Digging Deeper: Get that Grant!

Do you ever wish someone would pay you to write, research, or revise a project? Or to go to a course, a conference, or a retreat? That’s what grants are for! All you need to do is apply. Heather M. O’Connor has received 16 grants to support her literary career, totalling almost $45,000. She will show you how to find funding and what you can use it for. She’ll also explain the components of a grant application, and will share tips and strategies to make your application shine. This workshop will be useful for both published and pre-published members, but most helpful for people who have never applied for grants or rarely been successful. Heather's examples will be primarily based on Canadian grant programs, but her tips and strategies will be universally applicable to other grants, whether from SCBWI, or another granting body.

Heather M. O’Connor is an award-winning children’s author and freelance writer based in Peterborough, Ontario. Her first picture book FAST FRIENDS won the prestigious Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award, and was selected as the 2022 TD Grade One Book Giveaway. Before it was published, FAST FRIENDS received an Ontario Arts Council Writer’s Reserve grant. So did her dual-language picture book RUNS WITH THE STARS. Last year, Heather got an inside peek at the selection process as an adjudicator for the Ontario Arts Council Literary Creation grant.