I applied for a grant. They just did roundtables and discussed the applicant’s work, and now I play the waiting game where, if I get the grant, I’ll find out at some point in January. By February, funds will be dispersed. Those funds will total $5,000.

I’m keeping the name of the grant anonymous for now…the application process was anonymous, too, so I don’t want to ruffle any feathers or have it so people can trace my application back to me. But I will say this grant is highly competitive and only offered to writers biannually. For your portfolio submission, you could only send in 30 pages of your most recently completed work, which, for me, was Son of the Siren. I don’t know if the grant would be bound to that specific book (I hope not), but if I had $5000 meant only for writing and publishing, and I could use it for Son of the Siren and The Darkening Gate Trilogy, I thought I’d write out a blog imagining what I could do with it.

Hire artists for custom work

Commissioning artists is expensive, especially when you know the work they do is above-and-beyond the ordinary. I have found that working with Juhaihai, who did the illustrations for the custom notecards I printed for Son of the Siren, that her work is extraordinary, especially her artwork of my lead character, Lirien.

I am happy with the art I have for Son of the Siren (unless I could commission Lord Iesin and Lady Ariana), so I’d actually like to get cracking with The Name and the Key and the other books of the trilogy.

I just started a commission with Juhaihai for a chibi of my lead heroine in the trilogy, Lily, which will be started sometime in January. I had to pay a commercial fee with this, which drove the cost up. Unlike in Japan, where I had plenty of money from my job, this time I simply don’t. So, if I don’t get the grant, I’ll have to pay for the arts slowly and over time. But if I had $5,000 to use for writing and publishing, I’d hire Juhaihai to do the following:

• Commission chibi of Lily – pay commercial fee to make stickers or possibly buttons, and use for Instagram posts
• Commission chibi of Andresh – pay commercial fee to make stickers or possibly buttons, and use for Instagram posts
• Commission of portrait of Lily – pay commercial fee for art cards
• Commission of portrait of Andresh – pay commercial fee for art cards
• Commission of portrait of Isabelle – pay commercial fee for art cards
• Commission of portrait of Aineiron – pay commercial fee for art cards

Subscribe to Canva Pro

I recently had to give up my Canva Pro subscription. It was a one-month free trial, and I used the crap out of it, trying to make as much promotional art as I could. I had always stayed away from Canva for the most part, until I started getting free template designs for authors, and that’s when I hopped in and started playing with it. The amount of what can be produced is incredible. It’s really expensive, though, and I don’t have the money to pay for it. But if I had $5,000…

Order books from my publisher to sell at conventions, festivals, and at local bookstores on consignment

I never got a chance to do this with Son of the Siren. I did order copies for myself (about thirty), but I didn’t know I could get them from my publisher at the time. I ordered them from Amazon and at Barnes and Noble and blew a boatload of money there instead. I used them for Instagram tours, review copies, and contest copies, but I wasted a lot of money on people who didn’t follow through with reviewing, even though I gave them copies for that purpose. Siiigh.

I also wasn’t able to sell my books at my main local bookstore even though my book is through Ingram Spark, which works with major retailers. They told me because my book used Print on Demand technology, they would not stock the book in their store. I believe this has something to due with the bookstores being able to make returns. However, I have since found out about selling books on consignment! I just need books to sell!

So, if I had $5,000, I’d buy enough books to sell that would be appropriate for local bookstores, events like conventions or book festivals, etc. I would do this for Son of the Siren and The Name and the Key.

Pay for editorial reviews

I have mixed feelings on this. Son of the Siren has hardly any reviews from readers, so the only way I could get positive blurbs on the book was to pay for independent reviews. In an ideal world, all my reviews would be organic and fellow authors would actually agree to blurb my books (we tried that with Son of the Siren and got nos or zero responses). But, I am still a nobody and it’s hard to get eyes on my work. So…if I had the money…I would try BookLife, Kirkus Reviews, and Independent Book Review. I want back cover quotes, dammit!

Do only two Instagram features

I would do MTMC Tours again, and work with Old Enough for Fairytales again. Both did incredibly beautiful work promoting Son of the Siren, so I’d love for The Name and the Key to be next.

Pay for beta reading for Book Two in The Darkening Gate Trilogy

I plan to finish The Step and the Walk in the spring, so I’ll need beta reading again before I submit it to my publisher. If I’m on fire with the writing, I’d like to squeak in beta reads for The Fear and the Flame, too–if I can get it in before 2026, I’m good.

$5,000 is so much money I can’t think of anything else to spend it on…

I know that in December of 2026 you are to write a report…I’m assuming part of this report will be a thorough accounting of where all the funds went and why. If I got the grant, I’d open a new bank account to house that money so I don’t stupidly mix it up with all of my personal funds (and to avoid spending incorrectly), and fill up a notebook accounting for everything.

If you notice, most of this grant would be spent on promotion and sales–something I struggle with greatly. Since this is a writing grant, I legitimately don’t know if I’d be allowed to spend this kind of money on promotion. But that’s the most expensive part about being a writer, and I hope if I’m awarded this grant, I can give my new works the full attention they deserve.