> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.andtomorrowgames.co.uk/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Some other things to think about when applying for the Mothership Month '26 Jump-9 Writers Grant - URL: https://www.andtomorrowgames.co.uk/some-other-things-to-think-about-when-applying-for-the-mothership-month-26-jump-9-writers-grant/ - Published: 2026-09-08T15:12:37.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-08T16:31:00.000Z - Author: Andrew C. Manson *(Catchiest blog title of year so far)* So, the [Mothership Month 2026 **Jump-9 Writers Grant**](https://www.tuesdayknightgames.com/pages/mothership-jump-9-writers-grant?ref=andtomorrowgames.co.uk) started accepting submissions last week. If you don't know what that is: Tuesday Knight Games are offering three grants of $9000 each to creators, who will use this to make their own Mothership space-horror zines. Now, there's a load of advice out there already on how to write modules, adventures, scenarios and the like. I'm not going to add to that pile. Instead, below I've stuck a few practical tips on some of the other bits, beyond writing a kick-ass hell dungeon in space. These are more to do with the work aspects of creating a module, of which there are many, rather than the creative side of the process, which I'm sure you've got nailed. My aim here is to get you thinking ahead—beyond just writing a good scenario, towards setting yourself up so you're organised and ready if you're one of the lucky three to get through to the zoom interviews stage of the application. ## But I have no experience, you say My first published zine, [The Dose Makes The Poison](https://www.tuesdayknightgames.com/products/the-dose-makes-the-poison?%5Fpos=1&%5Fsid=cc278bfef&%5Fss=r&ref=andtomorrowgames.co.uk), was part of Mothership Month 2024\. Previous to MM24 I had: - Nothing published at all: not even a digital pamphlet, never mind anything in print. - No online footprint relating to RPGs - No real contribution to any online forums—e.g., I wasn't active on the Mosh Discord or Reddit channels. Despite all that my first project ended up being accepted by the Mothership team, and doing pretty well. So I guess the point here is: **If I can do it so can you.** (I wrote it bold so it must be true) Don't be sitting around wondering if you have enough experience, just fucking go for it. Having said all that, I'm not a noob in project management, or selling things. I've worked in marketing (boo, hiss etc) for about 10 years. This is where I might be able to give the odd nugget of advice at least. ## Okay, so what are TKG looking for? There's a [proper application process for MM26](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeUjrdv0UytpBEyIqfMCKaPaPiU5CSFiQBDg%5FAWlfplwoNb9w/viewform?ref=andtomorrowgames.co.uk)—understandably, since they are chucking money about—with some pointed questions about your work, and, later, video interviews for those who get past the first round of selection. First I'll caveat that the following is just my opinion, I have no link to TKG beyond being a 3rd party publisher. Having said that, I think they're probably looking for a few things in particular: - That you have ideas (!) - That you can communicate them - You have willingness and aptitude to run a project through to completion (even if you lack experience) - That you're not just going to run off with the money I've a few tips to help with the first three points, and have faith you're not going to just spaff the money... hang on, is that the Kalshi app on your phone? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b8/76/b8762a10-f0cf-4a43-9dc2-3bff29af34de/content/images/2026/09/Kalshi.jpg) The Kalshi app on my iPhone BC. TKG will not be looking for behaviour like this. Anyway Tips below! --- **#AD** *A sneaky interlude to promote my new project* [*Trapped on Schrödinger's Moon, funding on Backerkit NOW*](https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/and-tomorrow-games/trapped-on-schrodinger-s-moon-a-module-for-mothership-rpg?ref=andtomorrowmm26)*!* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b8/76/b8762a10-f0cf-4a43-9dc2-3bff29af34de/content/images/2026/09/Schrodingers-Banner-v3.png) *Wait is that a cool trailer video? It sure is!* **#AD** --- ## Tip #1 Write the damn thing This might sound obvious, or not, depending on your view point. The application only asks for an elevator pitch, an outline and a single keyed room, so why commit to more at this stage? Because **it will be much easier to write now, thinking about a new project, pressure free, than it will later if you get your grant and *have* *to deliver a project.*** This psychic pressure is definitely a thing. Also, once you have a first draft it'll be easier to do an accurate **outline** (required for the submission), as you'll have likely created an outline to help guide your first draft anyway. You'll also sharpen and hone your ideas as you write, so that your **elevator pitch** (more on that later) will be as punchy as James Cameron's legendary 'Alien$.' Treat September as a personal game jam, and push yourself to get a first draft done by the hard submission deadline. Just smash it all down in a Google doc—doesn't have to be good, no one's going to read it, it just needs to be the framework that you build everything out from, including your application. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b8/76/b8762a10-f0cf-4a43-9dc2-3bff29af34de/content/images/2026/09/IMG_0837.jpg) I like to brainstorm by hand before moving to computer, safe in the knowledge no one will ever be able to read my notes. Even if you don't get picked you'll have a first draft of a module ready to go as a personal project, which is pretty cool. For a 20 page module, I'd say 6K words will be enough depending on what you're writing and how you lay it out. Chop chop, get to it. **Micro tip #1.1 Ask for feedback, but don't crowdsource it.** Once you have a draft, you might feel the need to seek opinions before carrying on. While it can feel good to get a bunch of people reading your work by dropping a forum post on Discord asking for feedback, it's likely you'll get conflicting viewpoints—and trying to please everyone usually means no one is happy. I'd suggest approaching someone whose opinion you value and ask for their thoughts directly. The worst they can say is no, or, maybe 'pay me.' ## Tip #2 Sell it Get that elevator pitch nailed! It's one of the specific questions on the Jump-9 application: 'Write a one sentence pitch for your zine'. You need to be able to sum your project up in one line, without getting into much detail. There is purpose to this: if you need more than a sentence before people understand, there's a good chance it's too unfocused an idea to work well. The elevator pitch also helps solidify what the module is meant to be, and stops you drifting too far from your original concept (scope creep). ## Hyping your own work Further down the line, if your writing gets you to the interview stage in October, you will need to be comfortable talking about your ideas to strangers in a way that comes across as enthused rather than scared / awkward / self-deprecating etc. So now's the time to start practicing that! 'Cringe!' I hear you cry (if you are gen-z anyway). Yes, maybe, but only for you—truth is, no one else cares as much as you do. Those listening to your pitch just want to get to your ideas as quickly as possible, without ums and ahs. If this is a struggle, my tip here is **pretend you are talking about someone else's work**, not your own. Disassociation is your friend. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b8/76/b8762a10-f0cf-4a43-9dc2-3bff29af34de/content/images/2026/09/Pretenders_Dec_81.JPG) A Creative Commons licence image of The Pretenders Back to my old job for a sec: I've often been in the situation where I have authored copywriting for a client, but had to 'pretend' it was written by the copywriting team (because the account manager doesn't write copy, everybody knows that). This would result in me sitting there as a corporate customer merrily shredded my writing to bits, oblivious that I was the author. To get through this without turning bright red and/or dying inside I would pretend the author was someone else and say things like 'I'll pass that note on.' It forced me to believe another writer was involved so I would be convincing. It worked! I now channel that energy whenever I need to give a bit of a spiel about my own work too. **Microtip #2.1** A good exercise for writing about your work **is to create a press release** (Note: you won't need the actual press release for applying to MM26). The format of a press release forces you to write in the 3rd person in quite a goofy, cheerleading way—they're designed to make creating articles as easy as possible for journalists/websites (so they can just copy/paste the bits they want). Find a template from somewhere and get to work talking about your work in that cheeseball 3rd person way. The structure of these things will force you to hype up your own work. This stuff never stops being a bit ugh, but it is worth doing. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b8/76/b8762a10-f0cf-4a43-9dc2-3bff29af34de/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-07-at-21.57.04.png) Screen grab of the press release for The Dose Makes The Poison back for MM24, which seems like a million years ago. OMG CRINGE! **Microtip #2.2 Try and get an idea of what you want your zine to look like visually.** Moodboards are a great way to feed inspiration, they can help to sell your ideas to others and can spark further creative thought. You'll also be ahead of the game if you need to brief stuff in to an artist or designer. Art is what sell your zine before folks read a word. It's important. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b8/76/b8762a10-f0cf-4a43-9dc2-3bff29af34de/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-07-at-21.07.02.png) Moodboard for my second zine, Drink From The Hippocrene ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b8/76/b8762a10-f0cf-4a43-9dc2-3bff29af34de/content/images/2026/09/IMG_0835.jpg) How the test prints of the final zine turned out. Think like this and you'll be smashing out elevator pitches like '**It's H.R. Giger's Teletubbies—in SPACE**' in no time. ## Tip #3 Develop a production timeline ...Or at least a way of working that shows you are organised. Like, I'm sure nobody really wants to read about this stuff, but managing your project is going to be important. There will be lots of things to organise (another reason to get the writing out of the way asap). If you are selected, your funding gets released as you cross each of a series of milestones, so what better way to convince the bosses that you mean business than showing them you've a calendar plan for when you're going to hit those milestones? I've used loads of programs that are designed to 'increase productivity' and all that shite, and they're all pretty similar . The one I always end up coming back to is [Trello](https://trello.com/?ref=andtomorrowgames.co.uk), as it's bonehead simple and just does what you want it to. The Trello columns I tend to use for most things is: Inbox - big list of everything goes here, brain dumping no matter how big or small Today - what I want to get through today Tomorrow - lined up for the day after Soon - Items for the rest of the week Complete - shove anything done in here ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b8/76/b8762a10-f0cf-4a43-9dc2-3bff29af34de/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-08-at-13.06.22.png) An example of my Trello set up that I routinely ignore once I get overwhelmed. This looks far enough ahead that you can plan your week productively, but not too far ahead that if something changes or longer it doesn't knock the rest of your month out of whack. Install the calendar plug in, and add a set of cards for Key Milestones that you want to hit in order to stay on track with delivering your project on time. You can work backwards from these key dates to give yourself time to work on each of sections you need to get done. Pretty soon you should have a calendar schedule planned and a list of tasks with a 'due by' date, and be feeling pretty organised. What happens to me next is that all this goes out the window as soon as I get slightly delayed and I hide from my Trello for weeks at a time, but 'do not as I do, do as I say' or whatever that saying is. ## Conclusion-y bit I hope there's at least some notes above that might be useful to new creators out there that have yet to get a zine in print. There's definitely a leap in the level of production between a zine and, say, a pamphlet, so I think it pays to be aware of these things, but it's in no way an outlandish leap up, just a few more things to think about. It also sound like there will be mentorship for those who get the Jump-9 Grants, meaning you won't have to navigate all this stuff on your own. Getting to talk all this through with folks with experience is a major plus. So go dust off your notebooks, get brainstorming and go and make the thing. But **Teletubbies—in SPACE** is taken, soz.