Just had this forwarded to me by a friend. It's a bit last minute (deadline is ~6pm TONIGHT!), but then again, isn't nano last minute too? Obviously, don't give them any personal information you don't want to, and certainly NOT your social security number should they ask (!!!). If you're under 18, ask your parents first!
If you do reply, put "NaNoWriMo Participant" in the subject line and just give her the requested 20-25 words (and you thought the slogan contest was hard!). I'm told that because it's a reporter, you should spell-check what you send - if it's riddled with errors it probably won't be considered. And it's a serious editorial request - so please don't respond with a 'joke' reply.
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Summary: NaNoWriMo participants
Category: General
Name: Maija Haavisto
Email: maija@writeme.com
Title: freelance writer
Media Outlet/Publication: Suite101
Anonymous? No
Deadline: 6:00 PM PACIFIC - October 6
I'm looking for one or two people to feature in a short article (not much over 600 words) about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), to be published in a large online magazine.
* A person who has won NaNo last year (or 2006). Doesn't matter if they have participated before or if they're going to participate this year, but please mention it if you have/do.
* A person who either hasn't done NaNo before, or did it but didn't win, and thinks they can win this year.
In either case I'd need a short statement of about 25-50 words:
The first person should briefly describe what it was like, e.g. easier or harder than they thought, enjoyable or hell, what was the hardest part, what came out of the novel.
The second person should explain why they are doing it, how are they preparing, what are they going to write, why they think they can do it etc.
Age, gender, location, genre/language of novel don't matter, though of course it would be nice to have some variety. Please include your name, age, city, country/state, language of novel if not English (and your gender, if there's any chance it might not be clear to me!). If you have a good website/blog related to your writing (or if your novel's online), I may link to it.
A photo of you would be great too. This is an online magazine so it doesn't have to be high-res, but you have to be able to give permission for me to use it. Also, tell me the name of the photographer (if it was a school photographer, a machine, a random person on the street or something, I'll credit to you).
I'll need everything today, Monday the 6th (doesn't have to be before the end of business hours, but by late Monday U.S. time), so please email me ASAP! If I use your "blurb" I'll send you a link to the finished article.
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idunno, co-ML for California :: South Bay
50,004 / 50,000
oct. 6, 2008 - 16 31
I gave it a shot. I hope I'm not the only one! I don't think I really answered the requirements. FWIW - here it is:
I'm a newbie at NaNoWriMo. I'm 45, female, located in Silicon Valley (Sunnyvale, California, to be exact). I'm blogging about the experience at http:\\reluctantwriter.typepad.com.
I've been trying to write a high-tech Silicon Valley drama, but I can't function without deadlines. It took a while to learn to talk about my ideas. (Secrecy is ingrained here). Now, I'm ready for the camaraderie NaNoWriMo offers. I won't write anything heavy, just something fun like a young adult novel.
NCSmith