The Bylaws of the National Fantasy Fan Federation
I. Authority
Under the authority implied in Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution of the National Fantasy Fan Federation, the Directorate shall establish certain Bylaws to regulate the affairs of the organization, such Bylaws to be effective when approved by a majority vote of the Directorate as set forth in Article II, Section 4, of the Constitution.
II. The Directorate
1. The Chair of the Directorate shall report to the membership all measures passed by the Directorate. The Chair of the Directorate shall maintain updated copies of the Bylaws, distribute them to the Directorate, President, Treasurer, and Official Editor of The National Fantasy Fan (TNFF), at the beginning of the year and whenever changed, and direct that current copies of the Bylaws and Constitution are maintained on the club website.
2. Copies of all official Directorate correspondence shall be sent to the President and Treasurer.
3. Each Directorate shall adopt standing rules of procedure, which shall remain in force for the Directorate of the following year, until such time as the new Directorate shall vote to accept them or adopt new rules.
4. A Director who has not voted or participated in Directorate discussion or correspondence in any period of three consecutive months may be declared inactive by the Directorate, and may be removed by the President for this cause only, without prejudice.
III. The Treasury
1. The President or designated person may bill the Treasury, as needed, for expenses incurred in the discharge of the office, including the purchase of supplies for new members, the sum not to exceed $100 per year.
2. The Treasurer will assist the President in maintaining a current online membership roster by reporting new membership payments, renewals, and changes of address to the President and such other officers as the President may direct, not less often than once a month.
3. The Treasurer will prepare a yearly report of all income to the N3F Treasury and an itemized list of expenditures. Also included in this report will be a listing of items which will require additional outlays, in the forthcoming year from the Treasury, and have been approved by the Directorate, but have not yet been paid. This report will be prepared for the first issue of TNFF to appear in the year following the year which the report covers.
4. The President shall not hold the office of Treasurer, except on a temporary basis not to exceed 4 weeks – due to vacancy or emergency. If the president fails to appoint a replacement within three weeks of an office vacancy or either the Treasurer, the Directorate shall move on its own to appoint a replacement for the vacant office.
IV. Elections
1) A dues-paying member becomes a candidate for President or for the Directorate by self-nominating or by being nominated by another dues-paying member. The nominee must accept the nomination to be placed on the ballot. Self-nominations are acceptances.
2) Nominations are made by sending the nomination to the Official Teller and to the Editor of The National Fantasy Fan. Nominations must be received by the Official Teller and the Editor by October 31.
3) Each candidate may place a statement of up to 500 words in The National Fantasy Fan. Statements shall appear in the November National Fantasy Fan, or an earlier issue if submitted in a timely way and the candidate so requests.
4) The election ballot shall appear in the November issue of the National Fantasy Fan. The ballot shall include a list of the candidates for each office and a space for write-in votes. Each dues-paying member may vote for one candidate for President and up to five candidates for the Directorate. Each ballot shall include a space in which the voter must sign and date the ballot.
5) Votes may be cast by sending the ballot or a facsimile to the official teller, or by sending the official teller an email ballot. The email ballot must come from the electronic address of record of the voter. Ballots for Constitutional amendments and member referenda are cast using the same process.
6) In addition to the regular candidates listed on the ballot, voters may write in the name of any dues-paying member as a vote for any elective office. Any candidate so elected must submit a written statement of his willingness to serve. In the absence of this statement, the candidate receiving the next highest number of votes for that office will be declared the winner.
7) The Official Teller is a dues-paying member appointed by the President. The appointment must be approved by Directorate vote before the Official Teller takes office. The Official Teller serves until he resigns or until the Directorate approves a new Official Teller.
8) Before taking office, a candidate must have paid dues to cover the year of his or her term of office.
V. Publications
The intent of this club is to distribute at least one publication each month to members in good standing in the form of either the Official Organ or other publication as follows:
1. Regular publications of the N3F: The N3F has two regular publications: The National Fantasy Fan (TNFF), the Official Organ, and Tightbeam (TB), a member-created fanzine.
2. Special Publications may be issued upon approval of the President.
3. Publication Officers: The Official Editor and Publisher are appointed by the President. Editors of special publications are appointed by the Official Editor with the President’s approval.
4. Printing: The Publisher shall print enough copies to send to every regular member of the N3F as of the date of publication, plus any other extra copies that the President may direct the Publisher to print.
5. The National Fantasy Fan shall be published at least quarterly with no more than four months between issues.
6. In the event a Regular Publication does not appear as scheduled, the President shall appoint a Stand-by Editor. This Editor shall be reimbursed as if he were the regular Editor if the magazine is mailed within two months after the appointment by the President.
7. Required Notices: TNFF shall contain a list of new members and renewals in each issue; the Constitution and Bylaws of the N3F in the Summer quarter; and the roster of the membership in the Spring and Autumn quarters.
8. Submission Deadlines:Deadlines for material submitted shall be the 15th of the month preceding the month of publication. Any deviation from this date must be announced in the previous issue.
9. Reimbursement. The treasury shall reimburse expenses for printing and mailing regular publications. Total annual reimbursement per voting member household from the Treasury for printing and postage shall not exceed $14 for 12 issues. No single issue of a regular publication may exceed a printing cost of 50 cents per issue, without Directorate approval. The Publisher shall notify the Chairman of the Directorate of receipt of any issue not conforming to this limitation, before printing. All other publication reimbursements require Directorate approval.
10. Advertisements in N3F publication are free, restricted to N3F members, and are subject to space limitations in the judgment of the editor.
11. The N3F Roster, while available for membership use, is not for sale as a mailing list to anyone.
12. Others. Publications issued by subordinate Bureaus of the N3F and not sent to the entire membership shall be sent to the President or other designated person for information and record. In the case of N’APA that shall be construed to mean the Alliance Amateur or other official business publication and not the entire bundle. The cost will be borne by the Treasury of the N3F upon presentation of an itemized bill to the Treasurer.
13. Neffer Amateur Press Alliance. All N’APA members must be members in good standing of the N3F.
14. Exchange Agreements. The President can authorize exchange agreements with other publishers who will receive all N3F publications, and the President or other designated person will receive all their publications.
15. Standing Rule. Fandom rests on honest recognition of the creative works of others. If in an N3F-sponsored activity there are reasons to believe that nominally creative works claimed to be by a person appear to be copied from creative works of others, the person suspected of having copied without appropriate attribution will be presented by the President or Chair with the evidence and invited to explain the similarities. The President or Chair will report the person’s response to the Directorate, which will choose an appropriate action, up to and including finding the person exonerated or returning dues and severing all connection between the N3F and the person.
VI. Rescissions
Directorate motions in the nature of Bylaws passed prior to the original compilation and publication of these Bylaws and not included among them, are rescinded.
VII. Amendments
Amendments to these Bylaws may be made with approval of a majority of the Directorate.
VIII. Dues
1. Membership dues are payable annually as follows:
A. Regular Member: Individual memberships are $18 per year, and include receiving one print copy of all club publications.
B. Joint/Household Member: Dues are $4 per year per person residing at the same household address at the same household address as a Regular, Life, or Electronic Member. This membership does not include print copies of club publications.
C. Life Member: Dues are $0 per year. Any Founding Member, as listed in the June 1942 membership list of the official organ, shall be granted life membership.
D. Electronic Member: Dues are $6 per year. This membership does not include print copies of club publications.
2. The number of Life or Honorary members, other than Founding Members, created by Directorate vote may not exceed 5 memberships or 1 percent of the total membership of the N3F, whichever number is greater. This rule shall not operate to reduce the number of existing Life memberships at any time.
IX. Member Benefits
1. The following membership benefits are reserved solely to dues-paying members (“paid members”): holding, running for, or being appointed to any elected office; holding the office of Treasurer, Publisher or Official Editor; voting for elected office; receiving printed copies of club publications paid for by the treasury; and representing the organization in any official capacity.
2. Life Members appointed by the Directorate are granted the same membership benefits as Paid Members, regardless of whether they pay dues or not.
3. Members of the general public may fully participate in all N3F activities except for those reserved solely to paid members.