404 Ink Bursary: application overview
We are due to launch the 404 Ink Bursary for small presses next week. This is the initiative for people to apply for the following two strands:
£1,000 towards a creative project
£500 towards hosting an intern over a five day period
The form has required questions, meaning you can only access certain pages once the prior has been completed. To allow people to take the time they need and not be limited to only drafting onto the form, we have listed the questions below, and some T&Cs at the bottom.
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#1 Applicant details
Standard questions:
What organisation are you applying on behalf of?
Your name
Your role at the organisation
Organisation URL
Contact email
What strand you are applying for (publishing or internship or both)?
Can you confirm that you are authorised to apply for funding on behalf of the organisation?
Longer form:
Publisher description (Max: 500 words)
Tell us about your organisation - when and why your company was started, the people behind it, the work you've published already, your ethos and your aims. There will be questions later in the form to talk more specifically about how the bursary can be beneficial to you, and how you would intend to use it, so focus is purely on the company itself for this question.
#2 Publisher Project Bursary (£1,000)
Optional, depending on which strand(s) you are applying for.
Please give an overview of the publishing project you would like funding for. (Max: 500 words)
This could be a new project, a chance to expand or kickstart your list, or another need. We want to know the who, what, when, where and why of your project and the stage it sits at the time of submission.How does your project align with the ethos and mission of the bursary? (Max: 250 words)
As a reminder, 404 Ink - who are behind the bursary - champion accessibility, inclusivity and openness in our work as much as we can. We'd love to hear more about your project in this context, and how the project can make an impact for those involved, whether running it or an audience/reader.What are the ambitions for the project itself, and how could the funding support that? (Max: 250 words)
Tell us about how you envisage the project, in terms of behind the scenes and its eventual impact. Can you tell us how the bursary would materially impact the project?How would you allocate the funds, if successful? (Max: 250 words)
Costs can include, for example, production, paying freelancers, general support costs, and so on. We understand that costs are in constant flux, so appreciate that numbers may be estimates. We are also not asking for a full line-by-line budget, just a notion of your preparedness to allocate the funds responsibly. Crucially, if you are seeking to pay creatives or freelancers, then the fees must be in line with industry rates.Would you like to be considered for additional opportunities provided by other organisations?
Yes or no.Anything further you would like to add for your Project Bursary submission?
#3 Internship Bursary (£500)
Optional, depending on which strand(s) you are applying for.
Why are you seeking financial support to to hire an intern? (Max: 250 words)
At 404 Ink we are firm believers that internships should offer tangible and useful experience to the applicants, specific to their needs, beyond just being brought on board to help with the high workloads of small presses. We seek awardees with the same ethos.What sort of areas would you like to tailor an internship in, or feel you are best placed to offer? (Max: 250 words)
As an example, while we gave all interns an introductory overview of all 'departments' in small presses, we offered specific marketing, editorial and production education and experience on different days depending on the intern's interests. Your expertise may lie elsewhere and we'd like to know about that.What do you think an intern would gain from working with your organisation specifically? (Max: 250 words)
404 Ink will offer the framework for their award-winning internship scheme that prioritised flexible, remote, paid positions, tailored to the applicant. While this is a resource we hope will be of value should successful bursary recipients want to use it as a foundation, we feel that different publishers can offer something more to the framework, and would love to know what you think sets your publisher apart, or can be valuable to interns.Anything further you would like to add for your Internship Bursary submission?
Some additional details
This is more fully outlined on the application form, but the key information to know:
Deadline: 12th April, 23.59pm UK time.
Location: This is an initiative for applicants based in Scotland, England, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Eligibility: You are are applying on behalf of a small press registered via Companies House, or a DIY collective, or publishing organisation that is not registered; you are not applying on behalf of yourself or an individual looking to self-fund publication of their own work.
What is a ‘small publisher’? For the sake of this application, we define a "small publisher" as an organisation (incorporated or not) of no more than 5 employees (FT, PT or directors) with a turnover of no more than £75,000, that is already publishing books or intends to publish books in the very near future.
‣ ‘Employees’ does not include freelancers - we understand freelance networks can be quite large.
‣ Imprints of large publishers are not eligible to apply for this bursary.
‣ Self-publishing authors are not eligible to apply for this bursary.We will not accept submissions sent early or outwith the form. Given the level of interest we’ve had since announcing the Bursary, this will allow us to track it all cleanly and get back to everyone more easily with the outcome of their submission.
Thank you! We have been working on how to approach the Bursary in a way that is most beneficial to those in need of funds, and allows publishers to talk about their projects in the way they feel most excited by and interested in. If you have any issues accessing the form when it goes live next week, or accessibility queries regarding how applications are submitted, please get in touch with 404 Ink.
