Thank you for applying for a 12 x 12 Diversity Scholarship. This scholarship opportunity is open to 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Applicants must be over the age of 18, must not currently have agent representation, and must be unpublished by a traditional publisher in the picture book genre.
Authors who have self-published a picture book or are published in another genre may apply.
The picture book manuscript submitted must be an original work written by the applicant in English containing no more than 1,000 words. Backmatter may be submitted with your manuscript, but is not included in the word count.
12 x 12 will not consider applications that have used Generative AI, either in whole or in part, to generate, revise, or translate any component of the application materials, including the manuscript, the query letter, the pitches, the creator bio, the author statement, or the statement describing the financial need (or diversity statement). Applicants must check the box on this form indicating that no Generative AI was used in the creation of any of the submitted materials. 12 x 12 reserves the right to disqualify submissions or rescind scholarships if they are discovered to have been created with GenAI.
The manuscript may not be under contract.
Do not submit illustrations or photographs with your submission. (Author-illustrators are eligible to win but, for the purposes of the scholarship, applications are based only on the writing.)
Please specify the intended age range for manuscript (i.e. 0-4, 4-8, etc.).
The deadline to submit is November 30, 2026.
Winners will be announced on the 12 x 12 blog on January 1, 2027. Click here to access the 12 x 12 blog.