Applications for publication grants will be considered only for book-length scholarly manuscripts in the history of art, visual studies, and related subjects that have been accepted by a publisher on their merits, but cannot be published in the most desirable form without a subsidy. Applications are judged in relation to two criteria: (1) the quality of the project; and (2) the need for financial assistance. Although the quality of the manuscript is the sine qua non for a grant, an excellent manuscript may not be funded if it is financially self-supporting.
In general, the purpose of the grant is to support presses in the publication of projects of the highest scholarly and intellectual merit that may not generate adequate financial return. The jury is particularly sympathetic to applications that propose enhancing the visual component of the study through the inclusion of color plates or an expanded component of black-and-white illustrations. Expenses generated by exceptional design requirements (maps, line drawings, charts, and tables) are also suitable for consideration. Permission and rental fees/reproduction rights, especially in cases where they are burdensome, are also appropriate.
READER’S REPORTS
Reader’s reports should be anonymous to the author but include the name of the reviewer and date of review for the benefit of the jury (to be kept confidential), and they should not be more than three years old. The reports must be substantive, analytical evaluations of the complete manuscript. Mere endorsements are not acceptable. The author’s response to the reports should be included with the application so that the current state of the manuscript is made clear. The Meiss Jury does not admit reports written by the author’s dissertation adviser or other interested parties, such as a series editor. Note that reader’s reports are a significant and influential element of the grant application.
ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS
Applications are considered only for book-length scholarly manuscripts in the history of art that are under contract for publication. Applications are by the publisher, not the author. Awards are open to publishers and authors of all nations. Commercial, university, and museum presses are all eligible to apply, but must be institutional CAA members. University presses can apply under the CAA membership of their university.
We no longer require applicant authors to have CAA membership to apply, but an account number is still required to sign into our grant portal (non-members can create an account through our member portal). Authors who receive the grant will also receive one year of CAA membership gratis. Self-published manuscripts are not eligible for this grant.
While all periods and all areas of art history and visual studies may be considered, eligibility does not embrace excavation or other technical reports, articles, previously published works (including collections of previously published essays), or congress proceedings.
Within a calendar year, a press may submit the same manuscript for a Meiss Grant and a Wyeth Grant, but a book that wins one CAA publishing grant is ineligible to receive another CAA-administered grant and will be removed from consideration for the other grant. A project that has been rejected for a grant may not be resubmitted to the same grant, except in a rare case where substantial revision has been made to the material, and the publisher has so noted in the application. At its discretion, the jury may decline to review the resubmitted application. Publishers are encouraged to submit no more than two or three books for consideration in any one grant period, except in extraordinary circumstances.
