Scholarships, Awards, & Grants

Want to donate? SCBWI is a 501(c) organization and, as such, has tax-exempt status.

To a specific scholarship? Look for the “To donate” line at the bottom of each description and click the link. Easy, right?

To create a new scholarship? Contact Arjun Yetukuri or one of the Regional Advisors, Jodi McKay at michigan-ra at (use symbol) scbwi.org or Anita Pazner at michigan-ra2 at (use symbol) scbwi.org. We’d love to make this happen.

To the Michigan chapter of SCBWI for a specific purpose or for use at the discretion of the Regional Advisors? Click or tap, HERE.

*** Eligibility note: Members who have received a scholarship in the past are discouraged from applying for that same scholarship again.

Members For Members Scholarship: Supporting Inclusivity in Children’s Literature

This scholarship awards a one year SCBWI membership to a Michigan writer or illustrator. 

Qualifications: Must be a Michigan resident actively working toward creating children’s books that resonate with diverse readers. 

Award: Awardees will receive a year’s membership to SCBWI beginning April 1 if awardee is a new member. If the awardee is a current member, the membership will be extended for a year.

Applications Accepted: February 14 through March 14 (via a link that will be posted here). Winner(s) will be announced on or about April 1 each year. To donate to this scholarship, click or tap HERE.

Business Development Grant (on hiatus until 2023)

This grant provides funding to help move a creator forward from a business (versus craft) perspective.

Qualifications: Must be a Michigan resident and a member of SCBWI.

Award: The selected recipient will receive $225.

Acceptable uses: website creation/updates, promotional materials, business development consultation fees, tuition, travel, or childcare expenses required to attend a business development class, related books, or materials. Funds can be used for more than one acceptable use, e.g., books and tuition for a class. 

Non-acceptable uses: manuscript or portfolio critiques, classes, conferences, and webinars unrelated to the business of the children’s book industry. 

Grant Payment and Forfeiture of Funds: Awardee will receive funds in a lump sum within 15 days of grant approval. The awardee will have one year from the date of receipt of funds to use the grant (Use Term). We encourage use within six months. As the awardee allocates the funds, receipts for each use must be provided to the SCBWI-MI Scholarship Coordinator. Any funds left unused by the end of the Use Term will be returned to SCBWI-MI.

Applications Accepted: June 4-July 5, 2023 (via a link that will be posted here). The awardee/s will be notified by phone on or about July 12.

To donate to this grant, click or tap HERE.

Critique Carousel E&I Scholarship

This scholarship is part of the SCBWI-MI Critique Carousel and will be awarded to a writer(s)/creator(s) who identifies as a creator from a demographic, experience, or community that has been historically mis- or under-represented in publishing.

Each writer will receive a critique from an agent/editor/art director of their choosing.

Application period: September 1st - September 12th. Awardees will be notified by September 14th and will need to accept the scholarship by September 15th.

BIPOC Scholarship

This scholarship awards a one-year membership to SCBWI for new members who identify as BIPOC kidlit creators.

Qualifications: Must be a Michigan resident, at least 18 years of age, who identifies as BIPOC and is a writer and/or illustrator of children’s literature.

Award: A one-year membership to SCBWI.

Applications Accepted: September 1st – October 1st (via a link that will be posted here).  Awardees will be notified on or before Oct. 15th. Awardees will be notified on or before Oct. 15th. To donate to this scholarship, click or tap HERE.

The Annual Shutta Crum Scholarship

The Shutta Crum Scholarship funds Michigan SCBWI members’ tuition — artists or writers — for attendance at the Annual SCBWI Winter Conference. Registration for the Winter Conference opens October 24th this year. The scholarship amount is to be used solely for the cost of a member’s registration tuition, no add-ons.

Qualifications:

–have been an SCBWI-MI member for a minimum of three years. –not have been an awardee of this scholarship in previous years. –not have attended a National SCBWI in-person conference in either LA or New York in any previous year.

Award: A scholarship that covers basic registration for the NY Winter Conference

Applications Accepted: October 12th – October 20th, with the possibility of extending the window as needed (click HERE for link to application).  Awardees will be notified as soon as the window closes and awardee is selected.

Scholarships for the SCBWI 2024 Marvelous Midwest Conference

The Equity and Inclusion Scholarship

To affirm the need for increased representation in the children’s and YA book industry, we are offering a full scholarship to the 2024 SCBWI Marvelous Midwest Conference. The scholarship is open to a current SCBWI Michigan member or not yet-member for the cost of a $295 early bird tuition to the conference.

This scholarship will be awarded to an attendee who identifies as a member of a community that has been traditionally marginalized by the publishing industry as shown in this description by We Need Diverse Books: Our Definition of Diversity: We recognize all diverse experiences, including (but not limited to) LGBTQIA, Native, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities*, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities.

*We subscribe to a broad definition of disability, which includes but is not limited to physical, sensory, cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities, chronic conditions, and mental illnesses (this may also include addiction). Furthermore, we subscribe to a social model of disability, which presents disability as created by barriers in the social environment, due to lack of equal access, stereotyping, and other forms of marginalization.

The First Timer Scholarship

SCBWI-MI wants to see YOU at the Marvelous Midwest Conference, April 12th-14th, 2024! We realize many of our newer members have not experienced a Marvelous Midwest conference as it has been pushed back by a couple of years due to the pandemic. The First Timer Scholarship offers a full conference, early bird registration ($295) to a SCBWI premium member who has not yet attended a SCBWI Marvelous Midwest conference.

For both scholarships:

Application window: December 18th, 2023 – January 10th, 2024. Awardees will be notified on or before January 11th by email.

Questions should be directed to SCBWI-MI’s Scholarship Coordinator, Arjun Yetukuri at mischolarshipcoordinator@gmail.com _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

AWARDS AND GRANTS THROUGH THE NATIONAL SCBWI

Don't forget to check out the available grants through the national SCBWI organization.