Lonely Rose Bindery

Hobbyist fanbinder since 2022. Proud member of the Renegade Bookbinding Guild. No commisions! If I have not reached out to you yet but you see I have bound your work, please lmk! I will happily give all authors (and artists!) copies, whether physical bindings or the digital typesets. Main is @too-short-for-my-own-good.

[lonelyrosebindery]

What is Lonely Rose Bindery?

Hi!

If you're reading this, you're probably either interested in fanbinding, or a fic writer trying to ensure I'm not some rando on the internet trying to get your personal information or a scammer planning to illegally sell something. Feel free to message me if you have any concerns that aren't answered below!

I'm TS, but you can also call me Rose. I write fanfic on AO3 here and (previously) Fanfic.net here, blog about diabetes in fandom at @type1diabetesinfandom and @yourfavisdiabetic, and flail about misc fandom stuff on my main @too-short-for-my-own-good. I'm also on Discord @ tooshortformyowngood.

I've been in various fan spaces since the early 2010s, and I'll probably keep at until the day I die! I'm multifandom and multiship. Besides writing, I also draw fan art and make podfics, moodboards, playlists, meta, and headcanons. I've attended local and online cons and been to fan meetups.

And, at the end of 2022, I started fanbinding.

Why do I bind fanfiction?

It's March 29th as I write this, and I've read approximately 2 million words of fanfiction this year. I have over 1600 bookmarks on AO3.

I bind fics primarily to preserve them. I've seen many fics be deleted or locked before I downloaded them. (I'm sure we've all been there.) Keeping a copy on my shelf means I don't have to worry as much about losing a favorite story.

A physical copy makes rereading much easier! I get eye strain easily, and some websites just have horrible formatting.

I get to show a writer that I loved their story enough to HAND BIND it. I've met some amazing people this way!

Traditionally hand-binding fanfic pushes back against the notion that fic isn't "real writing."

What to expect on this blog:

Here, I share some of the fanbinding projects I've done, which includes fic, fan studies, meta, freely-available original fiction, public domain works, comics, and zines. Each book is lovingly crafted to honor its creator/s.

As a proud member of the Renegade Bookbinding Guild @renegadeguild, I'm part of a wonderful community dedicated to celebrating fic writers and preserving fandom's dying gift economy. It's an honor to contribute to this cause, and I love getting the chance to give people a bound copy of their writing/art--it's an amazing feeling to get to hold your own work in your hands!

To Authors & Artists:

To all the talented authors and artists whose works I've bound: consider this an open invitation to reach out to me for an author's copy! It's my small way of saying thank you for the joy (and angst lol) your projects have brought me.

I usually try to contact writers/artists directly, but sometimes it doesn't work. Don't be shy! I want to give you a gift!

I don't share any personal information (I would hope that's obvious, but this IS the internet...), and I encourage people to use a PO Box or a friend's address when being offered a fanbinding. Just make sure the friend or other proxy in question is ok with being sent fanfic!

If you don't want to risk receiving a physical copy, I can share the typeset with you instead! The typeset is the formatted PDF, to make the fic itself look like a traditionally published story. These can be plain or artistic, depending on the project and the style of the typesetter.

If there's artwork that's been made for the fic, please let me know! I look for that but it can be tricky, especially when things aren't linked together.

I do NOT share typesets to anyone outside the Renegade Bookbinding Guild, except the author/artist. Even in Renegade, I only share with established members via personal requests unless the author gives me blanket permission to share with the guild as a whole.

Lonely Rose Bindery operates on a NON-PROFIT basis.

Please note that while I pour my heart and soul into each project, I DO NOT accept commissions! I am a hobbyist driven by a deep, deeeeep love for fanfic. I bind purely for the joy of crafting, and the preservation of stories that mean the world to me.

If you are not the author or artist who worked on a specific fic, do NOT request a copy! You are welcome to ask questions and talk about the craft. My askbox is open, and reblogs are turned on.

Message me if you...

are an author/artist who wants to request multiple copies (i.e. for friends or family, or different editions)

kindly want to help with shipping costs (because international shipping is fucking expensive)

have specific colors or themes in mind for your fic

I will not take requests for specific materials, nor accept payment for any materials used.

Lonely Rose Bindery is not just about preserving fanfiction; it's about celebrating the creativity and community of fandom. With each project, I try to honor the stories and art that I love and to promote a gift economy against the rise of consumerism that has recently plagued multiple fandoms.

I look forward to sharing more fanbinds and continuing to improve my bookbinding skills. I never knew how many ways you can make a book until I started this!

Remember, my askbox is always open, so feel free to reach out with any questions, suggestions, or just to say hello. Happy reading!

[renegadeguild]

Binderary 2025: Week 1

In the Renegade Bindery Discord Server, we are once again running Binderary during the month of February. Attendance is free, and a link to the 18+ Discord Server can be found on our website.

Whether you’re new to the world of bookbinding or an aged veteran, join us for a month of binding fun! This event is all about community & learning, be it trying something new or refining existing skills.

All our workshops are run by members of our fanbinding community, and some of them are even on Tumblr!

Here’s the list of who’s running the week 1 workshops:

Specialized Typesetting in LaTeX: Celandine My Immortal and the History of Fan Studies: Parsley Typesetting in Google Docs: @sayornispress Introduction to Typography and Typesetting: @bearclubbooks Renegade Round-Up 2024!: @fanboundbooks, @robins-egg-bindery & @celestial-sphere-press You Shouldn't Have to Pay for that: Making Your Typesets Pretty For Free: @daemonluna Bookbinding Craft Along 1: Noodle

[celestial-sphere-press]

That National Geographic leather binding for Yellowstone is fucking Gorgeous!!! (Pardon my Language)

How long have you been binding, and what would you recommend to someone who wants to try it for themselves?

hello and thank you so much!! I worked really hard on that one (and no pardon needed haha)!

I started binding in February of 2021, which means in a few months I'll have reached 4 years. It's been an awesome journey!!

If you'd like to try it for yourself, I'd recommenda few things!

1) You can 100% try out the basics with near free or cheap materials. People typeset in Word or Google Docs or Pages. You can print on printer paper & use regular sewing thread & scavenge board from old books or notebook backs or do a limp leather binding & use no boards at all. You can make paper pamphlets. Any comments I make following this are about my preferences for best results. The most expensive part that cannot be avoided is printing. On the other hand expenses can wildly escalate if you're committing to it; once you are doing leather it becomes somewhat unavoidably expensive.

2) Check out some tutorials from SeaLemon or DAS Bookbinding on YouTube for the physical construction. SeaLemon is really clear for a beginner starting out, but then I'd move to DAS for better technique (DAS also has a beginner series though). I watched DAS Bookbinding videos for three weeks straight before I was able to start, & while that doesn't maybe work out for everyone I do think it gave me a pretty strong basis of understanding for structural techniques. DAS is *really* good at explaining why he thinks you should do something. The structure of the NatGeo bind is basically DAS's video on a rounded & backed bradel binding (but with leather & sewn on recessed cords). There is some good stuff on Tiktok/IG, but watch short-form videos/reels with caution. They move a little too fast and I've seen a couple give instructions that can result in structural flaws. They are pretty good for if you're looking for a specific technique, but not the whole construction. There are also published books you can buy or maybe request through your library, such as Hollander's Introduction to Bookbinding. Renegade Bookbinding Guild runs a whole bunch of technique-specific in-house zoom classes annually.

3) Look to other fanbinders for tutorials on how to format the text (this is because most pro bookbinders do not do both text design & book creation! it's a pretty unique feature of fanbinding). @renegadeguild has some publically provided resources on our website here and more typesetting tutorials for a whole host of softwares (Affinity Publisher is my choice - one time purchase, fuck you very much Adobe InDesign) located in the discord server. Anyone 18+ can join the Discord. The NatGeo inspired book (text & dust jacket) was created in Affinity Publisher.

4) Join a community of fanbinders! It's really lovely. The space has exploded & there are tons of people to be friends with, trade tips, & cheer each other on. I'm part of @renegadeguild and we do a whole bunch of events throughout the year, and we have an in-person retreat every other year. I've met with over 20 different renegaders so far, in three different countries, and it's been such a blast. Definitely the community helps keep up the motivation. Renegade isn't the only community out there though! There's groups more rooted in IG/tiktok circles that have their own discords, plus a number of FB groups. I do think most people who are comfortable on tumblr enjoy Renegade's vibe.

5) While I learned most of what I do online, some things really benefit from in-person learning. If you want to do leather binding I would really recommend trying to take an in-person class. I did two attempts at a leather binding on my own before I decided to hold off until I'd had at least one in-person class. Leather binding can be extremely frustrating, especially when you can easily end up with a book that looks worse than a cloth binding at your same skill level but for double the cost. Imo this is mostly because the leather specific skills like paring, warp management, and assessing a random piece of leather for bookbinding suitability are all pretty tactile experiences, all of which are difficult to assess through a screen and can result in an unpleasantly bulky/stiff/shapeless book if ignored. For example- while this book of mine is a pretty popular post, I don't enjoy holding it and reading it, especially in contrast to the NatGeo bind. Part of this was the material I chose; part was not being able to adhere to the instructions quite well enough; part was just not knowing enough about what I was doing; part is they're different constructions. This might just be a me thing though; I'm sure others have had success with online only tutorials for leather.

6) I'm not going to get into specific tools bc that could be a whole post, but some things are necessary (printer access), some things are necessary depending on style, some things are "makes life easier but only drop the money if it's stopping you from making books out of frustration", some things are just technique-specific tools. Examples - sewing frames are often brought up but are never necessary unless sewing on cords; cricuts & cutting machines are commonly used in fanbinding circles but I don't have one (& don't intend to atm).

7) Don't be shy to offer the author a copy!! Like other fan activities, fanbinding is part of our fandom community ecosystem. Your fanbinding is in communication with the author's story. Giving a bind to the author is a great way of keeping the ecosystem going. I tend to think of binds as a combo of comment, fic rec, and fan art inspired by the fic.

8) Paper grain sounds stupid but it IS IMPORTANT! My personal hierarchy of give-a-fuck for grain: Board grain, spine card grain, endpaper grain, cover paper grain, text block grain, book cloth grain. The only thing I personally sometimes ignore is book cloth grain; but many people will not worry too much about text block paper grain.

Gonna stop there for now. If you've got specific questions or want elaboration, feel free to ask. As with all things, YMMV, this is my own opinions/experience and may not apply in all cases. There's a whole lot of different techniques out there, and it's hard to ever say something is wrong, per se - but I think it's important to understand if a method has an outcome you may want to avoid. Prioritize your goals & adapt for them - what's your goal? Longevity, readability, aesthetics? You might make different choices depending on them. My choices influence the techniques I chose to focus on, the tools I buy, and thus the final aesthetic of my binds.

[eloquence682]

There’s something cosmically beautiful about bookbinding fanfiction. Not the bookbinding of fanfiction for monetary gain (which is undoubtedly morally wrong) but rather bookbinding as a gift for someone you love. Or simply bookbinding for the sake of having the story in a tangible form. After all, doesn’t it deserve a place on your bookshelf, too?

But that isn’t the beautiful part. It is this: the melding of something new with something as old as language itself. Fanfiction (at least compared with bookbinding) is a strikingly new phenomenon. Modern fanfiction has only been around for a few generations. Bookbinding, on the other hand? It can be traced back to 2nd century India. It’s a dying art — one that’s been reborn in order to immortalize freely written words.

Even better: the scribes in India who first invented the process of bookbinding used it to create religious texts. In a way, aren’t we doing the same? Fanfiction isn’t a religion, of course, but if you love a story enough to bind it, isn’t that a form of reverence in itself? Isn’t it holy?

Yes. You make it so. The needle and the thread, the newly creased paper, the hardly dried ink … your fingers consecrate it. And as you slip the book onto the shelf, you make it a temple.

And isn’t that just lovely?

[theslotherin18]

Someone should bookbind My Immortal

[armoredsuperheavy]

Renegade Bookbinding Guild members have bound My Immortal many times, individually and together!

Several members got together and collectively created a properly deranged typeset, with each chapter formatted in new and differently wrong or insane ways, and then we shared it and created binds using it as a base.

The viral, feather-boa legendary bind by @runawaymarbles was first out the gate

a beautiful goth mess by @three--rings

classy and vampiric by @chubsthehamster

In miniature form, we bound many copies as a round-robin souvenir book at the 2023 Renegade Retreat:

There's also a further transformed version bound by @whatapictureisworth-press

and I'm certain there are more!

[puppiesareperfect]

people on TikTok don’t realize fic binding didn’t begin with idiots selling mass printed fanfiction on TikTok-Shop. They think it started as a negative thing ON TIKTOK😭it started on tumblr years ago as a way to appreciate authors!! It was never about selling fics, we’re AGAINST THAT HERE and always have been. I am so tired of the way TikTok rewrites fandom culture.

[armoredsuperheavy]

Hi there,

I don't think it's overstating to say that I'm the person who first popularized fanbinding on Tumblr. I began binding fic in September 2018. It was and is an exciting, novel way to participate in the traditional fannish gift economy. You do it with your own two hands, and you have the chance to make an extravagant gift to authors whose often very personal work means so much to you. In the process you have many opportunities to create close personal connections within fandom.

Because there are so many wonderful fics out there, one person could never give them all the love and recognition they deserve. I really wanted to see the practice grow beyond myself. I wrote a detailed manual of my process and offered it up for free so other people could join in. In the years since, Renegade Bookbinding Guild has arisen, always as a team collaborative effort, and it's remained a community focused phenomenon that explicitly supports open knowledge sharing without fees, deep respect for fic authors, and fosters more practice of that gift economy. You, dear reader, are welcome to join us in this project. We have bound thousands of books at this point, and every day more books are born.

I'm not on TikTok, but I've been linked to a lot of misinformation being posted on it over the last few years. I've also heard about a lot of profiteering going on, taking advantage of the hard creative work other fans have freely offered to feed our souls. Speaking only for myself, I think it's a damn shame that some are so quick to commodify the work of other fans. Gifts should beget gifts, not grifts.

When we treat fanworks as free "content" from faceless sources, to suck down voraciously and demand more, or make a quick buck off, the supply will start to dry up. Fanworks are labors of love, but they are still a lot of labor. The energy that keeps folks engaged and creating is essentially a feedback loop. Many authors and other creators are spurred onward to make more, write another chapter, draw another porny picture, bind another book, simply because of the sheer joy they see that their act of creation gives to other fans. I see the Renegade philosophy as helping to supply that energy back into the system. Fic authors deserve that we respect their works as their own, and that fic you love that they spent so long writing deserves every bit of fawning, gibbering, ranting, sighing, rec listing, and sometimes binding, that we fic readers might offer it in return.

ArmoredSuperHeavy, Dead Dove Publishing 2024.11.26

[elizabethminkel]

The Emerging Art of 'Fanbinding'

Fanfiction enthusiasts are learning “1,000 hobbies in a trench coat” to make gorgeous physical artifacts of their passions.

Earlier this week I reported on the very depressing for-profit fic pirating happening in certain corners of fandom—but (somewhat coincidentally, timing-wise) I also had the joy of reporting this story on fanbinding, and the work of the @renegadeguild! Featuring the words (and fanbinds) of the brilliant @celestial-sphere-press, @butterfingersbookbinding, and @fanboundbooks (who also talked about Renegade on the most recent Fansplaining episode).

Renegade's binders are strong proponents of the non-monetized gift economy—they truly embody the spirit of fanfiction, in my opinion, both in the communal way they share their work with fic writers and each other, and in the DIY way they approach making books:

There’s a strong parallel between the amateur, instinctive nature of fanfiction and the act of fanbinding. While plenty of fic is penned by formally trained writers, much of it is not. Tiffo, who binds as Fanboundbooks, likens the reverse-engineering involved in teaching oneself both activities. As writers, people try to figure out why stories work. Fanbinders collectively share the process of learning to turn that work into a physical object—tactile, clean, often beautiful. Fic is largely unencumbered by the forms and structures of traditional publishing, and fanbinders approach their work with the same spirit. “People will often say, ‘How do I do this?’ or ‘What’s the rule for this?’” Tiffo says. “The answer that we always try to throw in Renegade is, ‘This is what other people have done, but know that there is no rule to your book—you can make whatever you want.’”

It's a shame seeing people conflate the bad actors of the pirating situation—many of whom don't appear to be in fandom and seem motivated by pure profit—with the work of fanbinders at large, and seeing people scared to try out fanbinding because of the recent news. Not-for-profit fanbinding is just as legal as writing fanfiction, and I don't speak for all fic writers, but if someone ever bound one of my fics, I'd be so touched I would almost definitely weep. 😭

[mourningmountainsbindery]

Fanbinding has brought such joy to my life, but it's only because of the ethos of Renegade, which is about the gift economy and sharing freely what has been shared with us. It's so sad that some people try to exploit that.

[elizabethminkel]

Lots of People Make Money on Fanfic. Just Not the Authors

Next year, SenLinYu’s Harry Potter fic Manacled will disappear from Archive of Our Own. They don’t want to take it down, but it’s the only w

As promised! I wrote about the illegal fanbinding that's led to writers deleting their works recently, how that connects to the current pull-to-publish wave, and what happens when the rapidly expanding sphere of fic readers starts to get disconnected from *fandom*:

The ever-increasing reach of fanfiction has inched the practice away from text-written-in-community to a more traditional author-reader relationship—and the context collapse that’s come with viral works being treated like any other romance novel has spurred clashes between different types of readers with different sets of expectations. In the past few years, fic authors across all corners of fandom have increasingly complained about shifting attitudes from readers who treat them like any other content creator, demanding the next chapter as you might demand your favorite influencer’s next video. But unlike on creative platforms like TikTok and YouTube, the fic writer doesn’t get revenue from their new installment.

We'll also talk about this in some capacity on the next episode of @fansplaining! (In contrast with today's episode, on the non-monetized, gift-economy practices of many fanbinders, whose hobby is also imperiled by the people selling and buying fic.)

[celestial-sphere-press]

This is really a fantastic article, and I recommend reading it!

While the timing of the Renegade Fansplaining episode and the increased discussion of illegal selling of fic in Harry Potter circles was unfortunate and has caused some confusion, it's also reflective of how the last few years have gone. Renegade Bookbinding Guild in its current form does not exist in a vacuum. (Please note I am not speaking officially for Renegade here).

@armoredsuperheavy gave us a firm foundation in anti-capitalist sentiment in Renegade, but as Renegade grew larger fanbinding also grew more prominent in other spaces besides ours. Some of those spaces were profiting off of the selling of HP fic. Direct confrontation seemed to work out best from inside of the Dramione fandom, so we turned to look at how we could affect things more indirectly, and how we wanted to impact our community. I watched volunteers in Renegade brainstorm events that would center a celebration of the authors and promote the gifting of author copies, how to best promote our ethos and the fandom gift economy on social media, determine how best to protect and manage typesets kept within the group, and dedicate time to teach and lower the barrier for entry into fanbinding so people could just do it themselves rather than buying it.

In 2022 we formalized the Renegade Code of Conduct, directly motivated by the profiteering we saw elsewhere. The ethics in the Code of Conduct weren't new - they had been common topics of conversation within Renegade - but it's much easier to have something to point to as things escalated.

But why has illegal selling escalated so much in Harry Potter and Dramione fandom? (conversely I have literally never seen a single one of the fics I've bound listed for sale, and some of them are hugely popular).

I think Elizabeth is entirely accurate here in pointing at context collapse as the problem. There is of course two problems - the sellers and the buyers. The sellers are outright grifters of both sides - if they're on Etsy, 90% of the time they're selling the same type of cheap binding you get from a print on demand company (i.e. worth about $20) marked up to $100-200, the rip-off of the century. If they're on Mercari, it's common to see people reselling books at a higher cost that they paid only materials and shipping for (back when authors were allowing at-cost bindings). Which fuck that, any bound fic in *my* library isn't leaving my grubby little paws unless gifted or in my will.

I really don't think this kind of grift would work as well if the potential buyers were more steeped in fandom culture. While I'm not in Dramione myself, the fandom is so huge you cannot avoid seeing it. I've seen Manacled get recommended right alongside trad-pub romantasy (in romance book clubs!), sent to big booktokers, and both heard and seen people asking in comments "where can I get this book?" Because the context is not there! They don't know what fanfic is or even what that means or any of the community associations with how fanfic is created. These dramione fics are many people's first encounter with fanfic, and if not properly explained many of them will just think it's a book they have to buy. The casual readers are the primary target of this grift - they go and type "manacled book" into google to find where to get it and receive a bunch of etsy listings. Case in point:

And there are even sellers of these popular dramione fics titles as ebooks, which is absolutely ridiculous and shows for a fact that people are just googling titles to find something they were told was a great book.

Looking at the trends of what's been targeted for profiting, I really do think this is currently centered in the Harry Potter fandom (especially the het fics). There's very few fics that fit the bill to be exploited in this way, so while very high profile I don't think most non-HP fan authors should be concerned.

But I do think there's a lesson to be learned from this, because it COULD happen to other fandoms, so we must make sure it doesn't. I think this has shown us we have to be careful about how we are introducing fanfiction stories to those outside of your normal community. It's great to get validation from mainstream culture, but it is more important to ensure that we are connecting people we are sharing with into the fandom context web, rather than cutting the fic out and presenting it to them without context. I think this is probably especially important on algorithm-driven apps like tiktok, where you don't know who will be shown your videos (though as I am not a tiktok creator I don't know the best way to address this).

I've seen a lot of people on Instagram in fandom working very hard to try and spread some understanding of fanfic culture to new fandom members, and I think that's a great start. But to help really shut down the problem, I think it has to be included as part of the first introduction to a fic - and the way they read that fic should probably be directly on Ao3. Of the articles I've seen about the problem, I think this one hits the nail on the head best for where we might be able to address how things get off the rails. I have hope that this is a problem we can keep isolated as the dramione fans work to contain it (efforts are underway that I've seen!). My heart goes out to the authors that have been affected like this, and I know there's been a lot of anxiety. Let's do our best to create a positive environment for our fandoms and give our authors positive engagement instead.

[fansplaining]

Episode 217: Fanbinding

On Episode 217, “Fanbinding,” Elizabeth and Flourish talk to Tiffo (aka Fanboundbooks) about the art of turning fanfiction into physical books, and the fanbinding collective known as the Renegade Bindery (@renegadeguild). Topics discussed include how exactly you make a book, Renegade’s origin story and huge growth in recent years, fanbinders’ firm commitment to the non-monetized gift economy, and Binderary, a month-long event this February with challenges, fan-run classes, and more. Plus! (Spoiler) Flourish literally joins the Renegade Discord during the recording session.

Click through to our site to listen or read a full transcript!

[elizabethminkel]

It was such a delight to have Tiffo on to talk about fanbinding and Renegade! I also have two articles on fanbinding coming out this week, which I will post on here when they're live:

One on Renegade itself (featuring Tiffo and a few other binders)

One on the illegal selling of bound fics sweeping through Dramione in particular

I'm already seeing comments about this episode conflating the two, which is a bummer—Renegade and the vast majority of fanbinders I've seen are the strongest adherents to the non-monetized gift economy I've ever encountered in fandom. It would be a shame if people allowed the actions of bad actors (many of whom don't seem to be in fandom at all) color a practice like fanbinding.

[fansplaining]

We've now received multiple emails about the illegal fic-selling situation happening in parallel to gift-economy fanbiding and just as an FYI, we'll address it in the next episode in some capacity!

[robins-egg-bindery]

Wonderful episode, and a great way to be introduced to this incredible podcast!!! Gift economy ftw <3 Excited to see the articles & glad fanbinding is getting some broader fan attention as a fancraft!

To those out there who may be new to fanbinding, please know that it is as vast in it's intricacies as most fandom spaces, with many different groups of people with different views on The Thing. I think most tumblrites will find that their views align strongly with Renegade.

For a broader look, Fanlore has a growing page about various fanbinding practices.

For a closer look at Renegade, please check out our sparkling new website!

[renegadeguild]

Renegade Bookbinding Guild

Renegade Bookbinding Guild is a not-for-profit group of artists engaged in fanbinding—publishing in extremely limited edition fannish works, including fanfiction, meta, original fic, zines and other works. Most works are made in handmade editions of one or two copies. We are a transformative community connected by shared values, goals, work, and stories. We value fanfiction and fanwork in all its forms, and our fannish culture’s infinite diversity in infinite combinations.

Members work self-directed, selecting works to bind individually. We consider publishing to be a political act of resistance and self-determination, that makes an unequivocal statement about the value we see in these endangered, underground works. We refer to our work as fanbinding.

Members of Renegade Bookbinding Guild agree to our Code of Conduct, which upholds the values of our community and can be accessed here.

@armoredsuperheavy started fanbinding independently in 2018. After their guerrilla bookbinding manifestos went viral in 2020, they created the fanbinding Discord server. So began the Renegade Bindery, our digital workshop and community space.

Renegade Bindery is on Discord, if you would like to join please check out the invite on our Carrd. It is 18+ only, and it is not required to be a member of the Guild to participate in the discord.

Our site is maintained by volunteers of the Renegade Bookbinding Guild. The Guild was first established as Renegade Publishing August 17th, 2020, and we updated our name to the Renegade Bookbinding Guild on February 2, 2024.

For more ways to follow Renegade, visit our Carrd.

[lonelyrosebindery]

Okaaaaay so

It's day 7 of binderary! Woooooo!

I have not updated stuff in... a while. Hell i haven't updated the renegade discord show-off-books channel in a while! Im so behind on sending typesets and pics to authors too 🫣

SO

Part of my binderary goals this fine february is to get up to date! Send out pdfs and pics (and, yk, books). Reach out to authors i haven't reached out to yet. Show off all the pretty books and the not-pretty ones because i believe in disclosure and unperfection on social media. And to make a bindery statement. To feel official and in order! Also organized XD

So if you've been waiting for me to do something for you/send something to you, you don't have to wait much longer!

[robins-egg-bindery]

A year and a half ago, I made a post about @renegadepublishing launching their code of conduct. I’m pleased to report the community has been thriving, and is abuzz with even more growth!

Over the past year and a half:

The Discord size has doubled.

The membership has skyrocketed to nearly 200 members.

Our events have also doubled in participation!

We’ve started four brand new events!

We’ve launched 12 satellite servers with 414 members!

All this, and yet, there’s more to come! I’m pleased to announce yet another massive undertaking has finally come to fruition…

THE RENEGADE BOOKBINDING GUILD WEBSITE!

Renegade has grown so much and still remains such an incredible, vibrant community, and this step forward will only enable us to do so much more. There is still more work to be done, but it’s absolutely amazing how far we’ve come. I can’t wait to keep building this community with all the wonderful people in it! 🎉

We’re currently kicking off Binderary 2024 with a bang, with 34 workshops planned for the month of February, all completely free and community-run!

If you’re waiting for a sign, this is it! Come join us, and start your fanbinding journey!*

*Discord is 18+ only!

[renegadeguild]

Binderary 2024: Week 1

In the Renegade Bindery Discord Server, we are once again running Binderary during the month of February. Attendance is free, and a link to the 18+ Discord Server can be found on our carrd.

Whether you’re new to the world of bookbinding or an aged veteran, join us for a month of binding fun! This event is all about community & learning, be it trying something new or refining existing skills.

All our workshops are run by members of our fanbinding community, and some of them are even on Tumblr!

Here's the list of who's running the week 1 workshops:

Renegade Wrap-up 2023!: @robins-egg-bindery, @fanboundbooks, @celestial-sphere-press Split Board Bindings!: @misanthropiczombie Decorative techniques: from paint pen to gold leaf.: @blackoakbindery Affinity publisher tutorial (Beginner Workshop): @kate2kat Typesetting & Book Design for Beginners: @bearclubbooks Typesetting Digital Formats: @sayornispress Typesetting in Word 365 for PC: @no-name-publishing

[renegadeguild]

Renegade Loves Fic (Writers) Stats 2023

Fanfiction Writers Appreciation Day or FFWAD (August 21st) is an annual appreciation of fanfiction writers and the gifts that they give to fandom. To show our appreciation, we ran a binding event where binders on our Renegade Discord server chose a fic to make a physical copy of, to say thank you to the author for the work that they put into making it.

Here's onto the stats for this year's event!

[lonelyrosebindery]

This is a day late because spoons, but the book arrived on time so I'm saying that's what counts :P

This binding was a present for @pretty-pony for @renegadepublishing's Fanfic Writer Appreciation Day binding event!

This fic is the heartrending Drive, She Said. I knew the first time I finished reading it that I would be revisiting it, because it's just that good!

She and Regina had discussed this only once, late at night when they were both tangled together, sweaty and sated. Regina was still breathing heavily, but she had turned her head to Emma and said, “There has to be a plan for Henry if this all goes bad.” So they’d come up with this plan. This system. They would leave together, unless they couldn’t. Unless someone needed to fight for the town and Henry needed to be safe. And today Regina had said the magic words.

It's a Swanqueen Once Upon a Time fic and a fairly short bind, coming in at a little over 13k.

I had a lot of fun with the Secret Belgian binding style. I've never done one before but I really enjoy doing non-adhesive bindings, because there's no waiting! Once it's done, it's done. It's US letter paper, folio, so it's nice and sleek and perfect to hold while I read this and cry!

The endpapers are maps of NYC, because most of the fic takes place there. That also inspired me for the title page, which was so much fun to make! This binding also-also gave me my first take on a two-spread title page. It was a little challenging making it on Word, but I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Another first for this one: using fabric markers on the cover! I think it took a similar amount of time as my cricut, and probably similar levels of frustration :'D but I'm in love with the look!

[lonelyrosebindery]

This is my 4th and last binderary fic! It's the largest binding I've done yet, coming in at 170k.

The fic is Once a Weasley by Seasonal Dreamer.

It features such lovely learning experiences like rounding with no clue what I was doing, attempting to trim by hand which was immediately followed by emergency hand-sanding, and a wonky endband that is fortunately on the bottom!

The author used songs in place of chapter titles, so I tried using the quoted lyrics themselves as the chapter headers. It's definitely striking, although I don't think I'll do it again without more design elements.

[lonelyrosebindery]

Another author copy!

This one went MUCH smoother, minus some frustrations with the heat transfer vinyl.

I used thicker signatures (10 pages per sig instead of 6-7) which reduced the spine width from 2.5 inches to 1.75. I also had much better luck rounding, did a three color endband for the first time, and borrowed my brother's power sander for the edges instead of risking another trim.

[lonelyrosebindery]

My first stab binding!

It's a traditional 4 hole Japanese stab binding. The fic is 水火 by Trascendenza.

More pics below the cut.

Yes, I lit the endpaper on fire. Yes, it was on purpose. No, I did not burn the house down. Yes, I burned my thumb. 😁

[lonelyrosebindery]

Author copy!

I didn't have enough of the red and gold paper left, but I found this breathtaking fabric! Pictures do NOT do it justice: it's a different color every angle you look at it, and it's SO shiny. And the texture! Mmmm

[lonelyrosebindery]

I was just wondering what type of paper you use to bind and possibly where you get it??

Also maybe what the paper feels like (as in is it similar to your typical novels paper or a different feel/colour??)

Hi!

I use Hammermill Colors Multipurpose Paper, 20 lbs. Bond, 8.5x11", in the Cream color. I get mine from Amazon, but you can get it from staples too, and I think a few other places but you'd have to check the Hammermill website.

I haven't used any 11 x 17'' yet, mostly because I haven't been binding long enough to feel like it's worth it for me? I do plan on experimenting with paper grain eventually, but so far I use the same grain direction for both folio books and quartos. If it matters to you and you want long grain paper for folios, I've heard Church Paper will cut it for you, but I've never ordered Hammermill from them, so.

It feels, to me, a lot like typical novel paper! I like it. It's nice to hold and easy to flip through, but not heavily textured. I haven't tried any other colors, although I've heard people on the Renegade Bindery discord say the Ivory works too, it's just yellower. My camera is iffy with colors sometimes but the cream is very nice.

It's very similar weight to most standard copy paper, just better quality and more archival.