In the Typesetting Exchange, the Giftee selects 3-5 works that they would like to receive as a typeset and submits these to the mods via the Typesetting Exchange Sign-Ups form.

After the mods have matched all the Typesetting participants, Gifters will receive an email containing details of the works requested by their assigned Giftees.

The Gifter chooses one of these works, obtains permissions or proof of public domain/blanket permission statement, typesets the work for the Giftee and submits it by the due date. Gifters can choose to typeset more than one work, but there is no obligation to do so! All relevant deadlines for the Typesetting Exchange can be found on the Renegade Exchanges page and are pinned to the #exchange-2026 channel in the Discord.

At the reveal date for the collection of typesets, all participants can revel in the abundance of creativity on show. All participants will have access to the typeset created for them, along with the rest of the typesets created in the 2026 exchange, and can bind it into a book at their leisure.

After an initial period of access, participants will need to request files from the exchange mods. The typeset is stored in the Renegade database and becomes available upon request to anyone in the server to bind into a book, and will also be available to be bound in future Remix exchanges.

In the Bound Exchange, the Giftee selects 3-5 works that they would like to receive as a physical book, and submits these to the mods via the Bound Exchange Sign-Ups form.

After the mods have matched all the Bound participants, Gifters will receive an email containing details of the works requested by their assigned Giftees.

The Gifter chooses one of these works, obtains permissions or proof of public domain/blanket permission statement, typesets the work for the Giftee by the deadline, and binds it into a physical book which they mail to their Giftee when the shipping window is open. Gifters can choose to bind more than one work but there is no obligation to do so! All relevant deadlines for the Bound Exchange can be found on the Renegade Exchanges page and are pinned to the #exchange-2026 channel in the Discord.

At the reveal date for the slideshow of bound books, all participants can enjoy the beauty of the bound books and admire each other’s creativity. At this point, the Giftee and Gifters all have access to the typesets created in the 2026 Bound Exchange, and can bind any of these into a book at their leisure.

After an initial period of access, participants will need to request files from the exchange mods. The typeset is stored in the Renegade database and becomes available upon request to anyone in the server to bind into a book, and will also be available to be bound in future Remix exchanges.

In the Remix Exchange, the Giftee selects 3-5 typesets from the Remix Exchange Slidedeck, and submits these to the mods via the Remix Exchange Sign-Ups form.

After the mods have matched all the Remix participants, Gifters will receive an email containing details of the works requested by their assigned Giftees.

The Gifter chooses one of these works and binds it into a physical book which they mail to their Giftee when the shipping window is open. Gifters can choose to bind more than one work but there is no obligation to do so! All relevant deadlines for the Remix Exchange can be found on the Renegade Exchanges page and are pinned to the #exchange-2026 channel in the Discord.

At the reveal date for the slideshow of remixed books, all participants can revel in their own creativity and enjoy the new spin put on the typesets.

Yes, Giftees need to provide 3-5 links to possible works. 

Please be conscientious when providing your links; authors who have an active social media presence within the last three months are more likely to respond than an author who’s been inactive for a length of time. Each of the first three fics must be by different authors; the last two fics can be a second or even third work by one of the first three.

At least one of the submitted works must be either public domain, written by the Giftee (you), orphaned, or be under a blanket permission from the author [see below], to assist with the permissions effort.

If the work comes with art, please include a direct link to the art.

No, anonymous does not count as orphaned.

Our adaptable methodology serves manufacturing, retail, professional services, and public sector entities.

No, deleted works are not permissible.

“Nah man" — it’s considered polite to list different works for the different exchanges. Don’t do it unless you really want two copies of everything, and even then — it’s not fun as a Gifter to find someone has already been given a copy of what you’re working on (remember that the Typeset Exchange ends and is revealed before the Bound Exchange).

You are required to typeset and/or bind one work. You may choose to typeset and/or bind additional works requested by your Giftee, but keep in mind that some folks may want to request one or more works next year if they are not chosen this year.

Permissions are required because all final typeset files for exchanges will be shared with the entire Discord upon completion. Because of this, author (AND artist) permission is required in accordance with the file sharing rules on the server/the Guild’s mission statement. If there is fanart included in the fic, you need to obtain permission from the artist before including it in your typeset.

If the art is in the public domain or is from explicitly free sites, that is fine to be included without requesting artist permission, though the mods still require you to cite where you got the art. 

If the copyright holder has extended use of the art to third parties or if there is an explicit non-commercial use licence, you may be able to use it but you will need to check what the terms for use are in that instance. 

Otherwise commercial art cannot be used unless you have obtained permission from the artist or copyright holder.

It’s the Gifter’s job to obtain the author’s permission before beginning to format the work, unless the text is in the public domain, an orphaned work from AO3, or the author has blanket permissions for fanbinding in place.

Matching evolves every year as we attempt to fine-tune the setup and account for ever changing demands. It is done using a very complicated Google Sheet and lots of mod-time to manually craft each pairing. We try to take into account the shipping destinations (for bound and remix exchanges), word length, past matches, squicks, and fandom preferences (often in that order). Sometimes there are errors; sometimes compromises are required (usually related to fandom preferences). We promise we’re trying our best but it’s complicated.

No, the code is written in such a way that you will not get the same person. We ask you to provide details of who you have previously bound for and received a bind from in either of the previous exchanges to help counter this, so please ensure you enter this information accurately in the sign-up form.

Blanket permissions that mention “all transformative works” are acceptable, as are blanket permissions that specify “fanbinds are welcome.” 

However, if a blanket permission specifies “podfic and fanart are welcome,” but does not mention fanbinds, you will need to request permission from the author as usual.

"Etc." does not cover this.

If you have questions about if a blanket permission statement meets the requirements, please contact a mod.

If you (the Giftee) knows there are blanket permissions but they are in a strange place (such as a tumblr ask or a particular author’s note) it can be very helpful to direct your Gifter towards it (there is a “notes” section by each fic request on the sign-up form that you should use).

Yes, please review the two templates on the Renegade Exchanges page. You do not have to use them. If you are going to craft your own message, please ensure that the author or artist understands that the final typeset files for both exchanges will be available to the entire Discord upon completion of the exchange and other members of the community will be able to bind them in the future.

Not at all. Your Gifter will choose one of them as they please and the assumption is that you would like any of them as a gift.

Works cannot exceed 300,000 words for either Exchange. (Requests in the Remix exchange do not need to abide by this limit, but please do not request more than one (1) work over 300k for the Remix exchange as your first three choices.)

AI use is frowned upon and discouraged for use by binders/typesetters. 

However, if it's a pre-existing piece of AI-generated art explicitly asked for by your Giftee, then the image generator's permission is all that's required in that instance.

You may add other gifts or extras along with your exchange item, but it is not required in any way!

Please note that the mod team does not moderate or track permissions for any extra gifts. However, if you intend to include it in the slideshow and in Renegade’s collection of shared typesets, then the usual permissions requirements apply.

No, all works must be hand bound. The use of Print On Demand services is not permitted for the exchange.

Yes, final typeset files need to be under 25MB. If it is graphic-heavy, you may need to compress the images used in your typeset to keep the file size down. Squoosh is a free, simple, web-based tool that easily allows you to compress your images. It does not work for transparent images however (it converts everything to a .jpg)

Yes, the mods require this of participants. It doesn’t have to be fancy, consider this at the bare minimum “proof of life” type reporting. The ideal is a 4:5 aspect ratio but this is not mandatory. This year there is a VERY bare bones tool available – just upload your PDF, select pages and layout, and take a screenshot. https://sithel.github.io/vip/show_off  (however, fancy collage images are very welcome!)

Yes, the image sizes are limited to 1MB.  If the image is too large you will need to scale down or compress your image. Squoosh is a free, simple, web-based tool that easily allows you to compress your images. It also ensures that the image is a valid type (we only accept .jpg/.jpeg or .png)  

The mods have implemented a strike system which has been retroactively applied to the 2025 bound and typeset exchanges. 

The strike system is to help the mods deal with late submissions and lack of communication at each stage of the exchanges.

If you miss a deadline with no communication to mods and do not have an approved extension, this will constitute a strike.

If you receive two consecutive strikes you will be barred from future participation at mod discretion.

Please note that individuals who had strikes issued in the 2025 exchange have already been notified, so if you are unaware, then you do not have one.

A misconduct warning will be issued if your behaviour or attitude affects the safety, competitiveness, enjoyment, or integrity of the exchanges in a significantly negative fashion. 

If you have a misconduct warning, the mods will notify you if it persists and becomes a strike.

Communication is key and we totally understand that sometimes Things Happen. You need to contact the mods (by email) before the deadline and tell them you need an extension; in almost all cases they will grant one. So long as you contact the mods prior to the deadline, you will not receive a strike.

Communication is key and we totally understand that sometimes Things Happen. You need to contact the mods (by email) and tell them you need to drop out, then they will work with you to finish what you've started, with the help of a Pinch Hitter. So long as you contact the mods prior to the drop deadline, you will not receive a strike.

You need to contact the mods (by email) with the phrase “banana/safeword” and the mods will ask no further questions! Please do not ghost the mods. It is important that you do this so a replacement for your Giftee can be organised as soon as possible. So long as you contact the mods prior to the deadline, you will not receive a strike.

Please note that if you drop twice in two years, you may be barred from future participation at mod discretion.

The work ID is a unique identifier to track which typeset you're specifically requesting, and can be found at the top of the Remix Slidedeck.

Betas are volunteers who are willing to look over a typeset and provide advice/help! If you sign up to be a Beta your information will be emailed as part of a Beta list to all participants, and you may be contacted to assist at the discretion of the participants. This will allow participants to ask more specific questions without worrying about their Giftee seeing the answer in the Discord.

Buddy Buckets are a system put in place to create a space for all participants of all the exchanges to discuss their work on their exchange WIPs. Individuals will be automatically assigned to a Bucket group (a private Discord Thread). This will allow you to ask questions and workshop ideas without worrying about your Giftee seeing the answer in the Discord.

Deadline is the latest date by which something should be completed/turned in via Google form. The time (unless otherwise stated) is 11:59pm PST.

Giftee is the individual receiving the exchange item. All initial participants are Giftees (Pinch Hitters are not).

Gifter is the individual crafting the exchange item. All participants are Gifters.

Imposition is when the pages of a typeset are arranged for printing so that when the printed sheets of paper are folded into signatures they are in the correct order. Many binders make use of two imposition tools discussed on the Discord - Bookbinder JS or the VIP - though there are other tools/options out there.

Pinch Hitters are volunteers who take on either a typeset or bound assignment when the original Giftee drops out and/or becomes unable to complete the task. The mods encourage you to sign up as a Pinch Hitter if you are able (the support is always welcome)! ((the name comes from the game of baseball, used to describe a substitute batter)) 

A straight PDF is a PDF file without digital signatures, where the pages are in numerical order.

The bound exchange is a worldwide exchange. Mods match by where folks are willing to ship, and it is important to note that the cost of shipping is on the Gifter, not the Giftee. Please take this into account when you are completing the sign-up form. 

If you are sending a book internationally, please be considerate if you need to estimate the value of the item you are shipping. Whilst it is wonderful to have the value of our handbound books recognised, it is less wonderful when a Giftee has to pay excessive customs and import charges to receive their gift because of the value ascribed by the Gifter on postal documents.