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The FSG Writer’s Fellowship is a program designed to give an emerging writer from an underrepresented community additional resources to build a life around writing: funding, editorial guidance, and advice on how to forge a writing career. It offers the unique opportunity for a writer to spend time with and enjoy the support and mentorship of the FSG community. The fellowship celebrates the spirit of the FSG list and its commitment to invention, curiosity, and extending the limits of literature.

Timeline

The Fellowship runs from January to December 2025 

The application period begins on May 30, 2024, and ends 11:59 PM EST, July 7, 2024

The five finalists will be interviewed in November 2024

The Fellowship winner will be announced in December 2024

The Fellowship begins January 6, 2025

The Fellowship Award

$15,000 paid over two installments: half paid at the start of the Fellowship program, half paid in June 2025

Plus:

  • Mentorship with an FSG house author
  • Guidance from two in-house editors, who will offer line and structural feedback on the fellow’s work throughout the year 
  • Opportunities for meet-and-greets with representatives from other departments – including Publicity/Marketing, Art, Subsidiary Rights, and Managing Editorial – to discuss their areas of expertise, answer questions, and help build a broader understanding of the publishing business 
  • Support with networking beyond FSG

The Fellow and finalists will receive a collection of FSG classics.

The Fellow agrees to offer to FSG the Fellow’s first book-length work before submitting to, or soliciting offers from, any other publisher.

Application Requirements

Applicants must submit:

  • A sample of work—fiction, nonfiction, or poetry—aimed at an adult audience
    • For fiction and nonfiction, the sample must be between forty and fifty double spaced pages
    • For poetry, the sample must be eight to twelve pages
    • The sample can include previously published work and does not need to be from a single section of the work
  • A Statement of Purpose of no more than 500 words

Please note: The applicant’s name and contact information must not be anywhere on the writing sample or the Statement of Purpose—this includes within the uploaded file name.

Eligibility

  • The applicant must not have published a book-length work in any genre, have a book under contract, or be negotiating a contract either in the United States or abroad by the time the fellowship begins. Having published short poetry chapbooks will not exclude an applicant from eligibility
  • Applicants must submit in only one category (fiction, nonfiction, or poetry)
  • The applicant must be a U.S. Permanent Resident (green card) or U.S. Citizen
  • There are no experience, degree credentials, or location requirements. This fellowship will take place remotely
  • The applicant should be writing for an adult audience in the English language
  • The applicant must be over 18 years of age
  • The applicant cannot be an employee or family member of an employee of FSG or any other Macmillan affiliate
  • The applicant may not use generative AI or work from AI-generated text for their samples and statements

The Judging Process

The FSG community will conduct the first review of the applications and select twenty semifinalists for consideration by the judges. The Fellow will be chosen by FSG from among five finalists selected by the judges. The first two stages of the selection process will be anonymous.

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