VARUNA PUBLISHER PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMS

The Varuna Publisher Fellowships program is a selective application-based program and the Publisher Supported-Professional Development Residencies are a fee-paying service.

• VARUNA PUBLISHER FELLOWSHIPS

• PUBLISHER-SUPPORTED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT RESIDENCIES
  
  Download Varuna Publisher Program Poster pdf here
  

Varuna is thrilled to announce two programs that provide a significant and valuable meeting place for Australian writers with Australian publishers.

How do I bring my work to the attention of a publisher? It’s a familiar question, and these programs provide over 40 lively answers.

Normally, contact with a publisher is not recommended until the work is complete, thoroughly polished. Publishers are busy people, and if you submit a work before it is ready you are simply wasting an opportunity. And if you waste your opportunity there may not be another.

The VARUNA PUBLISHER FELLOWSHIPS and PUBLISHER-SUPPORTED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT RESIDENCIES enable you to bring your work to the attention of publishers at a far earlier stage than is normally possible. And they enable publishers to form an association with interesting projects and writers at a far earlier stage than is normally practical.

VARUNA PUBLISHER FELLOWSHIPS

There are 24 1-week residential fellowships available. Fellowships may be taken non-residentially if the writer’s circumstances do not allow for a Varuna residency. Each of the 8 publishers selects 3 writers from a shortlist of up to 10 provided by the Varuna selection committee.

LITERARY FICTION	3	ALLEN&UNWIN
LITERARY FICTION/SHORT FICTION	3	SCRIBE
COMMERCIAL FICTION	3	PAN MACMILLAN
YOUNG ADULT FICTION	3	UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND PRESS
ESSAYS	3	GRIFFITH REVIEW
NON-FICTION	3	RANDOM HOUSE
DIFFERENT VOICES	3	TEXT
POETRY	3	PICARO PRESS

CLOSING DATE

Applications open from AUGUST 1 and must be postmarked no later than AUGUST 31st. Results will be posted on the News and Diary section of the website by November 5. Fellowships may be taken up between January and August 2010.

WHO SHOULD APPLY?

We encourage all writers actively engaged in the development of a major project in any genre of fiction, narrative non-fiction and poetry to apply for the Varuna Publisher Fellowships.

Projects may be at any stage of development.

We expect most submissions for Varuna Publisher Fellowships to be from new or emerging writers, but only writers who are actively contracted to a particular publisher for the submitted work are excluded from applying.

Please note: Writers with near-completed manuscripts in search of experienced editorial attention may wish to consider applying for the HarperCollins Varuna Awards For Manuscript Development (deadline: October 31) as well as or instead of the Varuna Publisher Fellowships.

SELECTION PROCESS

Publishers are looking for exciting voices working confidently with vital and vigorously imagined material.

The selecting publishers will be looking for projects that they would like to read when in finished form. There is no commitment to publish –publishers are only committing to read and consider a finished manuscript, and in return we ask writers to give the selecting publisher the first opportunity to read and consider the finished manuscript.

Varuna Publisher Fellowship applications will be read by a highly experienced three-person selection committee, and shortlists of up to 10 applications will be submitted to each publisher.

In some cases, an application may appear on more than one shortlist. Some manuscripts will clearly belong in an established genre, while some may belong in several. There is no need to worry where your manuscript might be placed among the publishers –Varuna’s experienced selection panel will place all manuscripts to their best advantage.

No feedback or comment will be made on any application, but 90 half-hour phone consultations will be available with members of the selection committee at a cost of $77. Applications for these phone consultations can be made after the results are announced on November 5.

WHAT DOES THE VARUNA PUBLISHER FELLOWSHIP ENTAIL?

Each fellowship will be one week (arrive Monday, depart following Monday) at Varuna. Conversation and community are essential to the growth of a writer, and a week with four other writers can be a life-changing experience.

During the fellowship week, Creative Director Peter Bishop or another member of Varuna’s Creative Team will discuss with you the further development of your work and also the Varuna programs that have evolved to give strength, confidence and direction to this development. The publisher will not be involved in the development of your work at this stage. Varuna’s experience is particularly useful in determining the right moment to submit to a publisher.

If a writer’s circumstances make a Varuna residency impossible, the fellowship may be taken non-residentially. Writers will be asked to submit up to 15,000 words of their project and a member of Varuna’s Creative Team will have a one-hour consultation with them by phone.

IS THERE ANY COST?

Application fee is $55. The cost of the residency –which includes all board and accommodation– is $275. No travel fund is available, but State and Territory arts departments are often willing to provide a contribution for travel expenses for genuine professional development opportunities. If a fellowship is taken non-residentially, the cost is $120.

HOW DO I APPLY?

Writers are asked to submit:

• a completed application form (parts A & B – follow link below to Application Guidelines)

• a pitch for their project: no more than a page long, a pitch should give us a strong idea of what it is about the project that will engage the attention of a reader

• up to 20 pages of writing from the beginning of their manuscript

• a brief description of their writing life

See Varuna Publisher Fellowships (2009) Application Guidelines for formatting requirements.

Writers are not required to nominate the category or categories they are applying for. The selection committee will place work to the best of their judgement and experience.

Projects may be at any stage of development –you may have polished the final full stop, or you may have no more than the 20 pages you send.

Please continue to the Varuna Publisher Fellowships (2009) Application Guidelines

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