(I sent an email to my family and while writing it asked myself, as I do with most anything I write these days, should I publish this on The Life Literary? I obviously decided I would. My entire goal with this blog is to promote literary living for anybody and everybody. I publish my own writing, as well as ideas big and small for how to live literarily. From writing captions for your photos, to keeping a journal, from hosting a literary event to collecting words, or even writing a novel, I spread out on the table a variety of dishes , literary entrees to suit every taste and inclination. The inquiry from the NaNoWriMo folks (copied at the end of this post) was such a fun boost to my own literary life (and completely unexpected) I decided to share it with a wider audience.)
Dear Family,
I could hardly believe the email I received yesterday which I’m forwarding to you at the end of this message. I’ve told you I’ll be writing a 50,000 word novel starting Nov 1 and finishing by or before Nov 30 as part of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) sponsored by an organization called The Office of Letters and Light. As a sort of adjunct to the main event (about 250,000 people each writing a 50,000 word novel during the month of November), a team of professional graphic designers will be taking on a little challenge of its own: produce 30 book covers in 30 days, based on 30 of the thousands of titles and synopses submitted (NaNoWriMo participants register by setting up a page on the organization’s site on which the fledgling novelist writes some basic getting-to-know-you personal information and the title and synopsis of the book). To make a long story even longer, I received the inquiry from the organization asking for my permission to add my novel’s title and synopsis to the short list of titles these book cover smiths will create. It doesn’t mean the title of the book I’m going to start on November 1, Marigold Man, will be one of the final 30, but it made the short list. What brought (yes I’ll admit it) tears to my eyes is that the NaNoWriMo team, who likely has seen enough titles and synopses that if lined up end-to-end would reach from here to Mars and back again, said they “loved my title and synopsis.” I’m still floored, only reaching up to the keyboard to somehow tap out this email.
This was a shot of pure literary adrenaline, something that I will probably need plenty of during November while pounding out those 50,000 words. Thanks for letting me share it with you. I’ll keep you updated on how this wacky project progresses.
love,
Me
Here is the message I received from The Office of Letters and Light, the organization that hosts the National Novel Writing Month event:
———- Forwarded message ———-
From:
Date: Fri, Oct 28, 2011 at 5:13 PM
Subject: 30 Covers, 30 Days!
To:
Hi there,
We are excited to let you know that your 2011 NaNoWriMo novel may be receiving a cover designed by one of a team of professional designers! This team, under the supervision of the great John Gall, has agreed to try to bash out thirty NaNoWriMo book covers in November as part of our “30 Covers, 30 Days” project, which you can read about on our blog.
We loved your title and synopsis. If you give us the okay, we’ll send them to our all-star team of designers, who may decide to use them to create a cover design for your novel-in-progress. We say “may” because we’re offering each designer three title options, from which they will choose one to illustrate.
John Gall’s team is donating their design time for this project to NaNoWriMo, so this is totally free of charge to you. You’re under no obligation to do anything with the cover once you get it. In fact, the covers that this team creates for the “30 Covers, 30 Days” project are not intended for commercial use. The covers will all be web-resolution images that will not be large enough for use as printed book covers. Think of it as a one-of-a-kind NaNoWriMo souvenir that you can post in the forums, on your blog, or website.
Allowing one of these designers to make a cover for your NaNoWriMo 2011 novel will not involve any transfer of copyright, or prevent you from having another cover designed later by a different artist or publisher. The completed covers will be posted on the NaNoWriMo blog and in our 30 Covers forum.
Please let us know if you are okay with all of the above and would like us to submit your work to John Gall’s team as soon as possible! Also, please tell us how you’d like to have your name presented on the potential cover. Remember that the image will be posted on our blog, so if you have privacy concerns, feel free to give us a nom de plume, though we’d ask that you avoid using something like your username.
If you have any questions, please email or call me in the NaNoWriMo office at _______.
Thank you so much for your continued participation in NaNoWriMo!
_______
Office Captain
The Office of Letters and Light
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