When I first started dreaming about BINDER Magazine, the idea was pretty simple: create the kind of magazine I would want to read and flip through, over and over. One all about planners. Then I realized planners were only part of it.
Because the people who love planners usually also love planning, go figure, right? And they like journals, stationery, notebooks, books, pens, stickers, paper, lists, writing, reading, creating, organizing, collecting, and sometimes buying one more notebook when they already have twelve perfectly good ones sitting at home.
So, BINDER got bigger. Not bigger just for the sake of being bigger. It simply started becoming what I think it was supposed to be all along: A magazine for people who live life on paper.
Inside the magazine
BINDER will include a mix of features, interviews, reviews, trends, inspiration, favorite finds, conversations, and stories about the people shaping the paper world.
Some pieces will be practical. One of my personal favorites is introducing you to a creator or company you may not know yet. Some will be about the things we use, like planners, journals, pens, books, the types of paper, stickers, and all the tools we convince ourselves are absolutely necessary. Because they absolutely are.
And some will simply be about us. Why we plan. Where we plan. What we write down. Why certain notebooks matter to us. Why opening a brand-new planner in January, or September, if you’re one of those people, is far more exciting than it probably should be.
This is where my reader surveys come in, and I hope you’ll take a minute to fill them out when they pop up. Your answers will help shape who BINDER features and what we explore next.
The Sections
I organized BINDER into recurring sections, so every issue feels familiar while still leaving room to discover new things. Here are the areas you can expect to see:
PLAN
Your planner, your systems, your way. This is where we cover setups and spreads, systems that actually work, planner reviews, and seasonal and goal planning. We show real pages, not perfect ones.
PEOPLE
The faces behind the pages. Creator profiles, small makers, everyday heroes, community spotlights, and reader setups. We give extra love to the people who don’t always get the spotlight.
READ
Books for paper people. Book picks, author interviews, reading journals, and book club. If a book is the reason you picked up a pen, the story belongs here.
WRITE
The written life. Journaling, letters and snail mail, writing prompts, and the joy and mess of putting words on paper.
CREATE
Making things with paper. Art, collage, lettering, DIY, and every creative project that starts with a blank page and a little nerve.
FINDS
The things we couldn’t wait to show you. New releases, product reviews, stationery hauls, gift guides, and events worth knowing about.
The features are about real people
One thing you will notice right away is that BINDER doesn’t only feature the biggest companies everyone already knows. Of course, we’ll talk and feature our favorite brands and well-known creators.
But I also want to meet and introduce BINDER readers to the person making stickers at her kitchen table. The writer building something from scratch. The journaler with 172 followers and an absolutely beautiful story. The reader who has used the same planning system for twenty years (does this person exist?!) The small shop owner. The person who just bought their first planner, & the person who bought 47 of them.
That’s why you’ll see reader surveys, questions, and open calls for features. I want BINDER to be something we build with the community, not just something you read.
And yes…there will is be a shop!
This part makes me ridiculously excited. I’m already my best customer!
It’s OPEN! The plan is for the BINDER Shop to become a curated place for some of the things we discover along the way: planners, paper goods, stationery, accessories, and products from creators and brands within this community.
I don’t want it to become a giant everything-store. I want it to feel like someone already wandered through the paper world, found the good stuff, and put it in one place. I would love for BINDER to give independent makers another place to introduce and sell their work. I would love for you to stop in, check it out, and let me know what you think.
How subscriptions will work
There will always be a way to be part of BINDER for free.
Free subscribers get the full magazine. That means every issue, every section, and every story, with no paywall in the way. And you’re invited to shop at the BINDER Shop.
Paid subscribers ($6/month or $55/year) are the readers who want to support BINDER and get a little something back. Paid members get 15% off everything in the BINDER Shop.
Founding Members ($165/year) are the people saying, essentially: I believe in this. Keep going. Founding Members get the 15% shop discount and free shipping on every order, any size, every day. Their names also appear on the Founding Members page in every issue, so they’re recognized as supporters of BINDER and the creative community we’re building.
(Free shipping on orders over $60 is open to everyone in the shop.)
I made the whole magazine free on purpose. I don’t want BINDER to become a place where every interesting thing costs money. I want people to discover us first.
Then, if you love what we’re doing and want to help it grow, you can choose to support it.
And then there’s the actual magazine
Substack is BINDER’s official website. It gives BINDER a place to publish between issues, have conversations, ask questions, introduce people, and let the community grow in real time.
But the larger vision includes curated BINDER issues, something that feels intentional, collected, and worth sitting down to read. Page after page of people, stories, ideas, and things I have spent my life researching.
Honestly? This may be the most fun I’ve ever had building something.
And we’re just getting started. So, if you’re here early, thank you.
You’re not simply subscribing to something that’s finished. You’re watching BINDER become BINDER.
And thank you for helping me build it. xoxo -Kath
This is very exciting! Thank you for creating this for all of us planner lovers 😀🖋️📓