That’s a wrap on another NaNoWriMo, which means it’s the end of another year’s 30 Covers, 30 Days series! Whether you wrote fifty words or fifty thousand, you got your stories onto the page! So pat yourself on the back. I’ll wait here.
Excellent! I want to talk a little bit about this project; as this was my second year coordinating the series, I got to read all of your nearly three thousand synopses, and every one of them brought something unique to the table. I’m seriously blown away by how amazing your novels -- and the covers they inspired -- have turned out to be.
Before I get to the fast facts about this year’s series, I need to extend a few words of thanks.
First, immense thanks as always to the amazing Debbie Millman, for facilitating this project every year, gathering all these fantastic designers in one place, and for designing a cover herself! Thanks for all your help getting this project off the ground, and answering all my questions along the way.
This wouldn’t be possible without all the designers who volunteered to make covers this year (and in years past). You made some stunning covers, on a short deadline, for free, frequently ahead of schedule, and with enthusiasm every day. Thanks for your patience and quick responses to all of my emails, and for making covers that thirty authors will cherish, and that amazed, thrilled, puzzled, and inspired writers on the blog, forums, and beyond all month long.
If you received a cover, or just felt inspired by one, please take a moment to let these designers know how cool they are; the complete list of designers, including links to their websites and social media, is available at the end of the post.
If you want to leave some feedback, there’s a form available! This helps us tweak and tune up the project each year.
Finally, thank you to all of you who took on the challenge, submitted synopses throughout October and November, and for keeping up with the blog and forum posts every day.
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As with every year, of course, November only has thirty short days -- and with them, only thirty lucky writers selected for each edition of the project via our proprietary, time-bending, squirrel-powered synopsis algorithm.
This year, we had winners from all around the world, including from Iceland, Nigeria, and Peru. And, as novels from Young Writers made up about a quarter of submissions, there were set to be seven YWP covers. Alas, a couple of them fell through a hole in time and space and there ended up being only five; next year will have the complete set. There was also a wide range of genres represented:
We also used the keywords and tags from thousands of submissions to create a word tree!
Please give another round of applause to the designers who contributed their time and effort to this awesome project!
John Hamilton designed Enemy Music
Katie Manos designed The Ghosts of Miller Manor
Jesse Hernandez designed Apologize
Michelle Hobbs designed Autumn’s Blessing
Michael Braley designed The White Darkness
Kelly Knaga designed No Results Found
Alberto Rigau designed Shadow of Twilight
Kevin Perry designed Red Riding, P.I.
Henry Sene Yee designed The Killing Thing
Cookie Redding designed Sunsets and Tea
David Hisaya Asari designed We Could Be Heroes
Mark Pagano designed Dragon Kingdom & The Wishing Stone
Don Hollis designed Perspicuus
Richard Ljoenes designed The Girl and the Guardians
Alexandra Alcantara designed The Island
Josh Ege designed Trapped
Val Head designed Cracking Up
Traci Larson designed Monroe & Patsy: A Few Times Too Many
Eva Crawford designed Nursing Holmes
Frances Yllana designed Albion Grove
Courtney Glancy designed To Stand Tall Amongst the Stars
Christopher Simmons designed Unprompted
Tan Le designed Windycrest
Debbie Millman designed The Circle
Roshanak Keyghobadi designed Balaton
Nick Fierro designed Emu
Wesley Sueker designed Combat Mind
Ksenya Samarskaya designed The Author
Adriane Stark designed Bianca, It's Complicated!
Jina Anne designed The Sorcerer’s Maid
It’s been a blast helping coordinate 30 Covers, 30 Days once more. I’m looking forward to seeing next year’s covers!
Yes, it’s me again—your friendly neighborhood intern, Nick—here to announce that this year’s edition of 30 Covers, 30 Days is open!
Fall is upon us, prep season is in full swing, and November is fast approaching, which means it’s time for one of our favorite parts of NaNoWriMo!
What is 30 Covers, 30 Days?
Thirty very lucky Wrimos will be chosen to have a cover for their 2018 NaNo novel, designed by one of the many talented artists recruited by our wonderful coordinator, Debbie Millman.
Debbie is a writer, educator, artist, brand consultant and host of the radio show Design Matters—not to mention President of Sterling Brands for the last twenty years and President Emeritus of the American Institute of Graphic Arts. So don’t worry, your novel is in very capable hands.
We’ll be posting a new cover every day of November, both on this blog and on our forums. If you’d like to see what some of our previous covers were like, you can check them out here.
That sounds super cool! How do I sign up?
Submitting your novel is easier than ever. All you have to do is complete this form.
A few things to know before you submit your novel:
Your form can’t be edited once you submit it, so please read the entire form carefully. There are ways to withdraw and resubmit, however — and you can find those details in the original post on the 30 Covers, 30 Days Intro thread. There’s more information on the whole process in that thread, too.
You don’t have to use your real name. We celebrate and encourage pen names!
If your novel is selected, we’ll get in touch with you, and we can all jump up and down and hug and cry together (happy tears).
If you have any questions about 30 Covers, 30 Days, feel free to post in the forum, or send me a NaNoMail.
In the meantime, check out the NaNo Artisans forum to have a cover designed by a fellow Wrimo, or design one yourself.
We feel super lucky here at NaNo HQ to be able to work with some excellent interns! Today, meet Operations Intern Kristen Sibbald and Editorial Intern Nick Fierro, the newest additions to our team. You’ll be getting to know them better as a co-hosts of Virtual Write-Ins throughout November, but today these two Bay Area natives are sharing the importance of “keeping the familiar strange”, as well as some hearty cheering for everyone participating in NaNo this year:
From Kristen:
Hey writers! I’ve just returned to my native Bay Area to start this internship, after four years in Southern California studying at the perpetually sunny Scripps College. It’s a strange adjustment to be back, but I’m also excited to work with the amazing folks at NaNoWriMo and to have fog in my life again.
I’ve always been plagued by wanderlust and the desire to search for stories, and it’s taken me to some interesting places. For instance, in my studies of Latin America I’ve travelled around Nicaragua, studied youth culture in Cuba, and investigated border development in Costa Rica.
But since I’ve been back in the Bay, where I grew up, I now see it in a different light, with the perspectives I’ve picked up from my travels and studies and relationships. And I’ve realized that it’s important to keep the familiar strange, to notice the life and culture in the places where I already am. These insights are, to me, more valuable than the perspectives of an American commenting on the seemingly strange customs of another nation. I find that my observations often tell me more about my own perspective and sense of normality than about the things and people I’m observing. As I re-explore my favorite places from childhood and continue to learn in this internship, I’m excited to challenge myself to interrogate my existing ideas. Maybe I’ll incorporate the experience into my NaNoWriMo novel in November.
When I’m not scribbling in a notebook or daydreaming in a coffee shop, I like to draw badly, grow flowers, defend the Oxford comma, and bake cakes.
From Nick:
Hey folks! My name is Nick Fierro, and I’m so pleased to be your Programs Intern for the fall!
I’m a Northern California native, and a recent returnee after a 4-year stint at Washington University in St. Louis, where I studied Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology (one major). Although both the Bay Area and NaNoWriMo are familiar territory to me, this marks my first time celebrating NaNo from “behind the scenes” at the Office of Letters & Light.
A few facts about myself:
They say every person has three things they can talk about for hours with no end in sight. My three things are breakfast cereals, fluffy dogs, and animated movies.
I lived in Scotland for six months during my junior year of college. I arrived a bright-eyed Californian with dreams of Nessie, kilts, and castles, and left with a deathly pallor and an appetite for haggis. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
In recent years, I’ve been focusing on writing more nonfiction, including journalism, culinary writing, and satire (often combining the three). However, fantasy was and remains my first and greatest love.
Like so many of you, my first experience with NaNoWriMo could be described like an elaborate smoothie: one part intellectual curiosity, one part self-betterment, one part sheer terror, seven parts coffee, and a shot of adrenaline––sprinkled, of course, with a deep love of all things writing. Although that smoothie didn’t win any taste-tests, NaNoWriMo was one of the first creative outlets I had where I felt like my efforts were really building towards something––even if that “something” was still a work in progress.
I’m looking forward to lending a helping hand to the NaNo team and standing alongside them as November fast approaches. I’m still unsure what this year’s novel will be, but rest assured I’ll be pantsing––or perhaps plantsing––alongside each and every one of you. Most of all, I’m excited to join in cheering on the hundreds of thousands of writers who will participate in NaNo this year, so for those about to write, I salute you.
