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NaNoWriMo Statistics: Ultimate Guide to National Novel Writing Month

Mar 20 2025 | Infographics | Reports

In November, thousands will attempt to complete a challenge that has been started over 4,000,000 times but less than 20% have ever finished. National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo as it’s become known), takes place in November each year with writers all over the world looking to hit the 50,000 word limit over the course of the month to write a full novel.

Since 1999, NaNoWriMo has grown from 21 participants in its first year to over half a million people now attempting the 30-day challenge. Here, we’ve taken a comprehensive look at the growth of NaNoWriMo, the numbers behind the figures and just what it takes to be a “winner” and reach December having authored a novel.

What is NaNoWriMo?

Having started in 1999 as a daunting challenge of having to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November, NaNoWriMo is now a non-profit organisation that believes your story matters.

In addition to providing a platform for the challenge itself, NaNoWriMo acts as a social network for writers and boasts over 900 volunteers across the world who coordinate communal writing sessions. There are Camp NaNoWriMo projects that take place each year alongside a Young Writers Programme. According to the NaNoWriMo website, they have over 798,000 active novelists and nearly 370,000 novels have been ‘completed’.

How Many Take Part In NaNoWriMo?

The growth in participants for NaNoWriMo has been extraordinary with a huge number of people now taking part. Here’s a breakdown of those who started and finished National Novel Writing Month over the years.

Year	Participants	Winners	% who finished	Total Word Counts
1999	21	6	22%	Unknown
2000	140	29	17%	Unknown
2001	5,000	700	12%	Unknown
2002	13,500	2,100	13%	Unknown
2003	25,500	3,500	12%	Unknown
2004	42,000	6,000	13%	428,164,975
2005	59,000	9,769	14%	714,227,354
2006	79,813	12,948	2%	982,564,701
2007	101,510	15,333	13%	1,187,937,929
2008	119,301	21,683	15%	1,643,343,993
2009	167,150	32,178	16%	2,427,190,537
2010	200,500	37,500	16%	3,074,068,446
2011	256,618	36,843	13%	3,288,976,325
2012	341,375	38,438	10%	3,520,123,164
2013	310,095	42,221	12%	Unknown
2014	325,142	58,917	15%	Unknown
2015	351,489	40,423	10%	Unknown
2016	384,126	34,000	8%	Unknown
2017	402,142	48,257	11%	Unknown
2018*	450,000*	53,000*	11%	Unknown

NaNoWriMo in Print

Publishing in the UK

According to The Publishers Association, UK publishing income totalled £6billion in 2018 proving that “UK publishing continues to satisfy the insatiable consumer appetite for books in all forms. Investment in digital is paying off, driving growth and meeting reader demand to access books at any time in the format of their choice”.

According to figures published by the Association’s 2018 Yearbook:

Total digital book sales went up 5% to £653m
Total print book sales went down 5% to £2.9bn
Total consumer audiobook sales income went up 43% to £69m
Total non-fiction/reference went up 1% to £954m
Total journal sales income went up 4% to £2bn
Total journal export income went up 3% to £1.8bn

The Growth of Creative Writing in the UK

Creative Writing courses have become common at many UK universities over the years with Single Honours and Joint Honours degrees available for students.

For the 2020/21 academic year, there are 562 courses for Creative Writing across 109 providers.

How to take part in NaNoWriMo

Simply visit the NaNoWriMo website to sign up and use the forums and support available to help you reach your 50k word count.