The FSG Writer’s Fellowship is a yearlong 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 September 2023 to August 2024

The application period begins March 1, 2023, and ends 11:59 PM EST, April 3 April 10, 2023

The five finalists will be interviewed in July 2023

The Fellowship winner will be announced in August 2023

The Fellowship begins September 1, 2023

The Fellowship Award

$15,000 paid over two installments: half paid at the start of the Fellowship program, half paid in February 2024

Mentorship

  •  Yearlong mentorship with an FSG house author
  •  A representative from each department at FSG will meet with the Fellow to discuss their field of specialty and help the writer build a broader understanding of the publishing business
  • Through the editorial department and others at FSG, the Fellow will be introduced to key participants in the publishing industry, including agents

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

The Fellow will have the opportunity to contribute to FSGworkinprogress.com throughout the fellowship

FSG and an FSG house author will host a public event where the Fellow will have the chance to read from their current project

The Fellow will receive a collection of FSG classics

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
  • 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 Judging Process

The FSG community will conduct the first review of the applications and select thirty 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.