The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) invites nonprofit publishers and accredited institutions of higher education to apply for the Fellowships Open Book Program (FOBP), a limited competition designed to support the release of open-access digital versions of humanities books. Each award under this program provides a fixed amount of $6,600 for publishers to create e-book versions of books that were developed through NEH-funded research, specifically using one of the approved NEH grant or fellowship programs. Books must have been published, reissued, or printed in a new edition during or after 2017. The e-book must be made available under a Creative Commons license, making it free for download to facilitate wider public access to humanities scholarship.

To be eligible, the book’s research must have been funded by one of several NEH fellowship or grant programs, such as NEH Fellowships, Humanities Initiatives, Digital Humanities Advancement Grants, or others specified in the NOFO. Additionally, the book must acknowledge the NEH grant, either originally or in the new digital edition. Edited collections, books for children, self-help titles, and pedagogical-focused books are not eligible. Eligible applicants include U.S.-based nonprofit publishers and institutions with 501(c)(3) status. Individuals, foreign, and for-profit entities are not eligible. Publishers that receive this award are required to pay the book’s author(s) a royalty of at least $600 from the grant.

Awards are available for digital editions released in the EPUB format (version 3.1 or later), with an encouraged but optional release in other formats like Kindle or PDF. Recipients must distribute the open-access e-book through at least two major channels such as JSTOR, Project MUSE, Amazon, or HathiTrust. The e-book's copyright page must acknowledge NEH’s support, and the open-access license must be noted. NEH also mandates that the e-book metadata follow the Book Industry Study Group's (BISG) recommendations, including information about the Creative Commons license chosen.

Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on three dates in 2024: March 13, July 10, and November 13. NEH anticipates funding approximately 12 awards per deadline, with an expected notification about one month before the award’s start date. For each award cycle, the period of performance is set to 12 months, starting on the first day of a designated month following each deadline (e.g., August 1 for March applications). Awardees receive funds as a reimbursement once they submit a final performance progress report confirming the release of the open-access edition.

Applications are submitted through Grants.gov and must include several components, including author commitment letters, a book information attachment with publication details and distribution plans, and any relevant explanations for federal debt. Applicants must ensure active registrations with SAM and Grants.gov. This streamlined application process does not require a full narrative or budget, but applicants must adhere to specific formatting guidelines and submit their applications early to allow time for technical issues.

Proposals will be evaluated for eligibility, completeness, and adherence to the program’s scope, with final decisions made by the NEH Chair. Selected applications undergo a risk assessment based on the applicant’s history, project management capabilities, and compliance with public policy standards. After assessment, NEH may place special conditions on awards or deny funding to applicants deemed unable to comply with award requirements. All decisions are final and cannot be appealed.

Awardees must comply with NEH reporting requirements, including submission of final performance and financial reports within 120 days of the period of performance’s end. They must also follow federal guidelines on copyright, accessibility, and public accessibility to grant-funded products. The program includes provisions to ensure federal rights to reproduce or use funded work for federal purposes, typically in consultation with the award recipient.