The Book Industry Charitable Foundation is offering two $750 scholarships to comic book store owners and their employees to attend the Diamond Summit in Baltimore, Md., set for October 26-27. The funds may be used for travel, replacement wages, lodging and meals.
"We are thrilled that Binc sees such value in our programming and the summit's networking opportunities that they are supporting retailers who could otherwise not attend," Diamond noted. "Their continued support of the comic industry and our retail partners is unmatched."
Binc's executive director Pam French added: "We are proud to offer this new professional development scholarship to comic retailers and their employees to attend the Diamond Summit. Through this scholarship, more retailers will have the opportunity to attend the Summit gaining valuable learning and networking opportunities."
To apply for a scholarship to the Summit, applicants must meet the following criteria:
- The applicant's store must be in the U.S. and either a retail bricks-and-mortar store owned by an entity a substantial portion of whose revenue is derived from the bricks-and-mortar sale of books/comics; or a mobile or pop-up store with an ongoing overhead investment that is open to the general public and maintains an annual average of 30 hours per week with an employee present.
- The applicant must be a regular part-time or full-time employee or owner of a comic shop.
- Applicants must be currently employed and have 90 days of continuous employment with the comic shop.
Applications are now open. The deadline to apply is October 3 by 5 p.m. Eastern. Comic store owners and their employees can apply for a scholarship here.