Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Snap Collective is an innovative and unconventional publishing concept founded by the Müller family. We publish high-quality art books without requiring any financial contribution from the artist. Our mission is to support artists in realizing their dreams by making art book publishing accessible while giving artists complete creative freedom to design their books.
We offer:
- High-quality publishing services at no cost to the artist
- Access to the best printing partners
- Distribution via our online shop
- Expert assistance in editing, design, and marketing
Our books are crafted with care and produced using sustainable printing methods, allowing us to meet customer demand efficiently. Books are printed using state-of-the-art digital offset printing on HP Indigo 100k and Canon VarioPrint machines.
We specialize in working with creative visual artists across various fields, including photography, design, illustration, sculpture, architecture, styling, fashion, and more.
Our unique pre-order campaign system allows us to test the market before full publication. This approach ensures that we can offer artists free copies, royalties, and bulk discounts based on the success of their book sales.
Snap Collective is committed to supporting artists while reinventing the publishing industry, making it possible for artists to publish their work without financial risk and retain full copyright of their art.
We do not offer traditional royalties.
Instead, we reward artists with free printed copies of their book when they reach certain pre-order sales milestones.
This is our way of giving back tangible value early on — without relying on small per-sale royalties over time.
- The more copies you sell during the pre-order, the more free books you receive.
- For artists who reach higher sales tiers, we also offer the option to receive a commission payout instead of free copies.
- These commission options start from mid- to high-level milestones only — not from the first sale.
The thresholds and rewards vary depending on whether you publish in the Standard or Premium format.
👉 You can find the full breakdowns here: https://snap-collective.com/brochures/
🛑 Note: No royalties or commissions apply to sales after the pre-order campaign, and no rewards are granted below the minimum threshold.
No, you do not need to pay or invest any money to publish your book with Snap Collective. Our innovative publishing concept is designed to support artists without requiring any financial contribution from them.
What we ask from you instead is:
- Your time and creativity: You’ll need to dedicate time to prepare your work and collaborate with us during the publishing process.
- Content creation: You’re responsible for providing the original content for your book, including images and any text.
- Uploading materials: You’ll need to upload all interior content directly to the Snap Collective portal according to our technical specifications.
- Marketing efforts: While we provide support, your active participation in promoting your book, especially during the pre-order campaign, is crucial for success.
You retain the copyright to your work and have the opportunity to earn through free copies and bulk discounts based on your book’s sales performance.
- Removing financial barriers: We believe that financial constraints shouldn’t hinder talented artists from publishing their work. By not requiring upfront investment, we make high-quality book publishing accessible to a wider range of artists.
- Risk-sharing: Our printing technology allows us to minimize upfront costs. We share the risk with the artist by investing our resources in the design, publishing, and distribution process.
- Aligning interests: Our success is directly tied to the success of your book. This motivates us to provide the best possible quality and marketing support to ensure your book sells well.
- Supporting artistic communities: By removing financial barriers, we can publish a diverse range of artists, enriching the artistic community and the publishing landscape.
- Innovative business model: Our approach allows us to tap into a market of talented artists who might not have the means to publish traditionally, creating unique, high-quality art books.
- Pre-order system: Our pre-order campaign helps gauge market interest before full production, reducing financial risk for both parties.
- Mutual benefit: As your book sells, both you and Snap Collective benefit. You receive royalties or free copies, while we cover our costs and make our profit through book sales.
1. Application: Submit your book concept and initial photos via our web app at: https://app.snap-collective.com/#/sfw/Ihome
2. Approval: Our team reviews and approves your project.
3. Cover & Mockup Design: We design your book cover.
4. Pre-Order Campaign (14 days): The book is sold at a special pre-sale price.
5. Layout & Production: If the pre-order meets its goal (25 copies for Standard, 35 for Premium), we proceed with the book’s interior layout.
6. Printing & Distribution: The book is printed and distributed worldwide.
You retain full creative control and copyright of your work throughout.
The process typically takes 4–5 months, depending on how quickly you provide materials and approve designs.
It depends on the pre-order campaign. On average, 40–50 copies are sold per campaign.
The Book
Note: Artists choose to publish in either the Standard format (A4) or the Premium format (large). We usually do not release a book in both formats. The Premium format includes higher-quality materials, a more exclusive finish, and, where applicable, additional pages—making it ideal for collectors or those seeking a more refined presentation of the artist’s work.
Feature | Standard Format (A4) (8.3×11.7 inches) | Premium Format (Large) |
---|---|---|
Dimensions | 297 x 210 mm (11.69 x 8.27 inches | 300 x 300 mm (11,81 x 11,81 inches) |
Pages | 144 – 192 | 288 – 320 |
Cover Type | Hardcover | Hardcover |
Paper Type | 170 gsm (110 Ibs) matte | 170 gsm (110 Ibs) matte |
Special Features | Bookmark, QR codes | Bookmark, QR codes |
Pre-Order Option 1 | Minimum 25 copies sold @ 119 EUR each | Minimum 35 copies sold @ 249 EUR each |
Pre-Order Option 2 | Minimum 35 copies sold @ 99 EUR each | Minimum 50 copies sold @ 199 EUR each |
Free Copies | 25 = 4 copies; 50 = 15 copies | 35 = 3 copies; 50 = 10 copies |
The Premium Format offered by Snap Collective is designed as a deluxe edition for artists who want their book to make a bold, lasting impression. Unlike the A4 (8.3 x 11.7 inches) Standard Format, the Premium edition comes in a striking square format (300 x 300 mm/11.81 x 11.81 inch) and includes up to 320 pages, allowing for a more immersive visual experience. What truly sets it apart, however, are the custom bookmarks and colored headbands, offering a refined and tactile aesthetic.
The Premium Format also comes with a jewelry-style slipcase with magnetic closure, elevating it to a collector-grade product. These enhancements make the Premium Format especially suitable for exhibitions, gallery distribution, or high-end personal branding. It’s more than a book—it’s a statement piece that amplifies the artist’s vision beyond the page.
A4 books typically contain 120–180 photos, depending on layout. Big format books include around 250–300 images.
We have publisher agents worldwide (e.g. in Paris, Düsseldorf, Warsaw, USA, Chisinau, Riga, Tbilisi, Berlin, London, Budapest), and if you live nearby, it may be possible to arrange a meeting with one of our representatives to see our books and check the quality.
However, we recommend that you start a book project and invest a bit to order copies directly. Artists and customers consistently express high satisfaction with the print quality, materials, and craftsmanship. Seeing your own work in book form is the best way to fully experience the value of our publishing process.
When publishing with Snap Collective, you’ll choose between two format options for your book: Standard and Premium. Each format has a different size and pricing structure, based on how many copies you expect to sell during your pre-order campaign. This pricing determines what your buyers will pay—not you—and influences how many free copies or discounts you can earn as the artist.
Here’s how it works:
📘 Standard Format (A4 – 21 x 29.7 cm/8.3×11.7 inches):
119 EUR per book if you aim for 25 pre-orders
99 EUR per book if you’re confident you can reach 35 pre-orders
After the campaign, the regular price is 129 EUR
📕 Premium Format (Square – 300 x 300 mm/11,81 x 11,81 inches):
249 EUR per book if you aim for 35 pre-orders
199 EUR per book if you aim for 50 pre-orders
After the campaign, the regular price is 269 EUR
📌 The pre-order price is what buyers will pay during your campaign—not you.
📌 As the artist, you can earn free copies and bulk order discounts based on your campaign’s success.
📌 Choosing a more ambitious pricing model can make the book more affordable for your audience, but requires a stronger promotional effort.
If you’re looking to see how other published books are priced, please consult our book catalogue at shop.snap-collective.com.
- Production Quality: • Print-on-demand digital printing for each individual book • Handmade hardcover binding • High-quality materials and finishing
- Business Model: • All publishing services are completely free for artists • No upfront costs or fees for authors • Publishing costs must be covered through book sales
- Print Economics: • Individual book printing costs more than mass production • Each book is crafted to order • Premium materials and handcrafted elements
- Maintain high product quality
- Offer risk-free publishing to artists
- Ensure sustainable business operations
- Provide ongoing support and services
Book Design
Don’t worry. Our designers can offer you 3 variants of the cover which can help to choose the direction of the style design. Please, remember that there will be 5 corrections available.
All images used in your book must have a resolution of at least 300 DPI (dots per inch) at the size they will appear in the final layout. This ensures the printed images are sharp, detailed, and helps avoid unwanted pixelation in the final product.
You can absolutely use iPhone photos or images taken with other smartphones, as long as they meet the resolution and pixel size requirements. Modern smartphones are fully capable of producing images suitable for high-quality book printing.
We fully respect artistic choices such as blur, grain, or noise. These stylistic elements are welcome and considered part of your creative vision. Our technical standards focus only on ensuring that the resolution is sufficient for high-quality output—not on altering your artistic intent.
- Our business model focuses on providing free publishing services to artists
- We maintain consistent high-quality standards through our carefully selected: • Paper type (170g premium matte) • Format options (Standard A4 or Premium 30x30cm) • Production processes
Pre-Order
A Pre-Order Campaign for A4 is a crucial 14-day phase in our book publishing process. During this time, we collaborate with the artist to create a book cover and launch the campaign. The book is made available for pre-order at a special price: 119 EUR for the Standard format or 249 EUR for the Premium format.
Artists are offered the option to publish their book in either Standard or Premium format. We typically release a title in only one of the two formats, depending on the artist’s choice and the campaign strategy.
The campaign is considered successful if it reaches a minimum of 25 pre-orders for the Standard format or 35 pre-orders for the Premium format. If this threshold is not met, the project may be postponed or cancelled, and all pre-order payments will be fully refunded.
- Stop the publication process: The project ends without any cost to you.
- Complete the order yourself: You can purchase the remaining books needed to reach the minimum threshold, allowing the project to move forward.
Book Promotion
- Snap Collective’s efforts:
- Creation of promotional materials (e.g., banners, social media posts)
- Featuring your book in our online store
- Select books may be featured on our Instagram.
- Artist’s role (crucial for success):
- Leveraging your personal network and followers
- Sharing promotional content we create
- Creating your own marketing materials (we provide templates)
- Engaging with your audience directly
- Social media strategies tailored for artists
- Tips for engaging with your existing audience
- Ideas for creating compelling content about your book
- Suggestions for leveraging your personal network
- Best practices for timing and frequency of promotions
- Templates for promotional posts and emails