Q&A Time: Grants for Writers?

Kristen King

I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction. I really need to obtain a large grant to work on my screen play on homelessness. I also self-published a book (more about it on my blog), Fragrance, by Princene. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Princene

Sounds to me like you need to check out a director of grants for writers, or possibly grants for work to address the problem of homeless. I can’t help you with that second one, but here are some resources for finding writer grants.

I don’t advocate paying for this type of information, as it is largely available for free, but you may want to take a class at your local writer’s center or community college on grant writing to get a leg up. There are some very reputable low-fee subscription services that I would consider, but I absolutely would not shell out a couple grand for some of the absurd “$ecret$ to tricking the government to pay for everything through grant$!!!!!” seminars out there.

It’s up to you to do your research and make smart decisions, so be an informed consumer as you select grants to apply for. And if you hire a grantwriter, anyone who offers to guarantee that you’ll win is someone who should be avoided. No one can guarantee that you’ll win a grant award, and the best writer in the world won’t help you if you’re just not the best candidate for the grant.

Also, many people plan to pay their grant writer from the grant award money, and that ain’t cool because (1) writers should be paid whether your project succeeds or not and (2) many grants restrict use of funding to ONLY the project itself, and paying your grant writer from those funds would be prohibited. Like I said, be informed and make smart decisions by doing your research.

Best of luck to you!

Have a question about freelance writing and communications? E-mail Kristen!

Comments on this entry are closed.

Allena Oct 20, 2008 Link

Thanks for talking about grant writing pay. As an oftentime grant writer, I get a LOT of newbie orgs trying to write my fee into their grant. Yup, that’s pretty much against the funder’s rules 99.9% of the time! Grants are awarded for work in a FUTURE time period.

Also, writers should beware of this because, as I’ve found, asking for that really tells you that this organization has NOT A CLUE and is probably best to pass up, as it’s still in its baby stages, and not likely to pan out.

Veteran orgs have have people on their boards who know these things.

So thanks, KK, for getting the word to orgs AND writers.
Kristen King Oct 20, 2008 Link

Hi, Allena,

I get that a LOT from people. And it’s like, “Sorry, dude, but if you don’t target your applications correctly or your idea isn’t what they’re looking for, that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t get paid, or that I should risk NOT getting paid.”

Thanks for the reinforcement and the GREAT advice.

kk
Devon Ellington Oct 20, 2008 Link

The Foundation Center in NYC is another great resource.

Devon Ellington´s last blog post..Monday, October 20, 2008
Devon Ellington Oct 20, 2008 Link

Also, local, state, and regional arts councils often have grant resources.

Devon Ellington´s last blog post..Monday, October 20, 2008
Kristen King Oct 20, 2008 Link

Great suggestions, Devon. Thanks! :)

Y’all, go read Devon’s blog: http://devonellington.wordpress.com/

She is one heck of a smart cookie.

kk