Tuesday, October 20, 2009

IPF Grant Application

Hey y'all better watch out Emily 2 is on the blog now. : ) Anyway, I am posting a copy of my application to the Innovative Funds Project (IFP) grant, if anyone has time to look it over before Thursday with suggestions let me know. Also, the guidelines for this grant can be found at: http://www2.ams.ubc.ca/index.php/campus_life/category/innovative_projects_fund#

Here it is:



Our Mission
Thrust is a literary arts journal produced by MFA students in the Creative Writing Department of UBC. The magazine will showcase non-fiction essays, short stories, poetry, and artwork. Besides providing a venue for publication Thrust will also provide the students involved an opportunity to gain experience and an understanding of the publishing and editing industry.


Innovation/Benefits
Thrust is breaking barriers with its cross-genre focus. The idea behind our stance is to establish a new forum for creative writing to be displayed in many forms. This publication allows students who are not allowed to submit to UBC’s Prism International to see their work published by a reputable magazine.

Thrust also affords the opportunity for students to gain firsthand professional experience as this is a student run publication. Students will explore and be responsible for working within and in conjunction with the following departments of a magazine: Editorial, Art Department, Marketing, and Production.

Along with the publication of Thrust the students involved are also creating a unique blog for not only themselves but also the public—posting news about the magazine and the publishing/writing industries at large. The concept of the blog is to provide a far-reaching forum for discourse regarding important issues concerning the careers of writers and editors. To view the blog, go to: thrustonline.blogspot.com.

A community event will be held upon release of the magazine. The event will take place at a public venue, thus promoting UBC’s writers and artists to a community that may otherwise have not been aware of the quality of the arts the University continues to produce.

Funding
Below is a list of what we intend to use IPF funding for:

Artists & Writers UBC artists and writers will receive a small honorarium for their contributions. Their contributions to the journal are significant in reaching an audience outside of just the students of the programs that are contributing. Many of the contributors will inform people outside of our Arts community regarding their publication thus, opening up the journal and it’s ideals to people beyond our reach of the University community. This is a benefit to both the student contributors as their work can be put displayed and also to UBC as a showcase of the University’s talent.

Printing costs We lack the resources to have our own printing press and thus must seek rely on an outside source to print our journal. This is our largest expense. In order to provide a quality product money cannot be an issue when it comes to printing. If we are to make a reputable and lasting journal we need quality printing.

Distribution A well-produced journal doesn’t mean much if it isn’t widely circulated. With funding from IPF we would be given the opportunity to extend our reach and ensure that Thrust is not only is visible in the University community but, more importantly, gets out to the public.

Marketing Just as important as getting the magazine displayed on shelves is the idea of marketing. With proper funding we could have posters, pins, and T-shirts advertising the journal. There is nothing like gimmick-driven self-promotion to get the word out. Plus, we will be hosting a public event to launch the issue. To hold this event we will need money to pay for the venue and food costs. With extra funding we may be able to provide entertainment in the way of performers and/or a musical group, whose fans will no-doubt attend our release party, thus getting Thrust out to a different audience.

Minimum of Advertisers There is nothing like closing the cover of a magazine simply because you cannot find the content which has been buried under all of the advertisements. If the IPF were to support us with funding we could keep external advertising to a minimum, thus freeing up our pages for more content and, giving our audience a break from sifting through the latest products they do not need.

Conclusion
In short, all of the programs involved have the talent, the ambition, and the vision to create riveting pieces of artistic expression and the desire to involve the community and the world at large—the only thing holding us back is the means to do so. We thank you for considering our proposal.

2 comments:

  1. Hey Emily, Thanks for your work on this and for submitting the application with Keith's signat. Let's keep our fingers crossed that the application is a success. It would make for an amazing anthology next year! mw

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  2. Emily,

    Nice job on this application. I think we have a good shot--I've read a lot of grant applications for various things (mainly theatre) and they often suffer from not having a welcoming and warm tone. This has a great tone, so I think you're on your way!

    Kaitlin

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