AM

Five Star has several imprints. They concentrate on high quality hard-bound books for libraries.

I submitted there without an agent, they declined my science fiction novel, very nicely.

Regards,
Scott

triceretops · 05-10-2007, 08:02 AM

Yep, same with me.

Tri

Aprylwriter · 05-10-2007, 11:54 AM

It's probably better just to submit to those two publishers without an agent. Kensington still has my partial.

Apryl

batgirl · 05-11-2007, 12:12 AM

To return to the actual topic, I'd say that there are many, many agents to try before one is reduced to seeking one who is way out of NY and has no discoverable sales to agent-only publishers.
Back in 2004, someone asked about her on Caveat Scrivener, and silence was the stern reply. If she were making worthwhile sales, something would surely have shown up between 2004 and 2007.
k2g, I hope that answers your question.
-Barbara (pretending to be authoritative)

ToniLPKelner · 05-14-2007, 07:23 AM

I've been with Joan Brandt since 1992, and I'm mostly pleased with her. She does sell to agent-requiring markets. No, Five Star does not require an agent, but I made the deal with them myself after Joan went to a lot of effort to sell WITHOUT MERCY to the big guys. I decided I'd rather go with a small press than not sell the book, and that's what I did.

As for my connection with Charlaine Harris, it's purely personal. We've known each other for years, and for over a decade we've been part of the promotion group Femmes Fatales.

ToniLPKelner · 05-14-2007, 07:24 AM

And yes, Joan is the same Joan Brandt who was with the Sterling Lord Agency. She opened her own agency while still in New York, and moved to Atlanta some years back because of her husband's work.

ToniLPKelner · 05-14-2007, 07:27 AM

As for Five Star, the way it works is that you submit to Tekno Books, the book packager. The acquire for all the Five Star lines other than romance. I can answer questions about them, too, though since my book hasn't come out from them yet, my experience is still limited.

batgirl · 05-16-2007, 12:15 AM

Hi Toni, thanks for filling in some background, and best of luck with your FiveStar mystery - is it in the Laura Fleming series?
Do you know what other sales Joan Brandt has made? It's a very good sign that she has experience with a major agency, obviously, and certainly there are good agents who aren't in NYC. It's just a bit difficult to know whether someone is the right agent for you when there's so little information online about what she's looking for and what sort of books she represents.
Thanks for answering k2g's questions, and welcome to Absolute Write!
-Barbara

ToniLPKelner · 05-25-2007, 07:59 AM

Thanks, Barbara. WITHOUT MERCY is the first in a new series, and very different from the Laura Fleming series. (I use cuss words and everything!)

Honestly, I don't know much about Joan's other clients. I know Kensington author Barbara Block used to be a client, but she isn't any more, and I don't know why she left. (Barbara is still with Kensington, but goes by Isis Crawford now.) Joan likes mysteries, but not serial killers, and general fiction. No SF or romance, I'm afraid--she has her blind spots.

Toni1953 · 05-25-2007, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ToniLPKelner

Thanks, Barbara. Joan likes mysteries, but not serial killers, and general fiction. No SF or romance, I'm afraid--she has her blind spots.

how about paranormal mysteries, or would that fall under SF?

Moon Daughter · 05-25-2007, 10:41 PM

Toni, I think it would probably be ok.

05-28-2007, 04:58 PM

Thanks Barbara, Scott, Appryl and Toni for your info on Joan Brandt. I'll keep her on my list of possible agents to represent my general fiction novel.
Thanks again.

Garr Parks

River Rat · 06-14-2008, 12:23 AM

I queried this agent for my historical novel based on her profiles at Agent Query and LitMatch, both of which list historical fiction as one of her areas of interest. She sent my query letter back to me with a note in red ink stating that she doesn't handle historicals. Just thought I'd let you know.

reyi1011 · 09-21-2008, 03:51 AM

I queried her some six months ago and got a very rude response. Was hard to believe.

ThatMovieAnnouncerGuy · 09-21-2008, 06:12 AM

Red ink? I guess you're lucky she didn't give you detention and homework over the weekend.

j.s.cutler · 11-21-2008, 10:45 PM

I got a nasty letter from her returned with my partial. Rather than just politely declining, she chose to be insulting. I can't imagine working with someone like this. I see from the other posts that I'm not alone.

CKelly · 01-07-2009, 12:25 AM

I got a rather pointed response from her as well, but it was accompanied by three chapters that she had marked up. A few of her suggestions were more a matter of style than something that could be labled as "right" or "wrong", however most of her comments were valid and left me with the realization that I really did need to read and revise the manuscript at least one more time before submitting (she suggested reading it out loud to "understand why her pen had been busy"). She has a rather harsh way of stating her mind, but I think in my case I wasted her time on a project that was not quite ready to be unveiled and therefore I do not fault her for her comments.
She did leave me with a glimmer of hope: "The plot line remains of interest- you're probably two or three rewrites away from having it ready for serious commercial consideration."
Chris

Yvettesgonefishing · 01-07-2009, 01:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CKelly

I got a rather pointed response from her as well, but it was accompanied by three chapters that she had marked up. A few of her suggestions were more a matter of style than something that could be labled as "right" or "wrong", however most of her comments were valid and left me with the realization that I really did need to read and revise the manuscript at least one more time before submitting (she suggested reading it out loud to "understand why her pen had been busy"). She has a rather harsh way of stating her mind, but I think in my case I wasted her time on a project that was not quite ready to be unveiled and therefore I do not fault her for her comments.
She did leave me with a glimmer of hope: "The plot line remains of interest- you're probably two or three rewrites away from having it ready for serious commercial consideration."
Chris

There's something to be said for an agent who'd take the time to do all that. I've heard of a lot of agents who just don't sugar-coat anything or beat around the bush, so the manner in which some have said she responds isn't off the beaten path, I think. I'd have been encouraged by such a rejection. It wasn't simply dropped in the mail.

nicolesingslave · 12-03-2009, 09:14 AM

Adding links:
Genre profile:
http://www.1000literaryagents.com/li...nt.php?id=1810
http://www.authoradvance.com/agencie...-brandt-agency

still not much on P&E:
http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/pealji.htm

2 sales listed on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?ur...ent%22&x=0&y=0

Westie · 03-28-2011, 10:23 PM

I'm dragging this thread up from 2009 as I've been unable to find any information on this agent. The links to the sales listed on Amazon don't appear to reference Joan Brandt.

Does anyone have any recent information on her or is this agency one of the ones to stay away from?

Is Toni Kelner still with this agency?

Eugene · 06-28-2011, 10:17 PM

Joan Brandt? Anybody? Up-to-date?

05-03-2007, 04:17 PM	#1
k2g Guest Posts: n/a	Joan Brandt Agency Has anyone worked with or have any info on The Joan Brandt Agency out of Atlanta, GA? Thanks

05-09-2007, 12:43 AM	#2
batgirl Writting broad Join Date: May 2005 Location: Vancouver Island Posts: 1,667	Any connection with Joan Brandt of Sterling Lord? That is/was Amiri Baraka's agent, which complicates the search if they're not the same person. She isn't currently listed there, so maybe it is the same person, left NY and off on her own to Atlanta? The Brandt agency is listed on P&E but without notes one way or the other. No sign of a website, only snail address. They appear in various listings of agents: The Joan Brandt Agency 788 Wesley Drive Atlanta, GA 30305-3933 (404) 351-8877 Contact Joan Brandt Toni Kelner cites a Joan Brandt as her agent here, in a joking award speech. She's been published by Kensington and Five Star. I'm not sure either of those require an agent for submissions. I found a listing for a client, Tony Hays, a Tennessee writer on WritersNet, who has two books out from Iris Press, who say outright that they're very small. I'd be surprised if they paid any substantial advances. Yikes! "An important goal of Iris was, and still is, to give talented but underappreciated writers an audience and to help them reach their potential." So, um, not a lot of web-presence or visible track record. You could maybe contact Toni Kelner, who seems very nice on her website. -Barbara __________________ will crit for rep points "Your commas are pretty good." TNH okay, I have a blog

05-09-2007, 06:48 AM	#3
Aprylwriter i am dragon. roar. Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: The universe. Duh. Posts: 177	I know Kensington does not require you to have a literary agent, because one of the editors requested a partial from me and I don't have an agent. Which Five Star are you talking about? Does anyone have a link? There's one publisher called Five Star Books and another called Five Star Publications... Apryl __________________ WHEN I am a best-selling author...did I say when? Yes! WHEN! Not "if." "I have no particular talent. I am merely inquisitive." -Albert Einstein

05-10-2007, 12:58 AM	#4
batgirl Writting broad Join Date: May 2005 Location: Vancouver Island Posts: 1,667	Kelner's website says "Without Mercy, coming from FiveStar Mysteries". That's all I know. She had a mystery series with Kensington, and is co-editing an anthology with Charlaine Harris (to be published by Ace) - she and Harris are both Southern writers, so I'd suspect the linkup came that way. Five Star Mysteries previously discussed here. I seem to remember they market to libraries, and pick up series that have been dropped - so perhaps Without Mercy is the latest in the series Kensington was handling? If so, better than a poke in the eye, but not really a step up from Kensington. Not looking really impressive for J Brandt thus far. -Barbara __________________ will crit for rep points "Your commas are pretty good." TNH okay, I have a blog Last edited by batgirl; 05-10-2007 at 02:40 AM. Reason: adding link to previous thread

05-10-2007, 01:16 AM	#5
Popeyesays Now departed. Rest in peace, Scott, from all of us at AW Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 1,462	Five Star has several imprints. They concentrate on high quality hard-bound books for libraries. I submitted there without an agent, they declined my science fiction novel, very nicely. Regards, Scott __________________ Okay, damnit, I blog http://cscottsaylorsbooks.blogspot.com/ Sword of the Dajjal e-book, Published by BooksForABuck.com May, 2007 ISBN: 978-1-602-052-2 http://www.booksforabuck.com/sfpages...rd_dajjal.html Out in print early 2008 from Blu Phi'er Jars of Doom out mid 2008 from Blu Phi'er http://www.bluphier.com/

05-10-2007, 08:02 AM	#6
triceretops Super Browser Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: In a van down by the river Posts: 10,170	Yep, same with me. Tri __________________ BLOG http://guerrillawarfareforwriters.blogspot.com/ WAR GATE http://www.amazon.com/The-War-Gate-e...9233675&sr=1-1 WOLFEN STRAIN http://www.amazon.com/The-Wolfen-Str...vglnk-c1189-20 Planet Janitor.

05-10-2007, 11:54 AM	#7
Aprylwriter i am dragon. roar. Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: The universe. Duh. Posts: 177	It's probably better just to submit to those two publishers without an agent. Kensington still has my partial. Apryl __________________ WHEN I am a best-selling author...did I say when? Yes! WHEN! Not "if." "I have no particular talent. I am merely inquisitive." -Albert Einstein

05-11-2007, 12:12 AM	#8
batgirl Writting broad Join Date: May 2005 Location: Vancouver Island Posts: 1,667	To return to the actual topic, I'd say that there are many, many agents to try before one is reduced to seeking one who is way out of NY and has no discoverable sales to agent-only publishers. Back in 2004, someone asked about her on Caveat Scrivener, and silence was the stern reply. If she were making worthwhile sales, something would surely have shown up between 2004 and 2007. k2g, I hope that answers your question. -Barbara (pretending to be authoritative) __________________ will crit for rep points "Your commas are pretty good." TNH okay, I have a blog

05-14-2007, 07:23 AM	#9
ToniLPKelner New Fish; Learning About Thick Skin Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 4	I've been with Joan Brandt since 1992, and I'm mostly pleased with her. She does sell to agent-requiring markets. No, Five Star does not require an agent, but I made the deal with them myself after Joan went to a lot of effort to sell WITHOUT MERCY to the big guys. I decided I'd rather go with a small press than not sell the book, and that's what I did. As for my connection with Charlaine Harris, it's purely personal. We've known each other for years, and for over a decade we've been part of the promotion group Femmes Fatales.

05-14-2007, 07:24 AM	#10
ToniLPKelner New Fish; Learning About Thick Skin Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 4	And yes, Joan is the same Joan Brandt who was with the Sterling Lord Agency. She opened her own agency while still in New York, and moved to Atlanta some years back because of her husband's work.

05-14-2007, 07:27 AM	#11
ToniLPKelner New Fish; Learning About Thick Skin Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 4	As for Five Star, the way it works is that you submit to Tekno Books, the book packager. The acquire for all the Five Star lines other than romance. I can answer questions about them, too, though since my book hasn't come out from them yet, my experience is still limited.

05-16-2007, 12:15 AM	#12
batgirl Writting broad Join Date: May 2005 Location: Vancouver Island Posts: 1,667	Hi Toni, thanks for filling in some background, and best of luck with your FiveStar mystery - is it in the Laura Fleming series? Do you know what other sales Joan Brandt has made? It's a very good sign that she has experience with a major agency, obviously, and certainly there are good agents who aren't in NYC. It's just a bit difficult to know whether someone is the right agent for you when there's so little information online about what she's looking for and what sort of books she represents. Thanks for answering k2g's questions, and welcome to Absolute Write! -Barbara __________________ will crit for rep points "Your commas are pretty good." TNH okay, I have a blog

05-25-2007, 07:59 AM	#13
ToniLPKelner New Fish; Learning About Thick Skin Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 4	Thanks, Barbara. WITHOUT MERCY is the first in a new series, and very different from the Laura Fleming series. (I use cuss words and everything!) Honestly, I don't know much about Joan's other clients. I know Kensington author Barbara Block used to be a client, but she isn't any more, and I don't know why she left. (Barbara is still with Kensington, but goes by Isis Crawford now.) Joan likes mysteries, but not serial killers, and general fiction. No SF or romance, I'm afraid--she has her blind spots.

05-25-2007, 10:41 PM	#15
Moon Daughter U gotz sumthing 2 say? Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: The Moon Posts: 1,719	Toni, I think it would probably be ok. __________________ "Shivers" Over 80K [ON HOLD] "Ghost Girl" 40,000 out of 70K I'm on the blog-train now. Be careful or you might get MMS, too. (Multiple-Manuscripts Syndrome) RIPCACTUSWENDY

05-28-2007, 04:58 PM	#16
k2g Guest Posts: n/a	Thanks Barbara, Scott, Appryl and Toni for your info on Joan Brandt. I'll keep her on my list of possible agents to represent my general fiction novel. Thanks again. Garr Parks

06-14-2008, 12:23 AM	#17
River Rat New Fish; Learning About Thick Skin Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 21	update I queried this agent for my historical novel based on her profiles at Agent Query and LitMatch, both of which list historical fiction as one of her areas of interest. She sent my query letter back to me with a note in red ink stating that she doesn't handle historicals. Just thought I'd let you know.

09-21-2008, 03:51 AM	#18
reyi1011 New Fish; Learning About Thick Skin Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 3	An awful woman!!!!!!!!!!! I queried her some six months ago and got a very rude response. Was hard to believe.

09-21-2008, 06:12 AM	#19
ThatMovieAnnouncerGuy figuring it all out Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 68	Red ink? I guess you're lucky she didn't give you detention and homework over the weekend. __________________ Rest in peace Don LaFontaine, the real movie announcer guy. Can you imagine the symphony of Don, James Earl Jones and Charlton Heston having a conversation?

11-21-2008, 10:45 PM	#20
j.s.cutler figuring it all out Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 96	I got a nasty letter from her returned with my partial. Rather than just politely declining, she chose to be insulting. I can't imagine working with someone like this. I see from the other posts that I'm not alone.

01-07-2009, 12:25 AM	#21
CKelly New Fish; Learning About Thick Skin Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Georgia Posts: 12	I got a rather pointed response from her as well, but it was accompanied by three chapters that she had marked up. A few of her suggestions were more a matter of style than something that could be labled as "right" or "wrong", however most of her comments were valid and left me with the realization that I really did need to read and revise the manuscript at least one more time before submitting (she suggested reading it out loud to "understand why her pen had been busy"). She has a rather harsh way of stating her mind, but I think in my case I wasted her time on a project that was not quite ready to be unveiled and therefore I do not fault her for her comments. She did leave me with a glimmer of hope: "The plot line remains of interest- you're probably two or three rewrites away from having it ready for serious commercial consideration." Chris

12-03-2009, 09:14 AM	#23
nicolesingslave AW Addict Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Singapore Posts: 320	Adding links: Genre profile: http://www.1000literaryagents.com/li...nt.php?id=1810 http://www.authoradvance.com/agencie...-brandt-agency still not much on P&E: http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/pealji.htm 2 sales listed on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?ur...ent%22&x=0&y=0 __________________ singslave@hotmail.com http://nicolesingslave.buzznet.com/user/journal

03-28-2011, 10:23 PM	#24
Westie New Fish; Learning About Thick Skin Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: North of the 49th Posts: 45	I'm dragging this thread up from 2009 as I've been unable to find any information on this agent. The links to the sales listed on Amazon don't appear to reference Joan Brandt. Does anyone have any recent information on her or is this agency one of the ones to stay away from? Is Toni Kelner still with this agency?

06-28-2011, 10:17 PM	#25
Eugene Eugene Dubnov Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Jerusalem and London Posts: 16	Joan Brandt? Anybody? Up-to-date?

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