#BinderCon

Have you signed up for the May BinderCon Mini yet? Award winning author Marie-Helene Bertino will be at the Brooklyn, New York Powderkeg Writer’s Space talking fiction submissions and grappling with the fear of rejection. Grab your spot ASAP!

"Even though women are still a minority of voices in media, what’s clear from Out of the Binders is that many people are working to build the media landscape we want, instead of consigning themselves to the media we have. As author Erika Wurth summed up very succinctly about the need for more diverse voices in fiction, 'Why diversity? Because it’s fucking 2015 and we’re in America.'"

Thank you to everyone who came together to make our Los Angeles conference so remarkable!

Hey ‪binders! At our inaugural ‪BinderCon, we dominated social media and, by the second day of the conference were the NUMBER ONE trending Twitter topic. Of course we're keen to do this again. So help our friendly live-tweeter out by joining in - just be sure to use the hashtag ‪#‎BinderCon!

Some thoughts on reading women for literary self-care.

If you’re coming to BinderCon Los Angeles and still haven’t signed up for your two allotted speed pitch slots, there’s still some availability - and with FANTASTIC publications, too. Don’t be shy!

Make sure to check the BinderCon blog regularly! Now helmed by Social Media Person Rachel Vorona Cote, we’re using this space to keep you informed about important and/or fun updates. 

We'll also have a panel on reporting sexual violence, featuring a number of excellent women in journalism and media - including Amy Ziering of The Hunting Ground.

BinderCon Los Angeles attendees now have the opportunity to sign up for our networking lunch on March 28! You'll have the opportunity to meet other attendees in your genre, some especially established! Here are just some of the folks you can chat with as you take a break from panels and workshops: Ann Friedman, Ruth Ann Harnisch, Michele Kort and Stephanie Hallett from Ms. Magazine, and Jennifer Romolini from HelloGiggles!

Here's The Atlantic on the television guest gender gap, with a shout out to the Op-Ed Project. See Kate Orenstein, Op-Ed Project CEO and Founder, deliver a keynote address at ‪BinderCon Los Angeles!

We’re so proud of BinderCon Los Angeles speaker Wendy C. Ortiz and BinderCon Advisor Roxane Gay for making this wonderful list.

What a great way to explain consent!

"The broadening of porn reflects the rising acknowledgement of its female audience. More and more porn is being made to appeal to a range of tastes, especially to women. According to a 2013 Pew report, 25 percent of men and 8 percent of women admit to watching online porn — numbers that may be skewed because viewers might be loath to cop to their real habits in a survey out of shame. Men outnumber women as visitors at AVN, but there are some women and a smattering of married couples...Grey, Angel, Belladonna — who defied traditional standards of porn beauty, with her gap-toothed smile and, for some years, a shaved head — and others created the third-wave porn star: intelligent, self-possessed, idealistic about the industry, with a Bettie Page style of addressing the camera that seems to control, rather than be controlled by, it."

If we are blinded by darkness, we are also blinded by light. When too much light falls on everything, a special terror results.

Great long-form profile on Mary Cain, a young long-distance runner, by Elizabeth Weil.