Benefits of Receiving a Grant For Writing Children's Literature

I recently receive a "Jackpot Grant" from the Nevada Arts Council to attend a writing workshop presented by the Society of Children's Bookwriters and Illustrators. Having attended the conference, I realized that there were benefits, to myself and the community. In this article, I'll briefly recap some of those benefits. I'll go over some of the objectives that I submitted when I applied for the grant.

Objective 1: Improve Writing Skills and Open Creative Horizons

I attended several workshops run by Bruce Coville, who writes middle-grade fantasy novels. As a result,  I started work on a series of books that are primarily aimed at boys, with a cross over appeal to girls.
I discussed a picture book on potty training, and created a draft of it. The manuscript has been well received on the Society of Children's Bookwriters and Illustrator's Manuscript Exchange discussion forum. I am refining it, and will soon submit it for publication.

Objective 2: Establishing Networking Contacts for future projects.

I met a number of illustrators, and have established contacts with them. These may lead to future collaborations, or at least to preferred introductions to publishers. (It is possible that a well-established illustrator will suggest a manuscript that they will enjoy illustrating to a publisher.)
I met a number of writers who may be interested in writing teacher's guides to accompany my existing books.
I listened to presentations by various editors and submitted a manuscript for a children's book to a major publisher. If they do not like the manuscript, I'm confident that another publisher will like it.

Objective 3: Provide a long-term benefit for the Nevada Arts Council and for children who reside in Nevada.

I have begun a publicity campaign that will help children become more literate by using the book and CD, which contains several different languages. Since the Nevada Arts Council paid for my travel expenses to the SCBWI workshop, I will have some available to provide free copies of the book to libraries in Nevada, and fully intend to make donations. Also, the book will be made available to literacy programs.
The prestige associated with receiving a grant from the Nevada Arts Council is making it more attractive for a teacher who home schooled her child to evaluate whether she is interested in bring the book/CD/website to the attention of other home-schooling parents.
One of the illustrators that I met is enthusiastic about preparing a teacher's curriculum for my existing books.
To build self esteem in children I will launch an internet radio show where children can discuss my books and CDs with their teachers, parents and other children. I have already implemented a service that displays pictures that children draw and a service that allows them to make digital tape recordings of stories.

If you're a writer, I encourage you to apply for grants.  You may be surprised at the benefits that you, and others, receive from the process.

Alan Jordan is the author of hundreds of articles, six business books and several children's books. He is the creator of a web site with a series of products to foster creativity in children and adults. http://www.LetsBeCreative.org

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