Quick question: how are you defining "writing professionally"? When I was restacking, I realized I didn't know how to describe that. I assume you didn't mean making any money at all, but where is the boundary?
Thanks for this question! You’re right, it’s impossible to draw a firm line, so I’ll look at each application on a case by case basis.
Like, if you’ve self-published a few novels that didn’t bring in significant income while you were working as a teacher, you can still apply. But if you have reached a level of publishing where it’s more like you have two jobs—teacher AND author, then I’d say maybe step aside and give someone else a chance.
Also, if you’re in a different writing field professionally than what you want to do, you should apply for the scholarship: for example, if you’re a full-time journalist but you want this scholarship to study poetry, that’s fine.
Hi! I'm totally new to Substack and your site so forgive my dumb question. The scholarship application link takes me to a profile wizard site where it's asking me all kinds of questions for "points?" Am I in the right place?
Is it bold.org? They are the platform I'm using for the scholarship (because they are a non-profit organization, so any money the winner gets would not be taxed.) Bold does ask you to fill out a profile.
YAYYYY!!! I'm so happy to see Big Magic (Liz is one of the greatest people on earth!) and Practical Magic!! Two of my favorite books that permanently live on my nightstand 🤩
Super excited for the scholarship too!! Thank you for your happiness, kindness, and generosity Evelyn!!
I'm really excited to read Big Magic with the book club! It'll be both inspirational AND something a little different, in that we'll be able to examine how an effective non-fiction book is structured and written!
You're welcome about the scholarship, Mesa, and thanks for sharing it with others!
Hi Evelyn, Similar question...would you be open to a British citizen (whose heart is still in Montana) applying? And if so, can I apply outside of Bold because it won't recognise many of my personal info (e.g. foreign universities). Thank you
Hi Joanne! Unfortunately, I can’t do this year’s scholarship outside of the Bold platform because the funds have already been deposited there (and can’t be taken out).
However, I’m going to change the process next year to make it a lot easier! This was my first year giving away scholarships so it’s been a learning process, and next year I will do it a little differently. Thank you for your patience and for your question!
Thank you for the reply. It is amazing what you are doing. So, follow up ?, could I just use a friends address maybe and leave out my non-US degrees? Thanks
I don't know, because Bold has a lot of rules/laws they have to follow in order to be a non-profit that gives out scholarship money. They don't give the money directly to the winner; they pay it directly to the financial aid office of the school where you enroll in classes. (If I didn't go through a non-profit like them, I wouldn't have been able to give away as much, because of tax laws.)
I think it's totally fine to leave off non-US degrees in the profile, because I'm not looking at that anyway when I review applications. I just read the essay.
But I'm not sure about the address part? You could try emailing the Bold support email address to ask them to help with troubleshooting. It sounds like there is something in their tech backend that is preventing you from being able to apply. Sorry I'm not more help on that stuff... another reason why I'll be doing this differently next year! (Thanks again for your kind patience!)
Hi Evelyn, what a wonderful opportunity this competition is! am just wanting to clarify that competition is open to people outside of the US. On the page it said open internationally, however when I was reading the terms and conditions, it says that the scholarship will only be paid to a US institution? I would love to enter as I would love to do a writing course, however I live outside of the US. Thanks in advance for your reply.
Hi Michael, thanks for reaching out! Unfortunately, to avoid bias, we don't take requests for book club picks. But I'd love to highlight you and your book in our next Protagonist Spotlight (August edition, since I accidentally sent the July one out early already). Let me know if it's okay to mention you there, and Welcome to our community!
You're so sweet, Sofia, and you're very welcome. It's truly my pleasure to get to help!
I'm also really excited that you'll be joining our book club meeting in August. It'll be like a birthday gift to US to have you there. :) I'm looking forward to Big Magic!
Quick question: how are you defining "writing professionally"? When I was restacking, I realized I didn't know how to describe that. I assume you didn't mean making any money at all, but where is the boundary?
Thanks for this question! You’re right, it’s impossible to draw a firm line, so I’ll look at each application on a case by case basis.
Like, if you’ve self-published a few novels that didn’t bring in significant income while you were working as a teacher, you can still apply. But if you have reached a level of publishing where it’s more like you have two jobs—teacher AND author, then I’d say maybe step aside and give someone else a chance.
Also, if you’re in a different writing field professionally than what you want to do, you should apply for the scholarship: for example, if you’re a full-time journalist but you want this scholarship to study poetry, that’s fine.
Hope that helps! ☺️
Yes, thanks, that makes the lines very clear.
appreciate you taking the time x
Thank you so much
Hi! I'm totally new to Substack and your site so forgive my dumb question. The scholarship application link takes me to a profile wizard site where it's asking me all kinds of questions for "points?" Am I in the right place?
Also, there are no dumb questions! Welcome, welcome, Stacy!
Is it bold.org? They are the platform I'm using for the scholarship (because they are a non-profit organization, so any money the winner gets would not be taxed.) Bold does ask you to fill out a profile.
Yes. Okay that makes sense. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't on a scam site of some kind. Thank you!
very smart of you for checking!!
YAYYYY!!! I'm so happy to see Big Magic (Liz is one of the greatest people on earth!) and Practical Magic!! Two of my favorite books that permanently live on my nightstand 🤩
Super excited for the scholarship too!! Thank you for your happiness, kindness, and generosity Evelyn!!
I'm really excited to read Big Magic with the book club! It'll be both inspirational AND something a little different, in that we'll be able to examine how an effective non-fiction book is structured and written!
You're welcome about the scholarship, Mesa, and thanks for sharing it with others!
Hi Evelyn, Similar question...would you be open to a British citizen (whose heart is still in Montana) applying? And if so, can I apply outside of Bold because it won't recognise many of my personal info (e.g. foreign universities). Thank you
Hi Joanne! Unfortunately, I can’t do this year’s scholarship outside of the Bold platform because the funds have already been deposited there (and can’t be taken out).
However, I’m going to change the process next year to make it a lot easier! This was my first year giving away scholarships so it’s been a learning process, and next year I will do it a little differently. Thank you for your patience and for your question!
Thank you for the reply. It is amazing what you are doing. So, follow up ?, could I just use a friends address maybe and leave out my non-US degrees? Thanks
I don't know, because Bold has a lot of rules/laws they have to follow in order to be a non-profit that gives out scholarship money. They don't give the money directly to the winner; they pay it directly to the financial aid office of the school where you enroll in classes. (If I didn't go through a non-profit like them, I wouldn't have been able to give away as much, because of tax laws.)
I think it's totally fine to leave off non-US degrees in the profile, because I'm not looking at that anyway when I review applications. I just read the essay.
But I'm not sure about the address part? You could try emailing the Bold support email address to ask them to help with troubleshooting. It sounds like there is something in their tech backend that is preventing you from being able to apply. Sorry I'm not more help on that stuff... another reason why I'll be doing this differently next year! (Thanks again for your kind patience!)
Hi Evelyn, what a wonderful opportunity this competition is! am just wanting to clarify that competition is open to people outside of the US. On the page it said open internationally, however when I was reading the terms and conditions, it says that the scholarship will only be paid to a US institution? I would love to enter as I would love to do a writing course, however I live outside of the US. Thanks in advance for your reply.
Hi. Would you consider my punk rock literary YA novel as a book club read?
https://www.amazon.com/Crew-Michael-Mohr/dp/B0CTRRBM6J/ref=cm_cr_arp_mb_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8
Hi Michael, thanks for reaching out! Unfortunately, to avoid bias, we don't take requests for book club picks. But I'd love to highlight you and your book in our next Protagonist Spotlight (August edition, since I accidentally sent the July one out early already). Let me know if it's okay to mention you there, and Welcome to our community!
You're so sweet, Sofia, and you're very welcome. It's truly my pleasure to get to help!
I'm also really excited that you'll be joining our book club meeting in August. It'll be like a birthday gift to US to have you there. :) I'm looking forward to Big Magic!