After the success of the #InclusiveIndies Crowdfunder, Knights of, Jacaranda Books and Spread the Word are pleased to announce that the Inclusive Indies Fund is open for applications.
£30,000 will be distributed equally to ten inclusive independent presses in the UK through the Fund. The Fund represents 20% of the monies given by supporters of the Crowdfunder.
The purpose of the Fund is to support UK-based independent presses impacted by Covid-19 who are diverse-led or with a proven track record of publishing inclusively.
Inclusive independent presses are invited to apply for grants of £3,000. The grants are unrestricted and can be used to e.g.: contribute towards salary, pay advances or support marketing and sales.
The Inclusive Indies Fund will be administered by Spread the Word, a charity and London’s writer development agency. Each application will be assessed by Aimée Felone from Knights of and Valerie Brandes from Jacaranda Books.
Inclusive Indies Fund criteria
To apply to the Fund, your independent press must meet the following criteria:
- Publishing is your main area of business and you are based and registered (or are in the process of registering) in the UK;
- Be diverse-led or have a proven track record of publishing inclusively;
- Covid-19 has impacted on your ability to publish inclusively;
- You have less than 10 paid employees.
By registered we mean you are either a company, CIC and/ or charity or are in the process of becoming one.
By diverse-led we mean 51% of key decision makers are Black, Asian, Arab, Latinx or non-white people of colour, disabled, female, LGBTQI or working class.
Applying to the Fund
We have tried to keep the application as simple and straightforward as possible. Applications will be made through a Spread the Word google form.
You will be asked to complete the following questions, each with a maximum 500 word count:
- Tell us about your press, your mission and ethos and how you publish inclusively;
- What immediate impact did Covid-19 have on your business?
- What medium to longer-term impact will Covid-19 have on your business?
- Tell us how you would use your Inclusive Indies Fund grant if you are successful?
You will be asked to upload a maximum of five supporting documents, either your most recent catalogue or AIs/ press releases of recent titles.
We expect high demand for the Inclusive Indies Fund and we know that there will be insufficient funding to support every applicant. Priority will be given to inclusive independent presses who are most in need due to the impact of Covid-19.
The Inclusive Indies Fund closed on Monday 20 July 2020
All applicants will be informed about the outcome of their application week commencing 10 August 2020.
The funding decisions will be final and no communications will be entered into.
All successful applicants will be asked for a short report on how they have used their Inclusive Indies Fund grant.
We will publish the data on the number of applications received (anonymised) and the list of successful applicants.
Published 2 July 2020