The NaNo News

Get Discovered This November!
Read all about the YA Novel Discovery Competition.

Amazing news, Wrimos! If you're 13 or older, you're eligible to participate in the Young Adult Novel Discovery Competition!

Young Writers Program Manifesto!
NaNoVideo features NaNo's YWP Program Director.

Tavia Stewart-Streit tells the world what we're all about.

NaNo: More Fun With Friends!
Challenge everyone you know to write with us!

It’s a well-known fact that NaNoWriMo is more fun when you know your friends are doing it along side you. That’s why we created this easy-to-use Challenge a Friend machine. Just put your friends’ email addresses in the appropriate field, add an encouraging/threatening message to the box, and send away.

Chris' Pre-NaNo Tips Revealed!
NaNoVideo features novel-planning advice from our founder.

NaNoVideo Premiers!
Meet the NaNoWriMo staff on our new video podcast!

Click on the image below to watch the video!

Profile Bugs Squashed!
Thanks to Dan, you can now officially set your word-count goal!

To set your word-count goal, click on "My NaNoWriMo," then on "Edit Novel Info" (in the left-side menu bar in your profile). Once you're there, enter your goal in the second box on the page (the one that says "Word-count goal"). If you're wondering what word-count to set, check out this handy word-count calculator.

Profile Bugs Soon-To-Be Squashed!
Our tech team (Dan!) is working like mad to fix profile issues!

The website has re-launched and is running faster than ever due to our move to Amazon Cloud Computing (EC2)! Thank you Amazon! And thank you Dan for all your hard work and sleepless nights in getting our sites up and running for the 2009 event.

The YWP Website Re-Launches!
Welcome to the eleventh-annual NaNoWriMo!

Thanks to our tech guru Dan Duvall's back-to-back all-nighters, and the staff's growing love for sugar-free Red Bull, we managed to re-launch a improved YWP NaNoWriMo website.

Hooray!

As always after re-launch, there are hundred little things on the site that are probably broken. If you find something that is not working right, please let us know over in the Tech Help, Feedback, & Suggestions forum. Our team of bug squishers (and by "team," we mean the slightly delirious Dan) are standing by!

Pep Talkers 2009!
Keep your eye on the this page to see who'll be pep talking this NaNo.

We've requested pep talk letters and Writer's Block articles from dozens of YA authors including Laurie Halse Anderson, Avi, Ann Brashares, Michael Buckley, Esme Raji Codell, Nancy Farmer, John Flanagan, Jean Craighead George, Polly Horvath, Rafe Martin, Kenneth Oppel, Mary Pope Osborne, Edith Pattou, Pam Muñoz Ryan, Phoebe Stone, and many more.

Now we're just crossing our fingers and toes, waiting for their replies!

A WriMo-Teen Retreat
Unschool Adventures is organizing a NaNo-getaway on the Oregon Coast.

For those of you who love NaNo and are homeschooled, this retreat is an awesome opportunity to meet other writers from around the country who are just like you! From October 30 to December 1, you'll have plenty of time to write a 50,000-word novel, drink a ton of coffee, take many, many walks on the beach, and take complimentary yoga classes!

Writing + coffee + yoga = my dream vacation.