We Need Diverse Books
Contact: Jennifer Mann, head of WNDB Internship Grant Committee
jennifermann@wndb.local
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
We Need Diverse Books™ Announces the Opening of Applications for the 2019 WNDB Internship Grants
February 19, 2019 (New York) —We Need Diverse Books has announced that the application process is now open for the 2019 WNDB Internship Grants. In the program’s successful first four years, grants of $2500 each were awarded to 33 diverse publishing interns. Of those who received grants, 22 (67%) are now employed in the publishing industry. Our $2500 grants, plus metro cards, are available to college students or recent grads from backgrounds that are underrepresented in publishing. The grants are available to interns who receive internship offers from our partner publishing houses and literary agencies.
According to the 2018 Publishers Weekly Salary Survey and Lee and Low Books’ Diversity Baseline Survey, the publishing industry is still predominantly white. An internship is an important gateway into positions at publishing houses and agencies, but the expense of living in a large urban center can be a barrier to many well qualified candidates. The WNDB Internship Grants help those who might otherwise not be able to accept a position.
“The internship program has had a genuine impact on children’s publishing, with many of the grant recipients now holding full-time positions,” said Linda Sue Park, Honorary Chair of the WNDB Internship Grants Committee. “We’re playing the long game here, investing in these bright young stars with their passion and mission to bring more inclusion to books for young readers in every way, for many years to come.”
We Need Diverse Books™ is a 501(c)(3) organization established in 2014 to address the lack of diverse representation in the children’s publishing industry. The WNDB Internship Grant is one of many initiatives funded or supported by WNDB™. More about the organization is available at www.weneedwndb.local. More information about the WNDB Internship Grants is available at weneedwndb.local/wndb-internship-grant/.
