Yes, providing your project meets our other criteria for this fund you can apply for research and writing time and any other relevant costs towards completing or editing a draft of your next book. Please note that we are unable to support the development of academic, professional or educational books, or other books aimed at an area of publishing that does not align with Creative Scotland’s function of supporting arts and culture.

Any costs towards the production of a finished book should come from an established and reputable publisher, not be included in an application to the Open Fund for Individuals, whether than application is made by a writer, a literary agent or another literature professional. Please direct your publisher to information available on our website about other Funding Programmes currently accepting applications, including the Open Fund for Organisations.

If you have never written creatively before at all, then you are unlikely to be successful in an application to this fund to support your writing time. This is because our funds are limited and there is a significant risk to public benefit attached to your project if you are at such an emerging stage of your journey into becoming a writer. You are also unlikely to be able to evidence your ability to write in the form you propose if you are unable to provide us with writing samples or provide reviews of previous publications that speak to the quality of your work.

You can make an application to the Open Fund for Individuals to support your time, but only where this is related to specific creative outcomes. We recommend that you wait until you are far enough along in your plans that you can clearly articulate what you want to do and the benefit you anticipate that will bring to you. You also need to be able to provide a level of specific detail to evidence that your plans are appropriately resourced, and to evidence how you meet the criteria of the Open Fund and mitigate any risks. If you have some experience of writing creatively but have not yet had a book accepted for publication by a reputable publisher, you should give careful consideration how your application will evidence that you fully meet the criteria for this fund.

See also: Do you support self publishing?