Booked - Travel Fund for Publishers and Literary Agents - Market Development

Due to limited resources, please note that we are only able to accept Booked applications for activities commencing in the 2010-2011 financial year.

Application deadline: complete applications must be received at least six (6) weeks before the project start date.

You cannot apply for this Market Development grant online. Please go to the How to Apply tab to download an application form.

The Australia Council’s Market Development section aims to create more demand for Australian contemporary arts by supporting their promotion and developing new markets and audiences in Australia and internationally.

Purpose

Booked provides travel support for Australian publishers and literary agents to:

• Promote Australian literary works and authors overseas and develop international demand for Australian literary works and authors
• Sell international rights to Australian titles
• Consolidate existing and build new relationships to international markets.

Given limited resources, support for independent and small to medium sized publishing houses is a priority. Priority is also placed on the three major international book fairs: Frankfurt, London  and Bologna Book Fairs.

Funding will only be provided for the promotion of new titles by Australian authors. Supported genres of fiction and non-fiction are the novel, short story, poetry, writing for children, the graphic novel and literary non-fiction (defined as biography, essays, histories, literary criticism or analytical prose). If a title submitted is not new, please include a rationale in your project outline.

Amount available

The maximum available per application is AU$10,000. It is expected the publisher or agent will contribute to the cost of international travel.

Eligible expenses

Applicants are eligible for international travel, in-country travel and accommodation costs based on the following details:

• International airfare set at AU$3000 maximum per person (economy airfare)
• In-country and country-to-country travel for meetings with key contacts. Costs should be based on an economy airfare or train fare or the cheapest available return fare
• Accommodation to a maximum contribution of AU$250 per person per night.

Support is available for one person per organisation and applications must demonstrate financial contributions from other sources, including the applicant.

Ineligible expenses

Costs for booths at international book fairs, freight, marketing materials, per diems, taxis and/or business class airfares are ineligible.

Australian publishers and literary agents are eligible for travel support:

• When attending international book fairs to sell rights to works by Australian authors and pursue market contacts
• For small and medium-sized literary publishers to travel overseas to broker exchanges and partnerships with literary publishing houses that share similar mandates, interests, capacity, etc.

Eligible applicants must be:

• Australian citizens or have permanent resident status in Australia. Proof may be required
• Legally constituted if applying as an organisation, i.e. incorporated or a company limited by a guarantee.

Restrictions

Ineligible categories include: self-published titles, educational books; books that are primarily interviews; local and oral history; military studies; instruction manuals, how-to books including cook books and hobby books; university theses; bibliographies; dictionaries, encyclopaedias, reference titles; guide books; catalogues, self-help, lifestyle; scientific, theological, legal and medical works.

Applicants will be ineligible if they have any outstanding contractual obligations to the Australia Council prior to submitting a new application.

Application assessment

Australia Council staff review funding requests against the assessment criteria below.

While your application may meet the stated assessment criteria, you are not guaranteed travel support. Support from this travel fund rests on the merits of the proposal against stated assessment criteria in competition with other applicants and available resources.

Assessment criteria

1. The extent to which travel will establish or consolidate international markets for the proposed authors and titles within your market development objectives.
Please outline the intended outcomes from the proposed trip (max. 2 pages) i.e. details of proposed travel, indicating the book fair(s), and/or planned itinerary of meetings. The itinerary should include dates, location, as well as key contacts related to any meetings. Please include details on how the visit establishes or consolidates international markets for the authors and titles within your company’s international markets development objectives.

2. The quality of works proposed, and suitability of titles for an international readership.
Please include a list of the Australian titles to which you hold overseas rights that will be promoted, outlining the quality of works proposed, and suitability of titles for an international readership.

3. The cost-effectiveness of the proposal.
Please include a budget itemising the main costs of the trip, including resources contributed by the applicant/organisation and/or any other source of funding.

To apply for travel support, applicants must submit the following:

• Application form
• A statement of claims against each of the three (3) assessment criteria above.

Please send two (2) complete hard copies (unbound A4 only) of your application to:

Applications received via fax or email will not be considered.

Applications which are incomplete or which do not contain all of the required supporting materials will not be considered. Applicants will not be contacted if applications are incomplete.

Deadline

Complete applications must be received at least six (6) weeks prior to the project start date to ensure confirmation of support prior to departure. However, applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their application well before this so that alternate arrangements can be made should your application not be successful.

Applications will not be returned to the applicant.

Notification of results

Applicants will normally be notified of the results within six (6) weeks of receipt of their complete application.

The Australia Council does not release results over the telephone or via facsimile.

Further information

Julia Lee Skinner, Program Officer
Market Development
Tel.: (02) 9215 9046 or Toll free: 1800 226 912
Email: j.leeskinner@australiacouncil.gov.au

These guidelines are subject to modification without notice.
Application form
(MS Word Document - 346.0 kb).