Cultural Periodals 2019-2023

Tender description

Applications are invited for four-year funding under the Cultural Periodicals Grant. The scheme supports a number of cultural magazines (or sections of those magazines), which feature good writing, high-quality journalism, review and debate on a range of topics. For the period from 1 April 2019 - 31 March 2023, applications will be considered from publishers based in Wales in one of the following areas: Funding for development • Seed funding will be provided for new, innovative ventures featuring good, engaging writing. • Grants from this fund will be provided to publishers of magazines based in Wales for one franchise period only (after which applicants may apply for funding either as ‘general’ or ‘literary’ magazines). • Digital and/or print applications are eligible. • Grants may be given to multiple recipients. • It is anticipated that funding for magazines of this kind would range from £2,500 to c. £10,000. Please note that while funding in this area aims to develop fresh ideas and emerging ventures, new applicants are equally welcome to apply for grant-support under the other headings instead. Funding for general magazines • Grants will be provided for general magazines featuring good writing and high-quality journalism, review and debate of all kinds. • Magazines should include coverage of a range of topics. Possible subject areas could include current affairs, politics, history, economics, the arts (e.g. visual arts, music, drama, dance, and literature), culture (including popular culture), media, the environment, sport and leisure. • Minimum average circulation per issue across all platforms is set at 1,000. • We will aim to fund at a gearing ratio (i.e. proportion of grant income to income generated from other sources) of up to 2:1 or up to 50% of total expenditure (see ‘The Grant’ section below for further information). • Eligible magazines should be available in more than one format (e.g. web/app/e-pub/print etc.). • Applications may also be considered for the inclusion of book-related supplements in magazines with a large circulation on any combination of multiple platforms (minimum average circulation per issue across all platforms of 2,000). • Grants may be given to multiple recipients. • It is anticipated that funding for general magazines would range between £2,500 and c. £55,000. Funding for literary magazines • Funding will be provided for engagingly written, good-quality literary magazines in Wales which cover one or more of the following areas as their primary focus: short fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, literary review/criticism. Literary writing should be the chief focus of magazines funded in this area but it needn’t be the sole focus. • Magazines can have a single focus or feature a combination of the above. It is envisaged that the allocation of funding would ensure the fewest gaps possible in provision, while avoiding significant overlap of material. • Magazines funded under this heading must contain book reviews in order to support the publishing industry in Wales as a whole. • We will aim to fund at a gearing ratio (i.e. proportion of grant income to income generated from other sources) of up to 2:1 or up to 50% of total expenditure. • Grants may be given to multiple recipients. • Eligible magazines can be digital only or delivered on multiple platforms (including print). Publishers may choose to present different issues of the same magazine on separate formats should they wish (for example, regular digital issues plus less frequently published print publications, such as monthly digital issues plus an annual printed digest, two digital-only issues plus two print and digital issues per year etc.). • The minimum average circulation per issue of a single-focus magazine will be set at 400. • The minimum average circulation per issue for a multi-focus magazine will be set at 500. • It is anticipated that funding for magazines of this kind would range from £2,500 to c.