The Black Creatives Revisions Workshop is an extended opportunity for writers who have completed a full draft of a Middle Grade, Young Adult, or Adult novel.
About the Revisions Workshop
The Black Creatives Revision Workshop is an extended opportunity for writers who have completed a full draft of a Middle Grade, Young Adult, or Adult novel. Twelve writers will be chosen from the applicant pool to receive training from a small faculty of esteemed Black authors to complete revisions of their manuscript and to submit their novel to a team of editors at Penguin Random House (PRH).
The Revision Workshop is for writers who believe that they will benefit from instruction in their final stages of revision and who will complete their edited manuscript within the six-month period of the workshop. The writers will also be dedicated to joining a committed community of other creatives participating in the Workshop.
Throughout the program, there will be opportunities for manuscript exchange and building writing partnerships along with extracurricular programming to introduce publishing industry do’s and don’ts. The BCF’s Program Manager and the Workshop’s Writing Mentors will also offer varied resources and support to the writers, fostering a nurturing environment and a supportive community for the participants.
The Workshop will focus on the writers completing their revisions by the end of the program so that they are ready to submit to PRH at the conclusion of the workshop.
Participant Opportunities
WNDB is offering twelve (12) slots total to writers who identify as part of the African diaspora. Only US-based applicants will be considered. The cohort will be split among the following categories: six Middle Grade (MG) or Young Adult (YA) and six Adult (A).
The selected participants will be expected to attend all program events, including all courses and Q&A sessions. Industry brown bag lunches are not mandatory, but participants are highly recommended to attend.
Additionally, all successful applicants will be awarded stipends. Twelve stipends of $1000 will be awarded to all selected applicants and $4500 prizes will be awarded to 2 finalists at the completion of the program (one finalist who writes Adult and one finalist who writes MG or YA). Finalist manuscripts will be shared with PRH editors, and publishing offers will be strongly considered.
Eligibility
This Workshop is available to:
- unpublished and unagented writers
- who identify as part of the African diaspora and
- who have a fully completed manuscript that a.) features Black protagonists, and that b.) focuses on a diverse central subject matter.
The work must not be published, either traditionally, self-published, in any other form, and cannot be submitted to other programs designed to lead to publication.
Applicants who do not have a completed manuscript at the time of application will not be considered. Applicants should only submit one work in one genre. Multiple applications will not be considered.
The submitted manuscript should be:
- Fully written and complete; partially finished drafts are not eligible for submission.
- Unpublished in any form, including individual chapters or short story adaptations.
- Between 30,000 (For MG) and 100,000 words. There is some leeway for overages in word count, but there has to be some boundaries in place in order to realistically facilitate a full revision in the allotted time AND to facilitate a reasonable timeline for review of all manuscripts once the course is completed
- Original work of the participant, not co-written or co-created.
Participants must sign a document committing to submit a final manuscript to PRH at the conclusion of the program.
Program Structure
Over six months, writers accepted into the program will attend mandatory course sessions led by a faculty experienced in the development of a well-revised manuscript that is ready for submission.
Workshop participants will be given six months and a modest stipend to work through the course with the expectation that they will submit a completed manuscript for consideration at PRH at the end of the workshop. Every participant must submit a manuscript at the end of the course.
The workshop will be broken up month by month, with each month presenting a week where there is:
- One 1 & 1/2 - 2-hour revision faculty-led session
- One Industry Brown Bag lunch (not mandatory)
- One Faculty led Live Q&A
Participants will have between 2-3 weeks between workshop sessions and will be expected during that time to review faculty lessons and work through their revisions independently. There will be message boards for communication between participants and, though it is not required, it is recommended that participants use these boards to find critique partners within their genre group and to ask questions that might be pertinent and useful to the entire group.
Application Timeline
February 19, 2021: Application Launches
March 19, 2021: Application Closes
Late Spring 2021: Successful Applicants Notified
Application
Black Creatives Revisions Workshop FAQ
You can check the eligibility guidelines on the BCF Revisions Workshop general information website or contact at bcf@diversebooks.org with questions.
There is not an age limit on applying, however, craft readiness for an offer of a books contract is part of the consideration criteria. Applicants should display a certain level of maturity, commitment, and practice at their craft. Those who apply need to have completed at least one full book draft, a synopsis, and have a career biographical statement ready at the time of submission or they will be disqualified.
Each application is reviewed by a panel of judges to ensure that all of the expectations set forth are met; the expectation is that authors will self-identify as part of the African diaspora through the application.
Using an anonymous system and on a rolling basis, five judges with experience in assessing works in the various genres will select a pool of finalists from the larger group based on the merit of the writing sample submitted.
Once the final pool is selected, it will be submitted to a team of WNDB employees and PRH employees who will review the full applications of all the finalists to select the twelve who will be enrolled in the intensive.
Applicants who do not comply with submission rules will be disqualified.
Application guidelines are available on the BCF Revisions Workshop general information website.
All authors must have a completed manuscript available for immediate review by their writing coach at the time of application. An entire draft of the book should be complete by the time of submission even though applicants send only the first 10 pages or sample chapters. (We also recognize that you may consider it still as a rough draft, or a work-in-progress to be revised, but that is the purpose of this program and it should be a completed draft.) Applicants also must include a synopsis of the full story (which can’t accurately be written until after a full draft is complete). No exceptions will be made.
No, the manuscript submitted must be authored by a single writer and not published in any form prior to submission to this workshop.
There are no limitations. The money is intended to provide financial support so that participants may have more time and flexibility to dedicate to their revisions. Participants may use the money however they see fit.
No. Anyone (in any category) who submits more than one application or manuscript will be disqualified. Anyone who applies for more than one category will also be disqualified.
No. Due to stipulations around the distribution of the grants, we can not currently accept international applications but there will be more programming forthcoming with the Black Creatives Fund open to international participation.
We evaluate all applications in late March/early April and successful applicants will be notified in mid-April.
We can’t advise you on the taxability of your stipend, so we encourage you to consult a qualified tax preparation professional.
Participation in each faculty lesson and faculty live Q&A is mandatory. During the week that there are lessons you can expect to spend from an hour and a half to two hours on the instruction piece and then an additional hour later in the week for the live Q&A. That same week industry insiders will be hosting a one-hour Industry Brown Bag Lunch that is not mandatory, but participants are strongly encouraged to attend each session. Alongside these engagements, the participants will be required to schedule three one-on-one sessions with their writing coaches: one at the beginning of the workshop, one at the mid-point and one at the end before submission of the manuscript. Outside of these events and appointments, the individual schedule for completion of the full revisions is up to each participant, but every participant must submit a final manuscript for full review by the end of the program. Please do not apply if you do not feel that your schedule over the next six months will allow for full engagement in the intensive.
No. There will only be one grand-prize winner awarded a publishing contract with our inaugural sponsor publisher Penguin Random House, but this is an opportunity to receive instruction by a faculty of well-published and appointed authors. You’ll receive individual support by your Writing Coaches and engage with industry insiders available to answer your questions and concerns about revision and joining the publishing community. Faculty, Writing Coaches, and Industry Brown Bag lunch guests will not be expected to provide referrals to agents, editors, or other publishers. The focus of the workshop is craft-based on strong self-editing and revision, with opportunities to ask professional and business-related questions as they arise.
Writing Coaches help provide some structure for accountability with the program, helping participants to complete initial revision goals and helping to ensure that they are being met as the program continues and is completed.
Please use your real name on the portion of the application with contact information and let us know what your pen name is in the proper field on the application form. No names or identifying information should be on the manuscript itself.
All applicants must be unpublished, including self-publishing, and unrepresented by an agent.
Please email your questions to the BCF Revisions Workshop team at bcf@diversebooks.org.
