Attention, Renegade Bookbinding Guild Members! 

This is a significant and exciting milestone for Renegade! It comes with some changes, particularly for current members of the Guild. We hope here to help explain the effects of those changes, how they impact you, and how they impact Renegade as a whole. 

Renegade is now an independent entity that can hold money, resources, and information; protect our goals long-term; and isn’t beholden to a single person. Renegade’s official non-profit status allows us to support the growth of our various events as they become more money and resource intensive. 

Along with our new status, we also have a new logo! Thank you to jedifreac and runawaymarbles for their respective work in how our logos have developed over the years. 

Renegade is focused on three pillars above all for our organization:

community, education, and preservation.

We believe this is a logical progression from our community’s roots. 

COMMUNITY

Renegade is committed to building a community of bookbinders dedicated to sharing, collaborating, and encouraging each other. We also seek to support our larger fandom communities by promoting healthy fandom etiquette and the fandom gift economy. We want to make it easier for like-minded fanbinders to connect with each other and with the greater bookbinding community, online and in-person.

PRESERVATION

We value fanfiction and fanwork in all its forms, and our fannish culture’s infinite diversity in infinite combinations. We elevate fannish works based on what we view as valuable, and worth preserving. Both within and beyond fanworks, Renegade believes that the ability to independently print and circulate the written word is a critical component of the fight against censorship.

You can now make tax-deductible donations to Renegade!

 

These donations are used in a couple of ways. Renegade now has more resources to expand events like Binderary and the Retreat, both of which have grown beyond what individuals can manage. For the number of participants we currently have in Binderary each year, the event requires Renegade to have a paid Zoom membership, and to purchase the space to preserve video recordings. These donations also create a safety buffer for large events like the Retreat, where Renegade commits to large dollar expenditures.

Please see here for the Renegade Bookbinding Guild Bylaws that will henceforth govern the Guild. If you have any questions, please reach out to our community director at membership@renegadeguild.org! 

The biggest change that directly affects our current members is how membership in the guild will function going forward. As part of our incorporation, we chose to have a community-organized membership that has voting rights (akin to OTW/Ao3).

 

Going forward membership will require a $10 dollar annual member fee. The first time this fee will be due is between January and March 2026, with a hard deadline of 31 March 2026. If you do not pay the membership due by this day, your membership will lapse. You may renew at any time.

 

All members will be grouped into a Winter cohort or a Summer cohort based on when they submit and pay for their membership with Renegade. The Winter cohort’s dues will be paid annually each year between 1 January and 31 March. The Summer cohort’s dues will be paid annually each year between 1 July and 30 September. All guild members who have joined Renegade prior to 31 March, 2026, will automatically be placed in the Winter cohort and receive an email in January 2026 with instructions on how to pay their membership dues. After March 2026, members who join between April and September will be in the Summer cohort, and members who join between October and March will be in the Winter cohort. 

 

As Renegade is an international organization, your membership fee can be scaled based on the respective purchasing power parity of your home currency (e.g., you pay the equivalent in your currency to what $10 can buy in the U.S.). As part of this membership, you will be eligible to vote on the composition of the Board of Directors for each term, and you may virtually attend each year’s annual Open Board Meeting, in addition to being listed on the Renegade website.

Not much! Renegade’s focus as a non-profit is on education and community.

 

Renegade will NOT move any resources behind a membership “paywall” or in any way limit current or future resources in the Discord server.

 

We understand that not everyone can contribute financially or feels the need to do so; non-guild members remain a valued part of the Renegade community.

 

You can support Renegade as a member or non-member through many ways! There is a LOT to do, and many ways to be involved! Renegade has so far been blessed with many extremely talented and active volunteers, and we are often looking for more. If you are interested in volunteering, please fill out the volunteer form here, and for questions contact volunteer@renegadeguild.org.

Renegade is actively recruiting for Binderary Mods & Website Designers! We have many other volunteer opportunities available as well. Volunteer with Renegade today!

HAPPY BINDING!

Renegade Board of Directors 

 

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