On Thursday, March 19, 2026 at 7 p.m. Eastern, the Atlanta Writers Club will present a "First-Page Read & Respond" event via Zoom for our members. This is a first-page read on Zoom, with a professional narrator reading each participant's submitted first manuscript page (which will be displayed on-screen) and a panel of three industry professionals--one publisher acquisitions editor and two literary agents--following along. After the reading, the panel will briefly discuss what they liked and why and/or what confused them, put them off, or otherwise bumped them out of the narrative. If any of the panelists really like the sample, that/those panelist(s) will request a partial/full manuscript, and that participant will receive their contact information and submission instructions via email from AWC Executive Director George Weinstein. As a bonus, the narrator might provide written notes to participants after the event to further assist them.
Each reading and discussion will be 5 minutes in length. We've capped submissions at 26 to keep the event to roughly two hours, but those wishing to submit can get on the waitlist and pay an observer fee for now, upgrading to submitter if a spot opens.
The event will be recorded, and that recording will be shared with all registrants so individuals can submit and/or observe the event without having to be present.
First-page submissions will be divided among the two narrators based on the gender of the manuscript point-of-view narrator or randomly assigned for any omniscient narrator.
There are two price options:
- $42 (incl. processing fee) to submit your first page for reading by a narrator and response by the panelists. Those wishing to submit can get on the waitlist and pay the $12 observer fee for now, upgrading to submitter if a spot opens.
- $12 (incl. processing fee) to solely observe and learn what appeals to industry professionals and what bumps them out of a narrative so these participants can apply those lessons to their own manuscript.
FIRST-PAGE SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE BY MARCH 11, 2026 AT 11:59 P.M. EASTERN
The submission must follow industry standard formatting:
- Submit as a Word (.docx or .doc) file.
- Put the manuscript title and genre in the header; you can choose whether to also include your name in the header or make the submission anonymous.
- Use double spacing throughout the page.
- Put 1-inch margins on the top and bottom and both sides.
– Use Times New Roman font.
– Use 12-pt. font size.
– Indent the first line of each paragraph and don’t include extra space between paragraphs (i.e., format it as a book, not an email or business memo).
– End your manuscript sample on a complete sentence, even if this means having an additional page with the remainder of that sentence.
If you are not yet an Atlanta Writers Club member but want to register for either of the event options, or need to renew because your membership will expire by March 19, 2026, you'll need to add $60 AWC membership to your total. You will then also be able to attend our monthly in-person meetings at no charge (and/or view the recordings afterward), participate in our critique groups, enter our contests, and register for periodic standalone online workshops offered free to members.
Carleen Geisler is a literary agent with Britt Siess Creative Management. She started her publishing career as an associate agent at ArtHouse Literary Agency and then at PS Literary Agency. Prior to her time there, she worked in digital marketing for several years. Carleen lives on a small-scale regenerative farm and as such has a soft spot for stories centering the earth, agriculture, and holistic ways of living. She represents adult fiction across contemporary genres and non-fiction. In fiction, she typically gravitates towards a more upmarket or literary voice, and loves a weird or whimsical story that is grounded in the real world, especially if it has a point to make. In non-fiction, she is open across genres, and looks for projects written by authors who are knowledgeable and passionate about their subject matter.
In fiction, Carleen tends to gravitate toward a more upmarket or literary voice, though she will also look at commercial stories. Her tastes span widely from very quiet, everyday stories to odd or unsettling atmospheres, and everything between. Some of her favorite books to see comp’d to in her inbox are: BUNNY by Mona Awad, SUNDIAL by Catriona Ward, THE ARC by Tory Henwood Hoen, A NOVEL OBSESSION by Cailtin Barasch, SMILE AND LOOK PRETTY by Amanda Pellegrino, and GOOD RICH PEOPLE by Eliza Jane Brazier. In nonfiction, her aim is to find very niche topics that appeal to a wide audience. Authors with clear knowledge of their subject, and a talent for connecting their topic to the human nature of others is appreciated. That said, she also welcomes being surprised by nonfiction in spaces she hasn’t thought about before. If you can make her care about a topic she’d previously never given much thought to, she wants to hear from you!
In Adult Fiction, Carleen is looking for:
In nonfiction, Carleen is looking for:
She is NOT a good fit for:
Christopher Madden is the Executive Editor of Woodhall Press. He works with Woodhall’s most seasoned writers as well as their rising stars. A serial entrepreneur, writer, poet, and performer, Chris currently teaches at Fairfield University and co-directs the Black Rock Art Guild.
Woodhall Press is interested in good writing and fresh stories. These often trump genres, but the genres Woodhall publishes are listed below.
In fiction, Chris is seeking:
While Chris has some interest in poetry collections, they can be difficult to sell. Woodhall is selective but still open to this form. For example, in the fall of 2024, they published a memoir in verse.
In nonfiction, Chris is looking for:
Chris can work directly with an author or through a literary agent.
He can consider previously published or self-published works.
Andie Smith is an associate agent at Creative Media Agency and a member of the AALA. She has previously served as a writer and editor for several local newspapers and magazines in Central Florida and is the Founder of Sun & Spines Editorial, where she offers a variety of editing services for authors. When she’s not agenting, Andie is spending time with her husband and two kitties or hanging out at Disney World.
Andie is currently open to Children’s and Adult Fiction genres noted below. As an autoimmune advocate, Andie would love to see stories with MC’s embracing life through all disabilities, from those that are more obvious to invisible ones.
Andie is looking for the following in fiction:
Adult:
Young Adult:
Middle Grade:
Andie does NOT represent:
She is also NOT a fit for:
Andie tends to shy away from stories with on-the-page cheating, abuse, rape, and reference to self-harm and/or suicide (off-page references ok).
First-page submissions will be divided among the following narrators based on the gender of the manuscript point-of-view narrator or randomly assigned for any omniscient narrator.
Curt Bonnem is a multi-media performer with over 40 years of experience as an actor, voiceover artist, audiobook narrator, musician and variety performer. From portraying Frank Sinatra in a hit musical to a twisted serial killer on Criminal Minds; entertaining crowds with his champion juggling skills to fronting a rock band, Curt's love of performance has been unshakable since he stepped onto a stage in the 5th grade.
With nearly 300 audiobooks to his credit, Curt boasts a variety of abilities, including a facility for accents and character voices. He has lent his skills to a wide variety of genres; some favorites being thriller, horror, sci-fi, gamelit and fantasy as well as nonfiction. Curt also teaches audiobook narration for the Atlanta Voiceover Studio and is currently serving on the Atlanta Local SAG-AFTRA Voiceover Committee. He is a 2021 Audiobook Adrenaline Grand Winner, Audiofile Magazine Earphones Award Winner, and 2020 AudiobookReviewer.com Best YA Sci-Fi winner.
Janina Edwards has recorded more than 500 titles for major audiobook publishers crossing all genres, and voiced work by Chimamanda Adichie, Octavia Butler, Alice Walker, Taylor Branch, April Ryan, Deesha Philyaw, Jasmine Guillory, James Patterson and Rachel Howzell Hall, to name a few. She records for audio publishers Tantor Audio, Dreamscape Media, Macmillan Audio, Simon & Schuster, Podium, Penguin Random House, and more. Janina received her first Audiofile’s Earphones Award in 2018 for the children’s book Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer. She lead the narration team for The Final Revival of Opal and Nev that won the 2021 Audie. In total her work has received 8 Audie finalist nominations, 9 Earphones awards and 2 SOVAS nominations. Janina also narrates journalism for the New York Times, primarily Modern Love. She is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA, and graduated from the Studio Acting Program at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Janina is also a writer and member of the Atlanta Writers Club. She focuses on memoir and personal essay pieces particularly about caregiving, yoga and her experiences in nature. Her work has appeared in AARP’s The Ethel and Sisters, the National Parks Foundation Blog, NRS Duct Tape Diaries, and Nevertheless, She Persisted. She is currently querying her completed memoir Be Wise: A Daughter’s Reluctant Journey Through Dementia, and submitting proposals for Wade in the Water: Kayaking My Way Through Black History in America.
To select either the submission option or the observation option, please complete the fields below then click the SUBMIT button for payment by credit/debit card.
- For AWC members only- No refunds will be provided; if you can't attend the live event, you will still receive the recording.
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