The interim executive director of National Novel Writing Month, Kilby Blades, just posted a video where she announced and explained the closure of the organization. While news headlines may partly blame the problematic rollout of their AI policy last year, that is not the driving factor behind their decline. According to Blades, the organization has been operating at a budget deficit for four out of the past six years and using cash reserves to make up shortfalls. (NaNoWriMo was established in 1999 and has been operating as a nonprofit since 2005.)
Blades says in the announcement, “If hundreds of thousands of people engage with us each year, but we bring in just over $1 million [in revenue annually], that’s a sign of distress. Over time, we became more dependent on revenue streams other than donations. Individual giving fell, and we tried to compensate by increasing merchandise sales and sponsorships.”
That was the financial environment during which staff mishandled a child endangerment complaint in 2023. It turns out that staff had never undergone background checks despite being a youth-facing organization, and none of NaNoWriMo’s 800 volunteers had completed state-mandated child safety training. Nor did NaNoWriMo collect formal volunteer applications to verify personal information.
Unfortunately, that problem is just the tip of the iceberg. For those who want to learn more about the organization’s challenges, it’s best to listen to Blades tell the entire story. The botched AI policy announcement, of course, did not help them garner any desperately needed goodwill or support.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
