Who is SAP?
Publications selection is made by a steering committee made up of SAN artists: R.M. Sánchez-Camus, Helen Stratford, Deborah Weinreb, and Idit Nathan. The SAP coordinator is Rebecca Thomson.
How will my submission be selected?
Publications are selected based on the following criteria. All four members of the steering committee individually grade a submission, giving a score out of five for each criterion. Submissions with a total score of at least 75% are accepted.
- Feasibility
When reading a submission we will ask, how much does ambition match practicalities? Are there partnerships in place to support the book? Are they connected to and/or working with a community?
- Innovation
We are very open regarding the format of the publication and welcome submissions that question and innovate in relation to published matter including mid-scale, professionally printed books ranging from Artist Books, Research books, Project Archives, Photography, Creative writing, Psychogeography and more. However, we will ask: How strong is the project idea? Is the art-making central to the work and unique?
- Social Approach
Alignment with the approach and practice of Social Art Network which is described on the SAN website as follows:
“We are unapologetically political and unreservedly radical in our approach and practice. It is a time of increasing social crisis in Britain and around the world, where increasingly reactionary politics, both from the state and within communities causes constant damage to people in their everyday lives. The backdrop to this is the impending flood of climate change; the extent of the damage which we will cause ourselves is yet unknown. The only creative response to this is a radical politic as art. We understand politics not as governmental parties but as the social collection of people, where true meaningful change is generated.
In art, this translates into emotional resonance with the state of our society and facilitating empathy for the crises we collectively inhabit. But it also translates into vision; imagining new ways of living with one another, grounded in reality but connected to potentiality, and pushing to make such a vision occur. Artists have always led the way in conceiving revolutionary routes; we humbly believe we are a part of that tradition in today’s moment.”
For every submission we will ask, does the proposal have a high level of participation? Will the proposal develop dialogue around a social topic?
- Track Record
It is recommended that your practice is aligned with the above approach. Some experience of publishing previous publications is useful but not a necessity as the aim of SAP is also to act in mutual support for artists with little or no experience in this area.
Submission
We welcome both fully formed proposals and also projects that are in development. If you have something ready to go then you can send us a pdf. On the other hand, if you are in the thinking stage, you can also send us a proposal that contains the basics about the author/s, the subject matter and ideas about the content. In this situation, we can give you a tentative reply but will reserve a final decision until we review a more complete copy of the final publication.
Unfortunately, we are not in a position to support artists with the content of the publications.
How will I know if my submission is successful?
We will review your submission within 15 working days of receipt and respond via email.
What will the fee of £50 cover?
The fee of £50 will cover the cost of an ISBN for your publication, this will be registered once it has gone to print. Once registered the book will be automatically searchable in worldwide databases including all the major retailers. You would need to be set up as a personal distributor to sell through sites such as amazon.
We will also include the publication in the growing SAP catalogue of publications and the larger marketing of the national platform of Social Art Network.
Does SAP have any funding to cover publication costs?
No. SAP is not in a position to offer funding for publications at this time. However, we do support submissions that are at the early stages of development (at the application stage for funding for example) and artists are welcome to mention SAP in support of their funding applications.
Can I include SAP as support in kind in my funding application?
Yes.
How can I support SAP?
SAP would like to share any useful information about printers, designers and general discoveries around the production of publications that may be useful to other producers. If you have a great link and/or useful story please do send it to us so it might be shared to help others. We are collaborative and collective in our approach to publishing and all artists who are selected become part of the creative process of developing SAP together.