Scholarships
Thanks to the generous support of the 12 x 12 community, the 12 x 12 Picture Book Writing Challenge offers scholarships to qualified picture book writers to cover membership tuition. See details below.
Six GOLD Scholarships &
Ten SILVER Scholarships!
The 12×12 Picture Book Writing Challenge awards scholarships in two categories: 1) Authors & Illustrators of Diverse Ethnic, Cultural, and/or other backgrounds underrepresented in the canon of children’s picture book literature (including but not limited to Black, Disabled, East Asian, Jewish, Latinx, LGBTQIA+, Middle Eastern/North African, Muslim, Native/Indigenous, Neurodiverse, and South Asian). 2) Financial Need (Authors & Illustrators who are limited by the registration fee).Click below to learn more about the scholarships and how to apply.
For 2025, we also have an additional GOLD scholarship available for a Palestinian or Palestinian-American Author and/or Illustrator.
Note that there is no separate application process for the SILVER scholarships. Once the six GOLD scholarships have been awarded, all remaining applicants will be considered for SILVER.
Application Period:
November 1 - 30, 2024
GOLD member scholarship recipients will receive full membership tuition for the Little GOLDen Book level ($387) for 2025 and FREE access ($497) to The Complete Picture Book Submissions System.
SILVER member scholarship recipients will receive full membership tuition for the Shel SILVERstein level ($197) for 2025.
Winners will be announced January 1st, and recipients will receive instructions for accessing all the membership benefits.
If you qualify for both scholarship categories (Diversity & Financial Need), you may apply for both, but you can only be awarded one. Please send a separate submission for each scholarship according to the instructions below.
Marlee Morris
Brandy Bellittera
Angela Blakey
Ana Gascón
Madhu Messenger
Kristen Rashid
Devyn Douvier
Alexandra Millarhouse
Aimee Hiura
Sope Martins
Sabrina Shah
MeiLin Chan
Laura De La Cruz
Eileen Mayo
Diversity Scholarships
Any picture book writer/illustrator from any country in the world with Ethnic, Cultural, and/or other backgrounds underrepresented in the canon of children’s picture book literature (including but not limited to Black, Disabled, East Asian, Jewish, Latinx, LGBTQIA+, Middle Eastern/North African, Muslim, Native/Indigenous, Neurodiverse, and South Asian). Applicants must be over the age of 18, should not have agent representation, and must be unpublished by a traditional publisher in the picture book genre. Picture book authors who are self-published may apply.
The picture book manuscript submitted must be an original work written in English containing no more than 1,000 words. Back matter may be submitted with your manuscript, but is not included in the word count. The manuscript may not be under contract. Do not submit illustrations or photographs with your submission. (We accept author-illustrators but, for the purposes of the scholarship, we are judging based on writing only.) Please specify the intended age range for manuscript (i.e. 0-4, 4-8, etc.).
Diversity Scholarship applications are accepted November 1-30.
Financial Need Scholarships
Any picture book writer/illustrator from any country in the world who would otherwise not be able to join 12 x 12 due to the registration fee is invited to apply. Applicants must be over the age of 18, should not have agent representation, and must be unpublished by a traditional publisher in the picture book genre. Picture book authors who are self-published may apply.
The picture book manuscript submitted must be an original work written in English containing no more than 1,000 words. Back matter may be submitted with your manuscript, but is not included in the word count. The manuscript may not be under contract. Do not submit illustrations or photographs with your submission. (We accept author-illustrators but, for the purposes of the scholarship, we are judging based on writing only.) Please specify the intended age range for manuscript (i.e. 0-4, 4-8, etc.).
Financial Need Scholarship applications are accepted November 1-30.
