2017

NaNoWriMo -
2018

F UE L I N G
AT I VE
CRE R S
E R PO W E
SU P
ANNUAL
REP ORT
 NaNoWriMo

A Message from Our

E XECUTIVE DIREC TOR

Dear Writer,

Sometimes when I encourage people to participate in NaNoWriMo, they tell me, “I’m sorry, but I’m not a
creative type.”

This response is disturbing to me because to be human is to be wonderfully creative, and by not seeing
yourself as a creator, you minimize your voice in the world. Our NaNoWriMo mantra is not only that everyone
has a story to tell, but also that everyone’s story matters.

That’s one reason we chose superheroes as our theme for NaNoWriMo 2017. The lore of many superheroes
is that they are ordinary people who don’t necessarily possess superhuman strength or speed, yet they’re
transformed by new powers and go forth to save the world. NaNoWriMo spawns a similar world of superheroes:
we empower people to put on their writing capes, bound into the wilds of their imaginations, overcome hordes
of creativity-stifling villains—and encourage others to do likewise along the way.

Why? Because it’s amazing what injustices our stories can slay. It’s amazing how our stories can protect us
from even the scariest of antagonists and lead us to new and better worlds.

Our 2018 theme is “NaNoWriMo is … ”. We asked our community to fill in that blank, and it’s interesting how
many responses focused on igniting people’s superheroic creative powers:

“NaNoWriMo is the time of year when ordinary people learn the extraordinary things they are capable of.”
“NaNoWriMo is the magical place where ‘I’ve always wanted to be a writer’ becomes ‘I am a writer.’”
“NaNoWriMo is the voice whispering ‘yes you can’ in your ear for 30 days straight.”

We believe that it’s important to tell your truth. We believe that by achieving ambitious goals, you learn to
believe in yourself. We believe that the best things in life are done with a community of creators. That’s our
superhero recipe.

Thank you for helping to create this magical land of writers and helping “ordinary” people turn into mighty
creators. When someone builds a world on the page, they’re more likely to build a better and stronger world
around themselves.

With gratitude,

GRANT FAULKNER
Executive Director

2
ANNUAL REPORT 2017-2018
OUR MISSION STATEMENT
National Novel Writing Month believes in the transformational
power of creativity. We provide the structure, community, and
encouragement to help people find their voices, achieve creative
goals, and build new worlds—on and off the page.

Our Programs and Initiatives

NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH is our flagship program that guides people
through the challenge of writing a 50,000-word novel in the 30 days of November.

CAMP NANOWRIMO is a virtual writing retreat that provides the community,

resources, and tools to complete any writing project—novel or not! Our Camp sessions
take place in April and July.

THE YOUNG WRITERS PROGRAM (YWP) provides an online space for young
people to write novels, form writing groups, and access writing resources. For K-12 educators,
we provide virtual classrooms and a K-12 curriculum aligned to Common Core standards.

NANO PREP happens in September and October, and helps participants prepare to write their novels
through expert guidance and pre-writing resources.

THE “NOW WHAT?” MONTHS land in January and February, when NaNoWriMo guides novelists
through the editing and publishing processes—and helps them commit to a year-round creative habit.
Writers also get access to publishing professionals for mentorship and advice.

COME WRITE IN connects libraries, bookstores, and other neighborhood spaces with their local
NaNoWriMo volunteers and participants to build vibrant writing communities.
3
 NaNoWriMo

OUR 2017-2018 IMPACT

34,214
COMPLETED DRAFTS
IN NOVEMBER

306,230
NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH
PARTICIPANTS

15,840,290
NANOWRIMO.ORG
UNIQUE PAGE VIEWS IN
NOVEMBER

65,962 13,566
CAMP PARTICIPANTS
COMPLETED CAMP
PROJECTS
7,425
WRITING-GROUP
CABINS CREATED

4
ANNUAL REPORT 2017-2018
 972
ON-THE-GROUND
VOLUNTEERS

88,277
YWP STUDENTS AND
EDUCATORS

2,500
1,195
LIBRARY, BOOKSTORE,
COMMUNITY SPACE
FREE CLASSROOM KITS PARTICIPANTS
SENT TO EDUCATORS

29,785
COMPLETED YWP DRAFTS
IN NOVEMBER

7,351
460,469
TOTAL PARTICIPANTS
CLASSROOMS ON THE
YWP WEBSITE IN 2017
IN 2017 - 2018 SEASON

5
 NaNoWriMo

HIGHLIGHTS 2017
Over the course of November 2017, “PEP TALK” emails inspired and encouraged participants.
Our 2017 “pep talk” authors were ROXANE GAY, DEAN KOONTZ, JULIE MURPHY,
GRANT FAULKNER, and KEVIN KWAN.

As our 2017 NANO COACHES, authors K. ANCRUM, JASMINE GUILLORY, MUR LAFFERTY,
EMILY X.R. PAN, and G. S. PRENDERGAST took over NaNoWriMo’s Twitter account in
November to answer participants’ questions and provide encouragement and writing tips.

6
ANNUAL REPORT 2017-2018
 Throughout the year, we kept our participants writing with our VIRTUAL WRITE-INS,
WEBINARS, TWITTER CHATS, SOCIAL MEDIA PROMPTS, and ON-THE-GROUND EVENTS.

“I’ve written four books with [NaNoWriMo] and am working on editing two of
them. Maybe someday they’ll get published, but that’s not my goal. I wrote them
because they were burning me up inside and begging to be written. And I was
able to write them because of the help and encouragement that NaNoWriMo
gave me. They’ve made me a better person. So thank you all. Thank you.”
Emily, NANOWRIMO PARTICIPANT 2017

Our first ever WRITER-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAM kicked off in the fall of 2017. Funded
in part by a CALIFORNIA ARTS COUNCIL (CAC) ARTISTS IN SCHOOLS ENGAGEMENT GRANT, this
on-the-ground program brought author ALEXANDRA BALLARD into the BAY FARM SCHOOL in
Alameda, CA to support 8th grade students as they tackled the audacious goal of writing a
novel in a month using the YOUNG WRITERS PROGRAM and our new YWP WEBSITE.

7
 NaNoWriMo

FINANCIALS, STAFF, & BOARD

2017 BUDGET
DONATIONS

$543,763
SPONSORSHIPS

$322,933
MERCHANDISE (NET)

$138,143
FOUNDATIONS AND GRANTS

$168,283
EVENTS

$65,864
OTHER INCOME

$68,048
TOTAL INCOME
$1,307,035

PROGRAMS
$810,282
FUNDRAISING
$298,129
MANAGEMENT
$89,332
TOTAL EXPENSES
$1,197,743

8
ANNUAL REPORT 2017-2018
 STAFF
GRANT FAULKNER, Executive Director
TIM KIM, NaNoWriMo Program Director
MARYA BRENNAN, Young Writers Program Director
SARAH MACKEY, Director of Community Engagement
CHRIS ANGOTTI, Chief Operating Officer
DAVE BECK, Technical Director
SHELBY GIBBS, Operations Director
HEATHER DUDLEY, Lead Forums Moderator
KATHARINE GRIPP, Communications Manager
PAIGE KNORR, Community Manager
JEZRA LICKTER, Web Developer
REBECCA STERN, Development Manager
WESLEY SUEKER, Customer Service Associate
ROB DIAZ, YWP Forums Moderator
MADELINE PORTER, Events Associate

INTERNS
EMILY EHRET
NICHOLAS FIERRO
KRISTEN SIBBALD

BOARD OF WRITERS
DIRECTORS BOARD
JULIE BARTON GENNIFER ALBIN
BUSTER BENSON MELISSA ANELLI
KARIMA CAMMELL SUSAN DENNARD
SEAN HEWENS MIGNON FOGARTY
SHARON MCKELLAR KAMI GARCIA
PAUL OH RACHAEL HERRON
JUSTIN QUIMBY HUGH HOWEY
JULIE RUSSELL MAUREEN JOHNSON
TONY SHEN DARYNDA JONES
MICHAEL SIPPEY NIALL LEONARD
JASON SNELL MARISSA MEYER
CHRIS BATY (EMERITUS) DANIEL JOSÉ OLDER
DANIELLE PAIGE
MITALI PERKINS
SCOTT WESTERFELD
9
 NaNoWriMo

MA JOR DONORS
California Arts Council
$25,000 + Calum Dickinson
Amazon Literary Partnership
Cathy E. Cretsinger
Amazon Web Services
Cy Wyss
Foundation to Decrease World Suck
Denny Abrams
Lise Quintana
Jan Ellison Baszucki
Jason Snell
Jenny Colby
$ 1 0, 0 0 0 - $ 2 4 , 9 9 9 Joseph Merboth
Marissa Meyer
K. Kitts
Melcher Charitable Foundation
Kaitlin Nichols
National Endowment for the Arts
Karl L. Krohn
Kathryn Bedell
Michael Chatfield
$5,000 - $9,999 Morris Family Fund
Anthony Francis
Pamela & Mark Wiedenback Charitable
JSY Giving, a foundation dedicated to the Foundation
loving memory of Jane Yin Bolander
Rose Holland
Melanie Craft
Stephanie Block
Quote-Unquote

$2,500 - $4,999 $500 - $999

Anonymous (x9)
Anonymous (x3)
Alexandra Clausen
Daphne Ashling Purpus
Andrew P. Anderson Fund
Jennifer Jackson
Bright Funds Foundation
Paul Hawke
Damon Johnson
Darynda Jones
Dana Oshiro
Michael Sippey
Denton Froese
Derya Davenport
Emily Bristow
$ 1 , 0 0 0 - $ 2 ,4 9 9 Gennifer Albin
Anonymous (x2)
Greater Houston Community Foundation
Amy Marshall (Andrew P. Anderson Fund)
Anne Prather Jennifer Overholt

10
ANNUAL REPORT 2017-2018
 John Lewis Emma White Richenda Brewer
John Reese Esme Wingrove Rob and Ginny Diaz
Linda Holder Felicia Becerra Robert Kubiak
Melissa Jackson GSCO Robin Sumners
Sarah Yasin J Rimbas Samantha Potter
State Farm Companies Jacquelyn Vargovich Sarah Hamaker
Foundation James Davis Sarah Harrington
Wendy Crawford Jamie McMahon Sarah Pottenger
Jane Hearren Sasha Hurlock
Jason Goldwater Serenity Jones
$250 - $499 Jayne Beker Shauna Schiemann
Anonymous (x21) Jennifer Crispin Stephan Benzkofer
Aaron Phillips Jennifer Delozier Steven Wallace
Alan Lessik Jennifer Shew Teague Lasser
Alan Rogers Jessica Hillis Tony Shen
Alice Law John Forrester Tonya Coats
Alok Baikadi John Reifenberg William R. Jones
Amy Rogers Julia Tryon Yvette Keller
Anne Gibson Kali Hinkle
Bethany Chalmers Kellie Bowen
Brandon Malara Kellie Simpson
Catherine Collingwood Kelly Mead
Chris and Anne Wignall L.J. Stephens
Family Foundation
Chris Lark
Larissa Jones Thousands and
Christine Kern
Lawrence Logan thousands of people
Corinna Laughlin
Leslie Royer donated in 2017.
Lily Weaver We thank you all for
Dan Latendre
Lissa Staley your generosity.
Daniel Russo
Lórien May
David Williams You make NaNoWriMo
Mariah Donahue
Dee Beardsley possible.
Marie Raven
Dianne Larson
Matthew Borton
Elise Eichenberg
Matthew Schnur
Elizabeth Gregg & Kris Janik
Melissa Guglich
Elizabeth Shine
MIa Pomales
Elizabeth Staley
Monica Mathern
Ellen F. Hyndman (on behalf
of Aimee Hyndman) Myra Daniel
Emily French Preeva Tramiel
Emily Gasca Rachelle Wood

11
National Novel Writing Month
3354 Adeline Street
Berkeley, CA 94703

NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH

2017-2018 ANNUAL REPORT
nanowrimo.org | campnanowrimo.org | ywp.nanowrimo.org