Jody Kahn is a Brandt & Hochman agent who hunts for beautifully written, deeply character-driven literary and upmarket fiction and story-forward narrative nonfiction — with a particular appetite for voice, complexity, and work plugged into the current cultural conversation.
In brief
Jody Kahn's core demand is dual: prose that sings AND a story that grips — neither alone is enough.
The wishlist has evolved: an earlier emphasis on 'dark and edgy' has been updated to 'humor is always a plus,' and science has been dropped from the nonfiction list in favor of culture and social justice — query accordingly.
Kahn favors untold stories and misunderstood populations, signaling an appetite for nonfiction that illuminates overlooked subcultures or underrepresented communities.
The agency (Brandt & Hochman) is a long-established New York house known for serious literary work; querying Kahn fits writers who want a home with deep industry roots rather than a newer boutique.
Query by email only — no online submission portals; paste the first ten pages into the body of the email.
Lately
Kahn's current agency biography emphasizes humor as a welcome quality — a notable shift from an earlier public description that foregrounded 'dark and edgy.' The current page also adds explicit interest in untold stories and misunderstood populations, and replaces science with culture and social justice in the nonfiction list.
What Jody is looking for
Kahn's primary zone. Wants prose that is genuinely well-crafted alongside a rich, propulsive storyline — the two must coexist. Deeply drawn, complex characters and a distinctive narrator's voice are non-negotiable. Work that engages with the current cultural moment is especially welcome, as is anything told from a perspective that has been underrepresented or misunderstood. Dysfunctional family sagas, morally complicated historical settings, and narratives with layers that don't resolve easily all fit the taste profile.
Commercial enough to reach a wide readership, literary enough to satisfy a discerning one. Kahn is drawn to work with a grounded speculative element or strong cultural currency. Humor — when it serves the story — is actively welcomed here.
Kahn wants nonfiction that reads with the momentum and texture of a novel. Stories about overlooked communities, social justice themes, and cultural flashpoints are a current priority. Reported journalism with strong narrative architecture fits well here.
Sports and food writing are explicitly named interests, but the bar is storytelling first: Kahn wants a compelling human story that happens to live in these worlds, not a how-to or pure reportage.
Historical narrative is welcome when it illuminates a little-known period or subculture with novelistic depth. The emphasis is on unearthing stories that have been overlooked rather than re-treading canonical events.
Kahn is drawn to memoir and essay collections by writers who are analytical, voice-forward, and engaged with larger cultural or social questions. The prose standard is high; confessional writing without intellectual scaffolding is unlikely to be the right fit.
Not the right fit
On Jody's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Jody
Paste the first ten pages of your manuscript directly into the body of the email — do not attach them as a file; attachments are not how Kahn reviews opening pages.
Address the email to jkahn@bromasite.com; this is the confirmed query address for Kahn specifically, distinct from other agents at the same agency.
Lead your query letter with the cultural or human stakes of the book — Kahn explicitly values work plugged into the current conversation and stories about overlooked communities; frame your project in those terms if applicable.
Demonstrate voice in the query itself: since voice-driven narrative is a top criterion, a flat, purely transactional query letter undersells voice-forward work.
If submitting nonfiction, make clear why this story has been untold or underrepresented — 'untold stories' and 'misunderstood populations' are Kahn's own language for what excites them in this category.
Do not query Kahn about science writing; it appeared in an older version of the wishlist but is absent from the current agency page — this category has been dropped.
Humor, when it is genuinely embedded in the work, is worth flagging — the current profile explicitly welcomes it, whereas earlier descriptions did not lead with this quality.
Confirm that the submission window is still open by checking the live agency page before sending; query status can change without notice.