Monday, August 1, 2022

2022 LOHF Writers Grant


The Horror Spotlight team is excited to announce the 4th LOHF Writers Grant! This will be the last year the grant will be a "Ladies of Horror Fiction" grant. Read on for more details from Steve Stred!

Letter from Steve Stred

The End (?)

Way back in 2018, I had an idea.

Back then – pre-Covid times – I saw constant chatter on the various social media platforms that numerous awards were always going to “old white dudes.” It’s true. If you go take a look a historical winners of book awards, music awards, movie awards, TV awards, heck even sports awards – white dudes clean up. And the same was so for Grants/Scholarships etc.

So, I had an idea. I had been thinking of releasing a book and giving the profits to a worthy cause. At first I was thinking Autism research because my awesome nephew, Gabe has high functioning Autism. After chatting with my sister, she said that while it was a nice gesture, the reality was, if the donation wasn’t massive, it wouldn’t accomplish much. True.

And then I swung my sights back to the world of books. I wanted to help. People needed help. How could we connect the dots?

Back then, I was DMing with Toni from LOHF and threw it out there – would the LOHF partner up with me to offer a Grant? I wanted a Grant that had no caveats or attachments to it. Cash in hand. Many Grants and Scholarships (and no ill-will towards them when I say this) have specific actions attached. You must use the funds to pay for a writing course, or a conference registration and so on and so forth.

That’s fine and great. But to me, I wanted this help to go to whatever aspect the recipients needed help. It could be editing costs, cover art costs, writing software or, at the end of the day, groceries, bills or babysitting to free up time. Whatever the need, some funds to help.

So, when Toni replied that the LOHF would be on board, I was OVER THE MOON! As much as this little essay so far seems to be STEVE based, I never wanted this to be about me. I wanted this to be about the awesome writers out there and something to help them achieve their goals and dreams.

In year one, we had one Grant. Each year since, it’s grown.

But so too has the LOHF, who’re – at this exact time – metamorphosing and transforming into something bigger, brighter and even more spectacular. That group and I, share a similar philosophy, which ultimately boils down to this; ‘More We and less I.’ We’re stronger as a group when we all work together to help and make sure we all succeed.

Over the years, the recipients have done some amazing things, and that wouldn’t have been possible without the tireless work of the LOHF crew. Some have come and gone and others have been there since the start, so I won’t try and list them all here – instead, I’ll just say – from the bottom of my heart, thank you for taking this on. From creating the application form to sharing the application links and reading through the submissions and ultimately choosing who would receive them each year – wow! So much work and you’ve all done it behind the scenes and making sure things went off without a hitch.

To every single author who applied – thank you as well. I wish I was a bajillionaire and every application would’ve been able to be chosen – but thank you for putting yourself out there as well as sharing and telling others about this.

To the Grant recipients – thank you for applying and believing in us as well.

To all of the Grant Sponsors – a huge, huge thank you! I funded the first one on my own and then sponsored a Grant in each year since. But to all of you who stepped up and sponsored additional Grants each year, just know it brought a tear to my eye. You’re all a bunch of solid folks.

Which brings us to the beginning of what I wrote here and the ending. This will be the final year of the LOHF Writers Grant. With the changes occurring, it made sense for us to end it here. As such, with things changing, this year we decided to keep the sponsors anonymous. We always want things to be transparent and fair, but with the changes happening, this was the only way, and to us it made sense.

Applications will open and recipients will be chosen and awarded as with the last years.

Then what?

I’m not sure. At this point, I’d like to keep doing something similar. The reality is – I simply can’t take on an entire Grant system on my own. I run on a bare minimum of time and energy as is and I really can’t manage to do that as well, and I also wouldn’t want myself to be the only one determining the Grants.

I’ll be reaching out to a few different places and see what we can figure out.

In closing, thank you to everyone who embraced this crazy fun Grant over the last four years. Likes, shares, retweets, tags, applications, recipients, etc. It was all a blast and I’m so happy with how this came together.

Good luck to those applying!

Until we meet again.

Steve

Eligibility Requirements

The LOHF Writers Grant is inclusive to all women and non-binary femmes who have reasonably demonstrated a commitment to writing in the horror genre. All grant provided funds must be used in a manner that will help develop the applicant’s career.

The applicant must not have received the LOHF Writers Grant within the previous three years.

Application Process

In order to apply for the LOHF Writers Grant, you must fill out the LOHF Writers Grant Application by 11:59pm CST August 31, 2022.

Selection Process

Grant recipients will be selected by members of the LOHF Writers Grant Committee consisting of non-disclosed members of Horror Spotlight.

Grant Disbursement

Grant recipients will receive the LOHF Writers Grant in the amount of $100. The Horror Spotlight team will announce the recipients of the LOHF Writers Grant on September 15, 2022. At that time, the LOHF Writers Grant Committee will also notify Steve Stred of the recipients.

Contribute to the Writers Grant

If you would like to contribute to this year's LOHF Writers Grant or future grant projects, contact Steve Stred via email for more details.


The Horror Spotlight team assists with the selection of the LOHF Writers Grant recipients. All funding and disbursement of funds are at the sole discretion of the grant donors.

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