August 9, 2007
Grants for Writers
Pull a novel off the bookstore shelf, even a book by an established author, and it is not uncommon to see a grant-making organization mentioned on the author’s acknowledgements page. “Special thanks to the So-and-So Foundation for their support.”
Yes, even writers whose books sell — indeed, even writers who just manage to publish, which is a victory in itself — often need the financial support of grant-making institutions to offset the cost of writing fulltime.
Many professional writers will even joke that the majority of their writing takes the form of writing grant applications!
As with most sayings, there’s truth in this.
Talk to any writer… Most will tell you that, at some point in their careers, they have applied for at least one grant. Many will apply for numerous grants over the course of a single year. And chances are that if the writer is a writer of fiction, he has applied for a grant recently, and yes, some weeks, he spends more time writing grant applications than fiction!
When I say “writers” in this context, by the way, I do not include “copywriters” — those writers who make their livelihood writing, yes, but not writing books and plays and poems and movies. Instead, copywriters write in the world of business. They write manuals; they write websites; they write ads. They write anything you see in the run of your day-to-day. Indeed, they write everything BUT books and plays and poems and movies.
Nor do I include journalists, which means those writers employed at newspapers, magazines, TV and radio stations and other media organizations.
When I say “writer,” then, I mean writers of books (fiction and non-fiction) and plays and poems and movies.
Another way to put it would be writers who choose to work in realms where there are no guarantees in terms of income.
For example, you may spend a year of your life writing a screenplay that never sells.
Or maybe you take two years of your life to write a lengthy novel… You do manage to get it published, but the deal you strike is with a very small publishing house that pays you very little up front and instead relies on book sales. However, your novel only sells 27 copies so you make virtually no money.
That’s the kind of writer I’m talking about.
For such writers, grants are a viable way to help you keep body and soul together while you write your epic novel, film or play.
There are a few things you should know about applying for grants, though. In fact, writing grant applications may come to consume a good portion of your writing life! So if you’re going to do it, you may as well do it right.
Research, Research, Research
Applying for grants is all about doing research.
Where you want to focus time and energy is the search for where you will apply for a grant.
There are, after all, countless grant making organizations out there. But only so many will provide grants to, say, novelists. So if you’re a novelist (working or aspiring) you need to be sure you’re applying to organizations that provide grants for novelists. If a foundation makes grants for playwrights and poets only, no, do not apply there! All you do is waste peoples’ time.
Besides, you’ll have lots of time for the research because, once you get the hang of writing grant applications, you’ll discover that the application process itself tends not to vary much from place to place.
However, be warned: Even though it may tend not to vary from place to place, you can bet that each and every place will have its differences.
And, due to the volume of applications that some grant-making organizations receive, they tend to be very specific about how, exactly, you apply for one of their grants. In some cases, if you have not followed instructions to a “T,” your grant application will be thrown out.
In fact, if Rule No. 1 is “Research, Research, Research,” then Rule No. 2 is…
Picky, Picky, Picky
That’s right. Be picky. Be picky about where you send your application, and, be picky about how you prepare it, because the organization you’re applying to will be picky, too. These places (and their bleary-eyed staff) see stacks of grant applications, so if they see one that disregards their application guidelines, believe me, your application will get tossed. No questions asked.
So… Be sure you follow the various rules and application guidelines.
And if “Picky, Picky, Picky” is Rule No. 2, then Rule No. 3 is most definitely…
Send, Send, Send
Don’t put all that time into research, and then into preparing a killer grant proposal, only to apply for, like, three grants.
That is not the way to make grants work for you.
How many grants should you apply for?
Apply for a hundred!
As I say, once you have your application materials ready and in order, once you have your “working proposal” up and running, you’re only going to be tweaking and massaging ten or twenty percent of it each time you apply for a new grant, anyway.
For example, ten percent (or more) of your application may simply call for information about YOU. Your hopes and dreams as a writer. Your work objectives. A bit about you and your writing life, in other words.
If you apply for grants at fifty different organizations this year (let’s say you’re getting an application per week out the door) you’re not going to write that biographical information fifty different ways, are you? Of course not. You use the same biographical information every time.
That’s what I mean when I say a good percentage of your grant proposal will not change (or will change slowly).
Components of your grant application
Just as some organizations may request a great deal of information from you, many will not.
Sometimes, you may simply be asked to send specific material. ie: Send your screenplay and contact information to:” Or, “Submit up to 20 pages of poetry or short fiction by such-and-such a date.”
Some grant applications are that straightforward.
That’s why it’s tough to lay down rules concerning what you might need to send. If it’s a simple process, like above, then that’s all you need to know. If it’s complicated, chances are the organization has its own application template that you can download. And if that’s the case, simply follow directions.
But the best way to find out what to send is by looking at some examples, and one of the best way to do that is to visit Poets and Writers, which is an excellent source of “information, support, and guidance for creative writers.”
Look especially at PW’s section on grants << http://www.pw.org/mag/0701/deadlines.htm>>. Their list of funders is long, cohesive and well maintained. For any writer (again, working or aspiring) interested in applying for grants, it’s a great starting point.
Get serious
It can pay to get serious about grants because — yes, believe it or not! — the money is out there. If you’re a struggling writer, especially, you need to keep in mind that there are people and organizations out there who know exactly what you’re going through, and they sincerely do want to help you. Follow their guidelines and, you never know, you may find the help you seek.
Good luck!