What is NANOWRIMO? - Explanation of National Novel Writing Month

Founded in 1999 by Chris Baty, NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month) was born to produce 50,000 words in one month. Now every November they put on a little competition to get a novella completed in that month. Each book must be started from scratch (outlines, notes, and character sketches permitted) on November 1st. You own every word, NANOWRIMO doesn't have any rights to your work. Signups start on the site on October 1st, you can begin writing at 12:00:01 local time on November 1st, and ends precisely at 11:59:59 pm GMT, November 30th.

There is no awards other than a Winner Icon given to anyone reaching 50,000 verifiable words, whether its the end of the book or not. Its strictly word count. If your book ends on 49,999 words then I'd suggest finding a way to add that extra word. You can handwrite the book, but there are currently no ways to verify it for the competition as of yet. 50,000 words was designed to be a reasonable length, a novella, to reach and still carry on life's work such as jobs, kids, and the daily grind. Many have tried, many have failed, some though have succeeded and realise what they can achieve if they put their mind to it.

NANOWRIMO Stats:

1999: 21 participants and six winners
2000: 140 participants and 29 winners
2001: 5,000 particpants and more than 700 winners
2002: 13,500 participants and around 2,100 winners
2003: 25,500 participants and about 3,500 winners
2004: 42,000 participants and close to 6,000 winners
2005: 59,000 participants and 9,769 winners
2006: 79,000 participants and 13,000 winners

NANOWRIMO Novels That Hit the Big Time

Lani Diane Rich---NaNoWriMo novels: Time Off For Good Behavior (Warner Books, 2004) and Maybe Baby (Warner Books, 2005).
Sarah Gruen---NaNoWriMo novel: Flying Changes (HarperCollins, 2005).
Rebecca Agiewich---NaNoWriMo novel: Breakup Babe (Ballantine Books, 2006).
Gayle Brandeis---NaNoWriMo novel: Self Storage (Ballantine Books, 2007)