The Society of Authors has been generously supported by authors, charitable trusts and the Royal Literary Fund. The Foundation provides grants to writers to assist them while writing books. There are two rounds of grants each year, awarded in the summer and in the winter.
The next closing date for applications is 30th September 2010.
ELIGIBILITY:
To apply the author must meet one of the following conditions:
1. The author has been commissioned by a commercial British publisher to write a full-length work of fiction, poetry or non-fiction and needs funding (in addition to publisher's advance) for important research travel, or other more general expenditure.
2. The author is without a contractual commitment by a publisher but has had at least one book published commercially by a British publisher, and there is a strong likelihood that their next book will be published in Britain.
Please note:
No author may apply to the Foundation twice in the same year. Successful applicants may not apply to the Foundation within three years of receiving an award
Editors, translators and screenwriters are not eligible
Grants will not be awarded to cover publication costs
HOW TO APPLY: Application is made by letter (2-3 pages) and enclosures. Please include the following:
1. Brief information about yourself and your books;
2. Details of the book on which you are working;
3. Details of any publisher's advance received or due (the size of any advance may be taken into consideration by the assessors);
4. The names of publishers contacted. If you have not approached any publishers with your project, please explain why not;
5. A brief outline of your financial position, specifying the sum needed, with reasons (NB: even the largest grants are unlikely to exceed £3,500. Most grants are in the range £1,000-2,000);
6. Details of any grants you have received in the last three years;
7. Copies (not originals) of a few reviews of your work, if available, on A4 paper (not more than 3-4 pages).
Please note:
Letters must be typed and all papers submitted must be on single-sided A4 paper
Please DO NOT staple or bind the papers together as they will be photocopied.
Submissions by fax or email are not acceptable.
Specific grants also awarded every six months (for which all applicants will automatically be considered):
ROGER DEAKIN AWARDS : Offer funding to authors of creative works of any genre, concerned with natural history, landscape or the environment, in memory of the environmentalist, writer and film maker Roger Deakin.
JOHN HEYGATE AWARDS : In memory of John Heygate, to help authors of commissioned works of travel writing.
ELIZABETH LONGFORD GRANTS : Flora Fraser and Peter Soros kindly sponsor an award of £2,500, in memory of Elizabeth Longford: open to historical biographers working on a commissioned book.
JOHN C LAURENCE AWARDS : Offer funding to works, of any genre, which help to improve understanding between races.
MICHAEL MEYER AWARDS: In memory of Michael Meyer, a generous benefactor, who wrote about the theatre and translated the plays of Ibsen and Strindberg.
ARTHUR WELTON AWARDS: In memory of the philanthropist and poet Arthur Welton.
THE GREAT BRITAIN SASAKAWA GRANT: One grant of £2,000 is awarded annually, in either round of awards. Works of fiction or non-fiction about any aspect of Japanese culture or society, or set in a Japanese context, will be considered. Preference will be given to works which help to interpret modern Japan to the English-speaking world.
More information here.
The next closing date for applications is 30th September 2010.
ELIGIBILITY:
To apply the author must meet one of the following conditions:
1. The author has been commissioned by a commercial British publisher to write a full-length work of fiction, poetry or non-fiction and needs funding (in addition to publisher's advance) for important research travel, or other more general expenditure.
2. The author is without a contractual commitment by a publisher but has had at least one book published commercially by a British publisher, and there is a strong likelihood that their next book will be published in Britain.
Please note:
No author may apply to the Foundation twice in the same year. Successful applicants may not apply to the Foundation within three years of receiving an award
Editors, translators and screenwriters are not eligible
Grants will not be awarded to cover publication costs
HOW TO APPLY: Application is made by letter (2-3 pages) and enclosures. Please include the following:
1. Brief information about yourself and your books;
2. Details of the book on which you are working;
3. Details of any publisher's advance received or due (the size of any advance may be taken into consideration by the assessors);
4. The names of publishers contacted. If you have not approached any publishers with your project, please explain why not;
5. A brief outline of your financial position, specifying the sum needed, with reasons (NB: even the largest grants are unlikely to exceed £3,500. Most grants are in the range £1,000-2,000);
6. Details of any grants you have received in the last three years;
7. Copies (not originals) of a few reviews of your work, if available, on A4 paper (not more than 3-4 pages).
Please note:
Letters must be typed and all papers submitted must be on single-sided A4 paper
Please DO NOT staple or bind the papers together as they will be photocopied.
Submissions by fax or email are not acceptable.
Specific grants also awarded every six months (for which all applicants will automatically be considered):
ROGER DEAKIN AWARDS : Offer funding to authors of creative works of any genre, concerned with natural history, landscape or the environment, in memory of the environmentalist, writer and film maker Roger Deakin.
JOHN HEYGATE AWARDS : In memory of John Heygate, to help authors of commissioned works of travel writing.
ELIZABETH LONGFORD GRANTS : Flora Fraser and Peter Soros kindly sponsor an award of £2,500, in memory of Elizabeth Longford: open to historical biographers working on a commissioned book.
JOHN C LAURENCE AWARDS : Offer funding to works, of any genre, which help to improve understanding between races.
MICHAEL MEYER AWARDS: In memory of Michael Meyer, a generous benefactor, who wrote about the theatre and translated the plays of Ibsen and Strindberg.
ARTHUR WELTON AWARDS: In memory of the philanthropist and poet Arthur Welton.
THE GREAT BRITAIN SASAKAWA GRANT: One grant of £2,000 is awarded annually, in either round of awards. Works of fiction or non-fiction about any aspect of Japanese culture or society, or set in a Japanese context, will be considered. Preference will be given to works which help to interpret modern Japan to the English-speaking world.
More information here.
