You've Got NaNo Mail!

I loved the movie You’ve Got Mail and recently watched it again. I had forgotten about hearing the electronic signal when I opened up aol, followed by the cheery voice saying “You’ve got mail.” I don’t get the electronic noise and there is no voice announcement but I get the same anticipatory frisson when I see the little envelope next to Hello, novelone! and a number indicating I have new mail. I tend to save my email for the duration of the 30 days, just feels right somehow. I can go back and read the most recent pep talk (more on those later), check out upcoming write-ins (more on those later too), and see what my buddies have sent my way.

I try to send an email to at least one of my buddies every day. They always write back, usually just a few words but the connection keeps my writing energy up and I hope does the same for them.

One more hint on how to add a Buddy, once you are on your email page on the left side will be a brown box saying Invite a friend. If you know the person’s NaNo name you can fill it in there and buddy up that way. And before you know it you’ll be connected. Expand your tribe!

Buddy Up!

Now that you have selected your nano name, it is time to build your buddy list. Your buddy list consists of fellow NaNo participants whose word count you are following. These are people you will cheer on and who will encourage you right back.  BUT, you need to know a writer's NaNo  name to locate them. When I put in novelone as I did in the example above you can see my profile come up. Yes, I am standing in front of one of the world's best known bookstores Shakespeare and Company in Paris. #writerbliss You may also notice that I am wearing a halo. More on that in a future post :-)


For example, I want to buddy my friend author Kristina McBride. She has published three amazing young adult novels and is participating this year. I checked with her and she uses her author name as her NaNo name. So I filled in her name and this came up.

I recognized her beautiful face right away so I knew which of the 3 results to select. If you search someone and get multiple results you can click on the profiles and figure it out that way. When I click on her name her profile comes up.

Now all I have to do is click on the Add as Buddy link to the right of her name and presto! We are Buddies!