+ Can anyone participate?

Yes! All books are accepted into the collection. We do not jury any of the work.

After you order a book, we'll mail you a package containing an official SBP sketchbook with a unique 6-digit barcode on it and detailed instructions about the project.

+ How do I gift someone a sketchbook?

Easy peasy! Even if you order a sketchbook with your personal credit card, have it shipped to your personal address, etc., the sketchbook can be registered to whomever you choose. Each sketchbook comes with its own unique 6-digit barcode that is registered by its author regardless of who originally purchased it.

+ A few basic rules for creating your sketchbook.

Your book must remain within the dimensions of 5 x 7” inches. It can open up to something wonderful (of any size), but it must fold down to the original dimensions. You are welcome to unbind, rebind or alter the book in (almost) any other way. If you want to use a thicker stock of paper, go for it! Your book must stay thinner than an inch when closed.

Your barcode sticker must remain in place on the book - no moving or covering it. An altered or unreadable label means we have to disqualify you from the project. Please contact us if you damaged your barcode.

Don't forget that your sketchbook is traveling and being held - please try to avoid the use of ties that can come undone, random plastic things that may fall off in transit, art materials that could smudge (like acrylic and gesso paint), glitter and any hazardous materials. Your book should be durable and be able to withstand normal wear and tear.

+ Tell me about the blank sketchbook that I’ve ordered.

Your book comes with a six-digit B number found on the back cover of your sketchbook that is unique to you!

Each book has 16 pages. 32 back and front.

PLEASE NOTE: You CANNOT send in previously made sketchbooks. All books must start with our blank book. It's part of the challenge!

+ Tell me about the Themes.

The list of VOL 18 themes are found on your direction leaflet that comes with your book. The themes are supposed to be a starting point, not a restriction, so don't feel smothered by them. You will have the option to select your theme later when you connect your book, or opt not to use one of the themes we have given you. It's all up to you!

+ Do I retain the copyright?

We have a major respect for artist ownership. By submitting to the project, you still retain ownership of your work. We own the physical sketchbook, but your work is your work. You do grant a license to use it as needed for the project, but we do our best to make sure you are always credited. We have NO plans to ever sell the original work, however, if that ever did come up, we MUST contact you with a responsible amount of time for you to respond. PLEASE REVIEW THE FULL TERMS.

+ When do I connect my book?

You can connect your book anytime between when you receive it and before you send it back.

An account is not created when your book is ordered, you get to create one at:

www.sketchbookproject.com/register

You will then be prompted to connect a book. Use your unique six-digit B# under the barcode on the back of your book to connect it.

If you have already created an account in the past, you can connect your book here:

www.sketchbookproject.com/connect

+ I’m part of a (school, art, bookmaking, etc.) group and we want to order a pack of books together.

Well you’re in luck! Sketchbook packs of five or more automatically come with a 20% discount! Order your preferred amount here:

www.brooklynartlibrary.com/packs

+ I'm ready to send my book back.

Make sure to create an account and connect your book first! Feel free to send your book back earlier than the postmark deadline. Late books will not be a part of the traveling experiences but will be added to the shelves of our permanent collection at Brooklyn Art Library. We promise we'll let you know when we have received your completed sketchbook at Brooklyn Art Library when we are able. Please don't email us asking if we received your book. We receive a veritable ton of books in the mail every day, and checking them in by hand can be a very long process! We recommend sending it with delivery confirmation or using UPS. We do our best to be available to sign for packages, however we cannot guarantee it.

+ What happens after I send my book back?

After the postmark due date, we'll catalog all of that challenge’s books and exhibit them both at the library in Brooklyn and out of town at pop-ups and exhibits around the country. Everyone who sends their completed sketchbook back in time will have their book included, and later cataloged into our permanent collection at Brooklyn Art Library. All dates and cities for the pop-ups, tours and other exhibits are subject to change.

+ How long will it take for my sketchbook to be digitized?

Due to the size of our staff, we tend to digitize all the books at once after the postmark deadline has passed. We cannot promise your book will be digitized prior to then.

If you ordered digitizing separately after sending in your standard book, we will digitize your book with the next batch that we digitize. For example, if you send us a 2020 book after the deadline, it will be digitized with the first batch of 2021 books we digitize.

We’re a small team (of five) and every digitized sketchbook is processed manually and scanned by hand, so we really appreciate your patience!

+ Can I add digitizing to my standard book later?

You can add digitizing later, however, we recommend getting it when you order your book. Depending on the amount of books we have, your book will be added to the end of the queue so it may be digitized when we digitize the next challenge’s batch of books.

+ Digital Library FAQ's

All the books that have been purchased with digitizing are digitized after the deadline. We cannot digitize your book earlier than that. We are a small staff and need to do it all at once. Please allow 10-12 weeks after the deadline for your book to appear online. Please don't email us about it until after that time.

We are unable to digitize books vertically due to the way our digitizer is processed. Unfortunately, we are unable to issue refunds for vertical books. All of the sketchbooks in the Digital Library are displayed horizontally.

Though it seems high tech, our digitizer is old and tired. Just let us know if something looks off, we don't do it on purpose, things happen, we are only robots, I mean people...

+ How do you ship?

We ship in the US via USPS to help lower shipping costs and allow for free shipping to our domestic participants. That means, we do have a small % of books that get lost in transit. We will happily resend your book at no cost to you after two weeks of ship date for domestic orders and six weeks after ship date for international orders. For all international orders, we typically ship via DHL - a tracking number will be sent to you in your confirmation shipment email so that you can watch where your package is on its journey to you!

+ I just got notified that my order shipped. Where can I track the delivery status of my package?

You will receive a tracking number in the email confirming that your order has shipped!