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    • 2025 Jordan Schnitzer First Book Publication Awards

    The Association for Jewish Studies is pleased to again offer its Jordan Schnitzer First Book Publication Awards. This program is designed for current AJS members who already have secured publishing contracts, but who require subventions to ensure publication of their first books. The AJS will grant awards up to $5,000 each. The subvention will support items including but not limited to indexing, photo and image permissions, or other items that are typically the responsibility of the author to cover. A multidisciplinary committee of scholars will evaluate applications. In deciding how to allocate these funds, the committee will consider both the scholarly significance of the book to the field of Jewish Studies and the demonstrated need for subvention support. Applications are invited from AJS members in all research disciplines. In 2025, there will be two award cycles: Applicants can either submit an application during the first cycle, which closes on July 15, or they can submit an application during the second award cycle, which closes on December 31. Notifications will follow within roughly six weeks of each application deadline.

    Qualifications

    1. •    Applicants must be AJS members for the current 2025 membership year (running from January through December 2025).
    2. •    Subventions will only be awarded for individually authored first books (multiple authored books are ineligible; an applicant who has already published an edited collection will not be disqualified).
    3. •    Only manuscripts written in English are eligible.
    4. •    In the view of the selection committee, manuscripts should make a substantial scholarly contribution to Jewish Studies.

    Application Instructions

    1. •    CV
    2. •    A book proposal, including a description of the book project, chapter summaries, methods used, and information about the book’s relationship to the field and the academic and/or public market
    3. •    A budget delineating the subvention support requested; the budget should list any other subvention awards to which the author plans to apply
    4. •    Two sample chapters, ideally one which includes the book’s introduction
    5. •    Copy of the provisional book contract

    Deadline: July 15, 2025 for first award cycle and December 31, 2025 for second award cycle

    Questions

    Contact Amy Weiss, Senior Grants and Professional Development Manager, at aweiss@associationforjewishstudies.org.