Adopted 9 September 2025

ARTICLE 1: Name and purpose

1. The name of the entity for which these By-laws are promulgated is Consensus Press, hereinafter The Press or Press, an association of individuals, hereinafter the Members.

2. The purpose of The Press is to publish limited edition fine press books for the Members as directed by these By-laws.

ARTICLE 2: Membership

1. To be a member in good standing, an individual must fulfill any two of the following conditions:

a. have bought the most recent edition,

b. make a down payment toward the next edition,

c. vote in the selection process.

2. A member not in good standing under Article 2.1 will be removed from the membership roster unless, and at the Director’s discretion, there may be extenuating circumstances.

3. New members may be admitted by the Director at any time between the shipment of an edition and the second stage (Article 7.4) of the subsequent edition, conditional upon fulfilling the requirements of Article 2.1.b.

ARTICLE 3: The Trustee

1. The Press will have a Trustee, who holds sole responsibility for the Press’ finances and legal status.

2. If the Press does not raise enough funds for the production and fulfillment of an edition, the Trustee will personally guarantee the successful production and fulfillment of the edition at a personal loss if need be. If the Press raises more funds than is necessary for the production and fulfillment of an edition, this profit goes to the Trustee.

3. The Members elect the Trustee, who serves continuously until resignation or removal.

4. The Trustee may, with a written explanation, veto any decision by the Members except as follows:

a. a vote for their own removal,

b. a vote for the removal of the Director, or

c. a two thirds vote to change the By-laws.

ARTICLE 4: The Director

1. The Director is appointed and paid by the Trustee.

2. The Director holds sole responsibility for the Press’ operations.

3. The Director may make any decisions which

a. are not explicitly vested with the Members, and where

b. the Members have not already made a majority decision via ballot.

4. The Director shall maintain a membership roster and keep it current.

5. The Members may, by a majority vote, remove the Director.

6. When a Director is removed, the Trustee must appoint a different individual to serve as Director within thirty days.

7. The Director will have access to and may use all online accounts with Press branding.

8. The Director may make their personal opinions known or share endorsements throughout the process. However, the Director cannot do so using the official channels of the Press e.g. email or forum accounts with Press branding.

ARTICLE 5: Straw polls

1. Any member, the Director, and the Trustee may instigate a straw poll on any topic at any time for the purpose of shaping discussion. However, the results of straw polls are not binding.

2. Any member may instigate a straw poll for the purpose of placing a question on the next ballot. To do so successfully, the straw poll must receive an affirmative vote from twenty percent of the Members.

ARTICLE 6: Ballots

1. The Director will oversee all balloting.

2. Ballots must be sent to all members via email.

3. There can be no more than two ballots per month (though multiple questions may appear on a ballot) unless required by the By-laws.

4. A ballot must remain open for at least three days, but may remain open longer at the Director’s discretion if less than half of the Members have voted.

5. The Director will announce the results of ballots and anonymized voting data will be made available to the Members.

6. If the result of a ballot becomes a mathematical certainty before the ballot has actually closed, the Director can announce the result early and proceed with the decision.

7. Ballot questions with multiple options must be decided via ranked choice voting, unless otherwise specified in the By-laws.

8. All ballot questions must receive a simple majority support for passage, unless otherwise stated in the By-laws.

ARTICLE 7: Selecting a Publication

1. The Members may vote to begin a new publication selection at any time.

2. A new publication selection may begin at the Director’s discretion after a previous Consensus Press edition begins shipping.

3. In the FIRST STAGE, members may submit project proposals of under 200 words. The director may cut off any proposal in excess of 200 words.

4. In the SECOND STAGE, members will give each proposal a simple ‘approve’ or ‘disapprove’ vote by ballot. The five proposals with the highest approval percentage proceed to the third stage.

5. In the THIRD STAGE, the top five proposals may be expanded to up to 1,000 words, and the Trustee will provide a commentary on the proposals including the following:

a. the estimated price of the book,

b. the estimated production timeline of the book.

6. In the FOURTH STAGE, the Members will rank the expanded proposals according to their preference by a ranked choice ballot. The proposal with the highest ranking at the end of the fourth stage is selected as the next publication of the Press.

7. In the FIFTH STAGE, the Members may make changes or clarifications to the elected proposal via ballot or, at the Director’s discretion, straw poll. The Trustee will provide a commentary on proposed changes, including:

a. the effect on the price of the book,

b. the effect on the production timeline of the book.

8. Each stage will last at least two weeks, but may last longer at the Director’s discretion.

9. Proposals on the ballots are to be anonymous with no mention of the proposer’s name.

10. Once all five stages of the proposal election are finished, the Trustee will announce the actual price to members and collect orders.

11. Only members may order Consensus Press editions.

12. Each member is limited to one copy each at the time of the initial ordering.

ARTICLE 8: Production

1. The Trustee is responsible for the successful production and shipment of the edition on a reasonable timeline, but the Trustee may assign any tasks related to production and shipment to the Director.

2. The Director is responsible for maintaining communication between contractors and the membership, negotiating any issues that arise, and bringing issues to vote by the membership where applicable.

3. The Press may produce an overage of copies (i.e. more copies than the Members order), which can only be sold to members or as otherwise directed by a majority vote of the Members.

ARTICLE 9: Miscellaneous

1. The member who proposed the Selected Publication, if it is produced, must receive copy number one (1) from the edition without charge.

2. The members whose proposals made it to the third stage in the proposal election, but were not elected, will receive copies numbered two through five (2–5) based on the order of their proposal’s rank in the final voting.

3. There is no quorum requirement for ballots.

4. Multiple projects may be in progress concurrently if the Members so elect.

5. These By-laws can be amended by a majority vote of the Membership, except in the case of Article 3.4(c).

6. The Director will administer any official discussion forums online dedicated to Consensus Press, which will be exclusive to the Members.

7. The Trustee and Director may make proposals and vote, but are not required to do so.

Approved 9 September 2025 by a majority vote of the Members.