Welcome to the End Times

An anti-Nanowrimo blog

[the-nanowrimo-chronicles]

Please leave this blog up even though nano is gone

I just discovered you but I don't have time to read through it all rn lol

The blog won’t go anywhere. I think it’d be a useful resource for people in years to come who are looking into Nanowrimo for…whatever reason. Reflection or nostalgia or whatever. Plus, I want to keep reporting any updates until Nanowrimo is truly gone for good.

That said…good luck reading this whole saga back. I can’t say I recommend that too much. It was a wild and very emotional ride to experience.

[the-nanowrimo-chronicles]

So today makes a year since nano shut down

I don’t really think about it anymore tbh

[the-nanowrimo-chronicles]

A ‘replacement’ Nanowrimo, led by former staff, has appeared.

And it is bad.

First off; based on the people listed on the site, particularly Chris Baty, this is the former staff revival project that I discussed early last month.

So far, the site is mostly the same resources that have been getting passed around since Nanowrimo’s downfall, as well as some YWP textbooks.

It also links to a separate site for educators, explaining and prompting the challenge to schools. Although…

I had a poke around the links, and the digital literacies article seems…out of place given the failures of Nanowrimo’s YWP moderation.

This doesn’t exist anymore, so I don’t understand why it was linked in the first place, and makes me wonder if the nano 2.0 team actually learnt anything from having multiple child moderation scandals in the same year.

Which…seems likely.

I’m not gonna mince words. In their first point, they dismiss the years long incompetence that led to a predator Nanowrimo hired being able to isolate, exploit and abuse vulnerable members of their community on their site for years as ‘an inappropriate link’, and attempt to gaslight the people who were involved in bringing this to attention when they say that people felt like online safety wasn’t being prioritised. They also ignore everything else that came out around that time; the gaslighting and abuse of MLs by both HQ and their fellow members, years of HQ mismanagement, and the fact that the YWP was so poorly moderated that the underage members there had resorted to community moderation. Once again AI is given more weight than fucking child abuse.

So that’s Nano 2.0. The same incompetence with no clear purpose, and a complete lack of accountability. Fuck them.

[the-nanowrimo-chronicles]

Some of the former Nanowrimo staff may be attempting to revive the organisation.

A post has appeared on the Nanowrimo subreddit, discussing a blog post made by a former ML who has since rebranded her region into her own international group.

The blog post itself reflects on the author’s own history with Nanowrimo, and the lessons that can be learned from its downfall. However, it does contain a few interesting passages highlighted by the Reddit post:

Although the Reddit poster suggests Grant, Sarah and Marya among other names, my eyes are on Chris given the previous posts on the subreddit.

Either way, the idea of any of Nanowrimo’s former staff being involved in any kind of revival makes me feel physically sick, especially given the fact that the blog’s author writes that problems have already started to emerge, and she has since left the team:

The post is… very direct, and summarises a lot of my feelings, I recommend reading it for yourself.

But currently, I find myself somewhere between sick to my stomach and filled with fury I thought burned out when the website went down. Which is…pretty much how I felt when Nanowrimo was burning nearly two years ago. It doesn’t seem like whoever’s behind this revival has learnt anything from the downfall of their organisation, and considering how much harm that organisation did, the idea of it being revived this way is absolutely horrifying.

(I also wonder why they asked the author of this blog post to join the team, since she was one of the first MLs to break away from Nanowrimo in late 2023. My best guess is that they wanted someone who could appeal to the “trolls”, rather than actually apologising for the harm they caused. Because taking accountability is so hard apparently.)

[the-nanowrimo-chronicles]

reblogging to add some new information!

Apparently Grant and Chris were both involved, although Grant may have left the team as well. Really not a good sign, and I’m still quite uncomfortable with the fact that he was involved at all, given the fact that he oversaw Nanowrimo for several years during the controversies, and definitely failed to act on reports of child predation on his site.

[the-nanowrimo-chronicles]

Some of the former Nanowrimo staff may be attempting to revive the organisation.

A post has appeared on the Nanowrimo subreddit, discussing a blog post made by a former ML who has since rebranded her region into her own international group.

The blog post itself reflects on the author’s own history with Nanowrimo, and the lessons that can be learned from its downfall. However, it does contain a few interesting passages highlighted by the Reddit post:

Although the Reddit poster suggests Grant, Sarah and Marya among other names, my eyes are on Chris given the previous posts on the subreddit.

Either way, the idea of any of Nanowrimo’s former staff being involved in any kind of revival makes me feel physically sick, especially given the fact that the blog’s author writes that problems have already started to emerge, and she has since left the team:

The post is… very direct, and summarises a lot of my feelings, I recommend reading it for yourself.

But currently, I find myself somewhere between sick to my stomach and filled with fury I thought burned out when the website went down. Which is…pretty much how I felt when Nanowrimo was burning nearly two years ago. It doesn’t seem like whoever’s behind this revival has learnt anything from the downfall of their organisation, and considering how much harm that organisation did, the idea of it being revived this way is absolutely horrifying.

(I also wonder why they asked the author of this blog post to join the team, since she was one of the first MLs to break away from Nanowrimo in late 2023. My best guess is that they wanted someone who could appeal to the “trolls”, rather than actually apologising for the harm they caused. Because taking accountability is so hard apparently.)

[the-nanowrimo-chronicles]

Last night, a post went up (and was then removed) from the NanoWriMo subreddit

(I have removed usernames and the discord link myself)

Nanowrimo.ca, as of now, seems to be a fairly minimalist site for finding resources and writing groups, directed at former participants.

I…don’t feel good about this. It feels like this might be an attempt to revive Nanowrimo without learning anything from its downfall; especially the forums. The mention of forums with the Nanowrimo logo on it kinda makes me feel sick.

I don’t feel like this would be the right use of the Nanowrimo domain, but at the very least it’s not an outright scam. Not yet, anyway.

[the-nanowrimo-chronicles]

I wonder what’s gonna happen to the Nanowrimo domain. Cause like, there’s people still finding out about the closure now. If the domain goes up for sale it could very easily be exploited to funnel confused participants into an unscrupulous group, if not an outright scam, when people return for the challenge in October and November.

Pretty horrifying thought tbh.

[the-nanowrimo-chronicles]

The Nanowrimo website has shut down.

Without any fanfare the Nanowrimo website has gone offline, after 25 years.

[the-nanowrimo-chronicles]

So now that it’s been a few days since Nano announced its closure can we agree that the AI issue was secondary to the multiple incidents of grooming on both the main Nanowrimo site and the young writers program, and to refer to the AI scandal over the literal years worth of crimes facilitated by the site, from the lack of regulation of their YWP classrooms, to the months it took them to remove a predator from their forum moderation team, is ignoring the real issues, and that this pattern of reporting, well over a year since these issues were brought to light, is to ignore why Nanowrimo closed in the first place?

We can agree that they closed because of wide scale failures that created a hotbed for child grooming and other forms of abuse, not because of an overnight AI incident, right?

[the-nanowrimo-chronicles]

Someone on the nanowrimo Wikipedia page is really determined to undo any acknowledgement of the shutdown; claiming that the video is not an accurate source because it doesn't come from the offiical youtube. As if it being an announcement is not enough... .

So I didn’t expect to fall down a rabbit hole on Wikipedia editing polices but I can’t help but giggle at this. Like I know they have reasons for these polices but at the same time it takes two minutes of digging to discover the widely shared email that linked to this video. Just feels really finicky to me.

[karalianne]

I did not create this summary but I have permission to share it.

Act I, the background:

The video opens with a timeline of Nano's history, Kilby glazing herself, and bragging about participation numbers.

When Kilby joined the board, she "figured we must be getting five- and six-figure support from big publishers" and "big authors." But, SURPRISE! "Nanowrimo never had that level of backing."

Shows some charts (screenshots, below). Note that the charts show that right around half (give or take, depending on the year) of Nano's funding came from charitable contributions.

Immediately after showing these charts, she says the organization was "primarily funded by sponsorships and merchandies, and not by charitable contributions." This is a great sign for what's to come. *As of 2020, Nano was "six-figure[s]" in debt. Her time on the board was focused on fundraising.

Act II, the scandal:

Kilby claims that the grooming of children ONLY happened off-site, NEVER on nano itself.

Kilby claims that the board publicly shared the findings of its investigation into CF after 10 days. It is implied this was done back in MAY.

Kilby admits nobody had any relevant training or certification for dealing with children.

Kilby claims nobody at NaNo knew who CF/Mod X really was (blatant lie) because they just didn't keep those records, which prevented them from being able to work with child protection organizations.

Kilby claims she was tapped for the ED position because she "understood youth-facing organizations" and "had experience with the required state-mandated training." No evidence of this understanding or experience is supplied.

More self-glazing

"Our top priority is, and was, child safety." lol

Kilby claims they implemented staff background checks "immediately" (later in the video, she'll claim that some unspecified number of people had been "vetted" and were working with the org again).

Further claims that they "developed an advice content [sic]" aimed at teaching minors how to be safe online. ….where? who knows?

Claims they started verifying educators on YWP.

Act III, the community:

Forums: Inconsistent moderations, outdated TOS. Saw problematic, unaddressable behavior. Couldn't maintain the integrity of the space.

One of the problems was that they had "encouraged" "volunteers" to set up "unofficial" Discords and facebook groups with the Nano name. "Nobody under nanowrimo's authority was moderating those groups." Using resources to deal with issues from these "unaffiliated" groups.

"The number of people who view themselves as experts by virtue of how long they've been doing Nanowrimo… numbered in the tens of thousands." [The salt really starts here]

Act IV, the fallout:

ED job was "bigger than rebuilding after an educational crisis" [because you're so good at that, clearly]

When Kilby took over, there were more than a dozen existing labor violations.

Participation had been declining since before 2020, fell off a cliff.

Sponsor money in March 2023: $310k. Sponsor money in March 2024: $125k

2023's funding shortfall was equal to 20% of their total annual budget

"We were operating outside of our mission." Claims they became an "advocacy group that actively lobbied for authors." No further specifics of how, for who, or to whom are provided.

We COULD recover from this, except for not having money.

Act V: Conclusion (why is there still 10 minutes left in the video??)

Nano is shutting down.

Website will stay up "as long as possible, but we cannot guarantee a specific end date" [because I don't know what the host's non-payment policies are or when the check will bounce]

We were going to merge with another writing org, but they noped out when they saw our debt.

"Other potential supporters" were scared off by mean, dastardly 'ol REDDIT

"Many people who withheld their support, or supported us anonymously, told us that the tone of the community was a big issue."

The press was mean to us and inaccurate about our position on AI. (what press? Youtubers??)

Kilby claims they TURNED DOWN "a number of" AI sponsors because it "went against our mission."

"The real alternative to the organization closing, and I can't say this enough, would have been for us to been funded [sic] by the community." No kidding?

"Community funding shouldn't have been a problem."

The collapse of Nano was because of things that happened before I got here (financial mismanagement), but it absolutely wasn't because of AI or a scandal. Don't put it in the newspaper that it was because of AI or a scandal. Those were just a coincidence.

Thank you to everyone I fired, drove away, etc. etc.

[femme--de--lettres]

okay i need someone else who's been at least tangentially aware and/or involved with NaNo to watch this video and chat with me about it because I have THOUGHTS™ (below the cut)

Here's the thing—aside from the fact that NaNo's PR has been slowly imploding for the past ~five years, this video itself feels VERY MUCH like a CYA from the Interim Director (a fact bolstered by both the fact that it's being posted on the "NaNoWriMo Kilby" account, not the formal NaNo one AND the fact that at multiple points, it's tosses out what Kilby specifically did to "help" things) as well as an indictment of long-time participants (despite the claims that it's not, Kilby states in the PPT that "[the board of directors] heard repeatedly from other would-be grassroots supporters that they aligned with [NaNo]...but that the community vitriol was a problem," then in the audio overlay specifically calls out that "a lot of people who viewed [NaNo] as a welcoming community had that view challenged this year. and it wasn't because of what HQ was doing, but because of what they were seeing from people who were self-identified Wrimos", then later pins the collapse of the organization on people not giving enough money to support NaNoWriMo) rather than a solely objective analysis of what's happened.

Genuinely sad that this is happening, but imo this video felt condescending as fuck, between what feels like a thinly disguised "you all didn't know everything that was going on" mantra being hammered home every few slides, the fact that it's a recorded slideshow instead of a video or a comprehensive written report with verifiable evidence of the steps taken to mitigate the legitimate concerns that were raised with their team regarding organizing and child safety on their platforms, AND the fact that near the conclusion, Kilby states "what hurt the organization far more and for far longer [than the genuinely BAFFLING stance that they took on AI in late August of 2024]...was the fact that many members of a very large, very engaged community let themselves believe the service we provided was free."

(for context, the below screenshot was taken today and conspicuously notes that "Oh, and best of all, it's free!")

Kilby makes a salient point that artistic/creative efforts—especially non-profit organizations—are struggling to find funding from their communities. That's real, and it should be cause for concern for any of us on here/elsewhere who find value in the arts, whether as creators or enjoyers of it.

That said, as much as the financial concerns of NaNo may have been the driving factor behind the shutdown Kilby is discussing, it's kind of wild to hear the narration go from such clinical descriptions of what they did when grooming allegations were raised to "but you all didn't bother to donate enough so now we're shutting down >:(" energy.

The decline of the org is clearly a multi-faceted thing, and while I appreciate that many of those factors were discussed here, to me the tone of this video felt off-putting and a bit like a last-ditch effort from someone trying to clear their name before bailing on a sinking ship.

[the-nanowrimo-chronicles]

This is why I felt so weird about the video!

It feels like it’s trying to do what she always did: change the narrative to one where she did nothing wrong, while dismissing everything that people had been doing for years to try and support the organisation, even as it began to crumble.

You’ve put into words why I don’t like this as nano’s goodbye.

[the-nanowrimo-chronicles]

So Nanowrimo is actually dead.

After 25 years of operation, Nanowrimo is shutting down.

An email came out in the hours approaching April Fools

A video was attached to the email, which can be viewed here:

The video is on Kilby’s channel and not the long dead Nanowrimo channel. The video is full of…

Kilby logic, but there is some relevant information contained within.

If have anything on Nanowrimo you need to get off the site, take it now. The site will likely not be around for too much longer.

Despite everything that the organisation has been through, the closure of a 25 year old nonprofit is still a tragedy, and my heart goes out to everyone that’s grieving from this. Nano has hurt a lot of people, but it meant a lot to so many, and I will be sorry to see that go.

Even if I don’t agree with many things in the recent video, I can agree with the sentiment of one slide.

I will update you all if and when relevant information comes out. Despite everything, I now doubt that this will be my last post.

[the-nanowrimo-chronicles]

So Nanowrimo is functionally dead

Been a while since I used this account. Honestly, there has been nothing to say. November came and went and it was a bunch of sponsor run events. It seemed like Nanowrimo had already died in the fire, and it’d been revived as a shambling corporate zombie.

The Zendesk went down today. With the Nanowrimo Facebook account now redirecting people to the Zendesk, there is no way to contact support, apart from emailing (which has not received any recent responses)

The socials are dead. Nothing is being approved.

Oh, and they forgot to renew their charitable status, which means they legally can’t accept donations.

(They still are)

Unless something changes, my last post will probably be when Nano goes offline.

I can’t say I’m mad about this. Only about the lack of accountability for any of the leadership in this mess.

[abearthatwrites]

"Unless something changes, my last post will probably be when Nano goes offline."

it's only been four hours lol

[the-nanowrimo-chronicles]

THE TIMING—

[the-nanowrimo-chronicles]

So Nanowrimo is functionally dead

Been a while since I used this account. Honestly, there has been nothing to say. November came and went and it was a bunch of sponsor run events. It seemed like Nanowrimo had already died in the fire, and it’d been revived as a shambling corporate zombie.

The Zendesk went down today. With the Nanowrimo Facebook account now redirecting people to the Zendesk, there is no way to contact support, apart from emailing (which has not received any recent responses)

The socials are dead. Nothing is being approved.

Oh, and they forgot to renew their charitable status, which means they legally can’t accept donations.

(They still are)

Unless something changes, my last post will probably be when Nano goes offline.

I can’t say I’m mad about this. Only about the lack of accountability for any of the leadership in this mess.

[the-nanowrimo-chronicles]

A two hour video essay has come out about the Nanowrimo controversies.

The video includes several interviews with former staff, MLs and participants, myself included.

[the-nanowrimo-chronicles]

Nanowrimo has paused all sign ins to the YWP

This was most likely in response to concerns raised about the fact that although new educator accounts couldn’t be made, classrooms were still open, users could still join classrooms and access private messages. There was no warning, and there is currently no way for users to retrieve material on the site.

[the-nanowrimo-chronicles]

Access had now returned!