proposals

Resources for Writing Proposals

toc Below, you'll find two things.
 * First, you'll find a set of links to the actual **submission guidelines** for a few sample book publishers, which you may find useful in helping you conceive how to put the finishing touches on your book proposal.
 * Second, you'll find a set of links related to the professional writing genre known as the **grant proposal**, which we'll talk about on Wednesday, and for which I'd like each of you to contribute something to this page (details below).

=Book Proposals= These are links to the actual submission guidelines for a few sample book publishers, which you may find useful in helping you conceive how to put the finishing touches on your book proposal. Using Sandra Lamb's //How to Write It// guidelines and book proposal model will be fine for the purposes of your upcoming graded assignment. But I think you'll also find it useful to get a sense of what real-world publishers are actually looking for.

(publishers of Clay Shirky's //Here Comes Everybody//) Like many big commercial publishing firms (as opposed to university presses), the [|Penguin Press] prefers to work through the intermediary of literary agents rather than through direct contact with authors themselves, [|as you'll see here]. You can see a similar "have your people contact our people" [|approach] at Basic Books, publishers of another book we'll be reading later this semester, Lawrence Lessig's //Code: Version 2.0//.
 * Penguin Press**

(publishers of Sandra E. Lamb's //How to Write It//) You'll get a somewhat friendlier reception at the less prestigious, more work-a-day publishers of the sort represented by [|Ten Speed Press], an imprint of Crown Publishing. Though brief, their [|submission guidelines] at least offer a recap of the advice that Lamb herself offers about writing a book proposal in //How to Write It//.
 * Ten Speed Press**

Academic presses tend to work more directly with authors, scholars who generally don't have literary agents and whose books, if published, tend to have fairly limited runs (generally marketed to university libraries and other scholars for research or classroom use). You'll see this in the very complete [|author guidelines] provided to prospective authors by the [|University of Chicago Press], including detailed guidelines for formatting documents for electronic submission, and a reference to a good overall advice book for scholarly authors by one of the Press's editors, William P. Germano, titled //Getting It Published, 2nd Edition: A Guide for Scholars and Anyone Else Serious about Serious Books//.
 * University of Chicago Press**

=Grant Proposals= If you go on to do academic, non-profit, or other work, you may be called upon to secure funding for you or your organization through writing a grant proposal, a genre that overlaps with the book proposal in many ways but has its own unique characteristics as well.
 * As with a book proposal that demonstrates how your book idea fits the publisher's existing mission and market, a grant proposal likewise aims to show how the project for which you seek funding **fits the mission** of the granting organization
 * Yet, as with a book proposal, a grant proposal also aims to show that your project **fits a current unfilled gap** -- that there is something unique about your project that no one else is doing yet
 * Finally, as with a book proposal, part of your mission in a grant proposal is to convince the funding group that you and/or your organization are **the right people** to pull off the proposed project successfully

Before our discussion on Wednesday, February 16, each student in class should **look at 3 or 4 of the links** with an eye toward how you might be able to use them to guide you in writing a grant proposal at some time in the future. Then each student should **write a very brief annotation** beneath just 1 of the following links. By "brief annotation," I mean something like one sentence describing what the resource is, then one sentence explaining how it might be useful to look at for someone looking for ideas or guidelines for writing a grant proposal. (By the way, if you find another resource that you think works as well or better as an illustration than any of the resources below, feel free to add and annotate that resource instead.)

Government Grants
Type "rfp" (which stands for "request for proposals") into the search box at [|www.usa.gov]
 * U.S. Government**

[]
 * Grants.gov**
 * Grants.gov is a government website that allows eligible people and groups to apply for grants given by the federal government. This website is wonderful because, in the FAQs section, there is an entire program of animated tutorials designed to help people step-by-step through the application process in order to first understand what a grant entails so that they can have a better understanding of the grant process before they begin to write it. (Jackie)

[] - The link above directs the browser to a list of government agencies that provide grants. The usuage of this website would be great help when starting a research for grants or even as a reference.
 * Agencies that Provide Grants**

[]
 * National Science Foundation**
 * The National Science Foundation is one of the largest funding sources for research within the Sciences. The website provides guidelines, due dates, suggestions on proposal preparation, trends within the funding process, and much more. (Rick)

Particular Granting Agencies/Programs
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 * National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Sea Grant RFPs (invasive species)**
 * The National Sea Grant College Program is an organization that sponsors many different research projects that are involved with working to save the U.S. coasts, oceans, and Great Lakes. The sight was great because not only did it show the grants available, but it also listed specifics and requirements, such a due dates, contact information and where to submit the application, underneath each specific grant.

[] TIERNEY: This is a link that is given largely to organizations, with some individuals, who have proven that they will make significant provisions or developments in the energy field. This may be a good place to start because the guidelines for grants.gov is directed towards thousands of other programs, so it would get your word out there.
 * U.S. Department of Energy Grants & Contracts**

[] This site contains postings for available grants. Interested parties can find a specific opportunity by looking at the grants listed, and follow the link provided. This site can be helpful to those interested in writing a grant, because there are numerous grants listed from childcare to non-medical emergency transport, which means there are numerous examples to follow. There is also a link containing expired grants, so it is likely that everyone can find something that can help them write specifically for their type of grant.- Livia
 * Wisconsin Department of Health Services**

Model Grant Proposals/RFPs
Includes sample applications from Drew University, Kansas State University, University of Maryland, and University of Virginia []
 * National Endowment for the Humanities, Digital Humanities Start-up Grants**

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 * Model Request for Proposal (State of Idaho)**