Fri May 9, 2008 AMS home

For Individuals             For Publishers

See the list of volumes that have received subventions

The Publications Committee of the American Musicological Society makes available funds to help with expenses involved in the publication of works of musical scholarship, including books, articles, special issues of journals, and works in non-print media.

Individual authors or editors, or their sponsoring organization, society, or department, may apply for assistance to defray costs not covered by publishers, such as illustrations, musical examples, facsimiles, accompanying audio or video examples, and permissions.

We encourage the submission of proposals from scholars at all stages of their careers. We welcome proposals for projects that make use of newer technologies. Festschriften, essay collections, and the like are ordinarily not recommended for subvention.

Applications for any amount up to $2,500 will receive consideration. It is anticipated that most subventions will range between $500 and $2,000.

No individual can receive a subvention more than once in a three-year period. Although authors and presses may both request subvention for the same project, as appropriate to their needs, no single project will be awarded more than $5,000 total.

An application (which is to be submitted in triplicate) should consist of:

1. A completed Cover Sheet.

2. A short written abstract (no more than 1,000 words) that describes the project and its contribution to musical scholarship.

3. A copy of the article, or, if a book, a representative chapter.  For non-print media, something equivalent or analogous to a sample should be provided.

4. A copy of a contract or letter of agreement from the journal editor or publisher (or analogous person) indicating final acceptance for publication and including the clauses that stipulate the author's assumption of the expenses for which the subvention is requested.

5. A copy of the readers' reports solicited by the publisher or editor.

6. A detailed budget and explanation of the expenses to which the subvention would be applied.  Wherever possible, expenses should be itemized.

Subvention recipients are requested to forward a copy of the book to the AMS upon publication.

Application deadlines: materials must be received by March 15 or September 15 (if these dates fall on a weekend, the deadline is the Monday following).

Applications will be considered at the regular meetings of the Publications Committee (normally twice per year, in May and at the Annual Meeting). Decisions will be announced no later than three months after each deadline. All awards must be claimed (with submission of receipts) within twelve months of the granting of the subvention.

All applications should be sent (in triplicate) to:

AMS Publication Subventions

c/o American Musicological Society

6010 College Station
Brunswick ME 04011-8451

For Publishers

The AMS Publications Committee will consider a subvention up to $5,000 for the publication of original and significant research in any recognized field of musicology, in the form of a book, a monograph, or an edition. The purpose of the subvention is to bring down the price of the book.

Festschriften, conference proceedings, essay collections, and translations will ordinarily not be recommended for subventions, but may be considered in exceptional cases. Applications for such subventions should be submitted by presses rather than by individuals.

The request for this kind of subvention must come to the Publications Committee from the publisher, not from the author.  The Publications Committee has a separate subventions policy for individual authors, in order to help them with expenses not normally carried by publishers.  (Please see those guidelines above.)  The publisher must have committed to bring out the volume before the application is made.

Although authors and presses may both request subvention for the same project, as appropriate to their needs, no single project will be awarded more than $5,000 total.

In making an application for a subvention, the publisher should send to the Chair of the Publications Committee:

•  a copy of the entire manuscript
•  copies of the readers’ reports and authors’ responses
•  a detailed financial statement, indicating:


— a breakdown of the costs of publication, showing format, size of print run, and projected costs
— the amount requested from the AMS as a subvention
— the impact of the subvention on the eventual price of the book

Recipients of subventions are requested to forward a copy of the book upon publication.

Ruth A. Solie
Chair, AMS Publications Committee
Department of Music
Smith College
Northampton, MA 01063

Queries should be directed to Prof. Solie at rsolie@smith.edu.

Application deadlines: materials must be received by March 15 or September 15.

Return to the AMS home page             Volumes that have received subventions