Back in 2007, there was
some discussion in this thread about whether Robert Brown and/or Sharene Martin were connected with a publisher called
Martin Brown Publishers, which
shared a street address with the Wylie-Merrick Literary Agency and had published books by Wylie-Merrick clients.
Martin Brown hasn't been a very active publisher--at the time of the discussion, it had issued just 2 books, and
a search today on Amazon indicates that it hasn't published any others since.
Why is this of interest? Because
Robert Brown's Twitter profile now lists him as "Publisher and Acquisitions Editor at
Ampichellis Ebooks an imprint of Martin Brown Publishers,LLC." (The Ampichellis website does not name its staff.) And
these profiles of Robert Brown and Sharene Martin at a conference website describe them not as literary agents, but as publishers who are actively acquiring for Ampichellis (their work with Wylie-Merrick is mentioned, but in such a way as to suggest that they are no longer agents).
So what gives? Is the agency closing? The agency's
blog doesn't say anything about it, but the
Wylie-Merrick website has been reduced to a single page, with no way to contact the agents.
If the agency is indeed closed, the potential conflicts of interest that arise when literary agents own publishers aren't a concern. However, what about Wylie-Merrick clients whose books the agency didn't sell? Will Ampichellis make offers to them? Shades of Ravenous Romance.
At least we know the answer now to the question about Martin Brown Publsihers.
- Victoria