Book Publishing Production Grant – Author-Funded Stream Guidelines

The Author-Funded stream of the Book Publishing Production Grant supports self-publishers or publishers working with Saskatchewan authors to produce and market a book.

The Guidelines were approved on April 1, 2025 for the 2025-26 Fiscal Year. Any amendments made after the fact will be posted here:

No changes to date.

Eligible Applicants

Applicants must meet the eligibility criteria defined in the General Guidelines.
Where the Saskatchewan author, or other individual contributing to the project creative, makes a financial contribution to cover any portion of the cost of production, the publisher must apply to the Author-Funded Book Production Stream.
Self-publishers or publishers can apply.
- A self-publisher is defined as an individual or a corporation whose primary goal is to publish books written by authors who are the individual or are shareholders or owners of the corporation, and who is distributing the book(s) through at least one bookselling channel.
Applicants must be either an established Saskatchewan author or be a Saskatchewan publisher working with a Saskatchewan author who meets the below criteria:
- The author must have published a minimum of one traditionally published book or two self-published books (excluding anthologies)
  OR
- For fiction, have published a minimum of four texts of creative fiction (e.g. short stories or excerpts from novels) published on two separate occasions in established magazines, periodicals or anthologies published by an established book publisher.
- For poetry, have a minimum of 10 poems published in established magazines, periodicals or anthologies that are published by established book publishers.
- For non-fiction, have a minimum of 40 pages of articles published in established magazines, periodicals or anthologies that are published by established book publishers.
When a book is co-authored, both authors must be Saskatchewan residents, and at least one author must meet the above established author criteria.
When the Saskatchewan author, or other individual contributing to the project creative, makes a financial contribution to the project to cover any portion of the cost of production, they must be a signatory on the funding agreement should a grant be awarded.
Authors must be a Saskatchewan resident, as described in the General Guidelines.

Eligible Projects and Expenses

An eligible book meets the following criteria:
- Is at least 48 pages in length for a printed book, with the exception of children’s books;
- Is clearly and publicly attributed to the author(s) and/or translator(s); and
- Bears an ISBN assigned to or acquired by the self-publisher or publisher.
Audiobooks and e-books.
Production expenses directly related to the project and incurred during the project timeline (expenses incurred prior to the date of application are ineligible).
The project may contain the production expenses of multiple titles by the same author. In order to maintain the privacy of author (or other individual contributing to the project creative) financiers and publishers, multiple titles will only be accepted if the books are written by the same author.
Reprints are eligible.
Textbooks and teaching guides.
Author and illustrator advances.
The production expenses for each title may contain marketing expenses up to a maximum of 25% of the title’s budget.

Ineligible Projects and Expenses

Author and illustrator royalties.
Titles where the publisher financially contributes to the project.
Titles commissioned or paid for by an individual, group, political party or company where the applicant does not have complete and independent editorial control.
Titles for which the author (or other individual contributing to the project creative) does not receive financial compensation.
Titles submitted by a political organization or party.
Titles submitted by religious organizations.
Titles that discriminate based on culture, gender, sexual orientation, race, language, ethnic origin, economic status, religion, political, or other conscientiously held beliefs.
Titles that are life coaching tools.
Directories or agendas with less than 36 pages of original editorial content.
- Catalogues, periodicals and magazines, calendars, maps or books of maps, loose-leaf updates, colouring books, sticker books or other activity books, sheet music, games in the form of a book, and other similar products. Discussion questions, exercises, and glossaries provided in the appendices of a book does not make title an activity book. For the purpose of these programs, textbooks, teaching guides, and activity books are differentiated by the following:
  - Textbooks.
    - Content is tied to a provincially-approved primary, secondary, or post-secondary curriculum.
    - Content is academic and instructional in nature.
    - Content is peer-reviewed.
  - Teaching guides.
    - Target audience is educators, not students or children.
    - While colouring assignments may be included for educators’ classroom use, the teaching guide itself is not coloured in.
    - Content is reviewed by licensed educations and/or curriculum reviewers.
  - Activity books and colouring books.
    - Content is not tied to a certain curriculum.
    - Activities, stickers, and/or colouring is completed directly in the book.
Core business operations or capital expenditures such as rent, purchase of real estate, office furniture, renovations, or maintenance costs.
Expenses related to print-on-demand production.
- “Print on Demand” refers to a system where individual copies or small batches of a book are not printed until the publisher receives an order.
- Short-run on demand printing, in which a publisher orders their entire print run through an on demand printer, is eligible.
Activities undertaken prior to the date of application.
Capital expenditures and in-kind expenses.
Activities that have received funding from SK Arts or SaskCulture
- Creative Saskatchewan will not duplicate support provided by SK Arts or SaskCulture, however projects where the author received funding to develop the content might still be considered eligible to Creative Saskatchewan’s Book Publishing Production Grant.
Shipping expenses related to distribution.
Please see the General Guidelines for a list of ineligible expenses.

Assessment

An initial review of applications is conducted by Creative Saskatchewan program staff to ensure the project and applicant meet eligibility to the program.
Eligible applications will then be assessed by an external assessment process against the criteria as defined here.

Financial Participation

Funding will be in the form of a grant.
Projects will be funded up to a maximum of 50% of the approved project budget.
No application may receive more than $10,000 per fiscal year (with the exception of projects involving significant illustration or photography, which may apply for a maximum of $15,000 per fiscal year).
No applicant may receive more than $40,000 per fiscal between both streams of the Book Publishing Production Grants.
Please note, applicants may be eligible to apply for additional support through Creative Saskatchewan’s multi-sector grants:
- Marketing support is available through the Marketing Grant;
- Travel expenses to specific market opportunities can be funded through our Showcase or Sell Travel Grant; and
- Support for professional development can be obtained through our Business Improvement Grant.

Submission Requirements and Deadlines

Please refer to the specific program page for application deadlines and instructions.
Applications to the Book Publishing Production Grant will be assessed and supported based on the availability of funds.
Applications must be complete in order to be accepted.
Creative Saskatchewan provides templates for each grant application.
- Applications that have not uploaded the mandatory budget template and travel itinerary template (travel itinerary template only required for projects that include travel expenses) will be considered incomplete and the application status will be set back to Information Required.
  - Note: This status requires the application to be re-submitted by the applicant by the program deadline. Please keep in mind that applications must be re-submitted prior to the project start date.
By submitting an application for this grant, applicants confirm they have read the General Guidelines.
If awarded a grant, they will be obligated by all criteria in the General Guidelines, as well as criteria specific to this grant as described herein.

Required Acknowledgements

In addition to the acknowledgement requirements for all grant recipients listed in the General Guidelines, successful recipients of a Book Publishing Grant must include Creative Saskatchewan’s logo on the copyright notice page of books.
The Creative Saskatchewan logo and guidelines for acknowledgement can be found here.

Confidentiality of Information

Please refer to the General Guidelines for details of Creative Saskatchewan’s Confidentiality Policy.
If you are not awarded a grant, all information in and about your application is held in confidence.
If you are awarded a grant, your name, a description of the project and the amount of funding will be made publicly available.