A Statewide Association Serving Georgia's
          Diverse Literary Communities

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        1266 West Paces Ferry Road, Suite 217
            Atlanta, Georgia 30327-2306

You get a promising note from an editor and resubmit, but never hear from the editor again. An agent agrees to read your manuscript but loses it and seems not to have the foggiest idea what you are talking about when you inquire weeks later. You place as a finalist in a fiction competition but never win.

If any of these scenarios sound familiar, then you know how frustrating it is to keep moving forward with your writing while the snail mailbox brings only your SASE’s with slips of paper inside saying “no thanks.” But rejection is something every writer deals with, some well, others, not so. This session will focus on how to use what seems like false starts, rejections and compounding frustrations to move forward with writing projects and gauge where you are with where you want to be. From agents and editors to

competitions and workshops, prize-winning writer and new member Doug Crandell will share his own personal experience with rejection and how it has compelled his work to the next level.

Doug, who was one of our Spring Festival presenters, is a recipient of the 2001 Sherwood Anderson Writer’s Grant in the sum of $10,000, the 2001 River City Award in Fiction in the sum of $2,000 sponsored by the Hohenberg Foundation (Booker Prize winner, Peter Carey, was the judge). Recently, Glimmer Train purchased the first three chapters of his agented novel, Mother Belle, as a self-contained short story. Maria Massie at Witherspoon Associates, Inc. in New York is his agent. His fiction has appeared, or soon will, in the Indiana Review, Nebraska Review, Hawaii Review, Oklahoma Review, River City, Glimmer Train and elsewhere.

After you have written the book, what do you do? How do you obtain a publisher? How do you get a cover jacket? How do you promote your book by reviews and appearances? How do you arrange a book tour and speaking tour?

For many authors, novice and experienced author alike, this can be a daunting challenge. Strategic Vision Literary, a division of

marketing plan for your book in a discussion that ranges from securing media interviews to developing an author website. David’s relationship with the local Atlanta media and national media is a strength for clients. He previously was the director of public affairs for a state association and worked for the Governor of Florida and a major Florida business association. He is a graduate of Florida State University. He serves on the planned giving committee of the Arthritis Foundation of Georgia.

Directing major media campaigns on behalf of business efforts, David has extensive contacts with national media and has had clients appear in the New York Times, Washington Post, Forbes, Urban Land, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and on CNN. AtBookExpo 2002, he arranged for new member author Michael Gilhuly to be

Strategic Vision LLC, was developed to deal with just these questions for their clients.

Company founders and newlyweds David Johnson and Laura Ward will discuss successful ways to market your book and offer a case study of do’s and don’ts. They will share their insight on how to develop a successful

featured on CNN for his book, Call to Glory: The Life and Times of a Texas Ranger.

Laura was a lead designer for an Atlanta agency and has a background in the corporate, travel, educational, and retail fields. Most recently, she has done work with several Fortune 500 companies as a lead web designer, information specialist and consultant. In addition, Laura has worked with start-up companies withstanding the fatal Dot-Com market. She is a graduate of Kennesaw State University.