Welcome to the second NF Fest!

If you've accepted the NF Fest Challenge, congratulations!

Like anything else, the more you put into the challenge, the more you will get out.

For the challenge, there are three requirements: 

1.)  Read each day’s post. Comments are optional.

2.) Complete at least 20 activities during February—those suggested by your instructors or those on our activity calendar. (see tab above) These will have you actively writing, researching, and thinking.  

3.) At the end of the month, on the honor system, you will verify that you completed the readings and activities. If you were registered, you will be eligible for prizes.

You are busy, and times are still challenging. You may find yourself having days where you are playing catch up because you skipped some. That’s okay.

But this is a CHALLENGE and it isn’t intended to be easy. Writing true books for children isn’t easy!

If you like charts to stay organized, I’ve created one (see Activity Grid tab above). You can give yourself stickers or chocolate (or whatever works for you) to recognize each day of achievement.

Share your insights and progress on the NF Fest FB page.

The Nonfiction Chicks, Pat Miller, Lisa Amstutz, Stephanie Bearce, Nancy Churnin, Susie Kralovansky, Linda Skeers, and Peggy Thomas, wish you much success!

 

Register now for NF Fest 2021!

No matter what stage you’re in as a nonfiction writer, you will be in a better place at the end of this February challenge!

Every day in February, a NF author or illustrator will inspire and instruct you in a facet of writing true. Every day for the next two weeks, you will see two of our faculty, two of their books, and the titles of their sessions. You will be so jazzed by the time we begin!

You are expected to read each post. Unlike like year, comments are totally optional and are not a requisite to winning a prize.

But reading isn’t writing, so you will also be expected to participate.

Each faculty member will end their post with a related activity you can choose to do. Or you can choose one from a list of 30 other activities that will grow your NF skills. You are expected to complete 20 of them (or more).

If you:

1. register between Jan 15-31 at www.NFFest.com (add the badge in the sidebar to your social media if you like),
2. read each post,
3. complete 20 activities or more,
4. and sign a month’s end pledge of completion,
 

then you will also be eligible for a bunch of prizes. And it is ALL free!

So, sign up today and get your writing space organized! To register, just fill out the form in the sidebar to the right. If you can't see it on a phone or tablet, try a desktop computer. If you get a message saying you're already signed up from last year, you're good to go.

It’s going to be a fabulous NF February. Optionally, you can also join our private Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/NFFest), which is active all year.

All posts from NF Fest 2020 are archived here to help while you wait. During registration, we will post daily a pair of upcoming faculty members and their topics. It’s going to be an exciting preview of NF Fest 2020. See you in February!

Celebration

By Pat Miller

CELEBRATION!

Did you do it? Did you persevere through 28 days of reading, writing and taking action? Were you educated, inspired, and supported? It was not easy!

We sure hope you did. If you read the posts, commented on each and completed 28 activities, you may take the NF Fest Pledge:

         I did it! I completed 28 activities. I read and commented on every post.

Hooray for you! If you are a registered NF Festive, this makes you eligible for prizes.

Now you can add the winner badge to your social media!

IF YOU DIDN’T FINISH, no worries. Take your time. Award yourself the winner badge whenever you do manage to complete everything.

To sustain you until next year’s NF Fest, here are three suggestions:

Right click to download

• Participate in the NF Fest Facebook group (NF Fest).
• Join the NF Fest Twitter group by adding your handle to Meg Welch Dendler’s comment of February 7, 2020.
• Write, write, write! 
• Prize winners will be announced by the end of March.
  

Register for NF Fest!

By Pat Miller

Please note: Registration is now closed for this year. Feel free to join the discussion in our Facebook group and join our email list (see sidebar) to receive notifications about next year's event!

 

NF Fest is a FREE month-long challenge for nonfiction writers hosted by the Nonfiction Chicks (that’s us to the right). It will educate, inspire and support you, whether you are testing the nonfiction waters, are multiply published, or somewhere between.

Fittingly, our first February NF Fest is in a Leap Year, which gives us an extra day and encourages us to leap right into this exciting challenge!

TO REGISTER:

STEP ONE

1.  Below this post is a gray bar with a number and “comments”, like “282 comments”. Click on that. 

2.  Enter your name and state or country in the box that says “Enter your comment”. Click the 'publish' button.

3.  Below the comment box, it says “Comment as: Google”.  If your name is showing, skip to step  4. 

• If your name is not there, click the down arrow. Select “Name/URL”. Put in your name and website address, if you have one (the URL is optional).

• You may also choose “anonymous.” BUT you will need to sign your name to every anonymous comment in February. That way, if your comment is randomly chosen as a winner, we will know who to give the prize to. 

4.  Click the blue “publish” button again. Because there are so many comments, you may need to click the 'Load More' link below the last comment in order to see if yours has posted.

STEP TWO

In the sidebar near the very top, you will see “Registration is now open! Join our email list here.” Put your email and name here. Now we know how to contact you if you win a prize!

STEP THREE (Optional)

Join our NF Fest Facebook community for networking and discussion!

That's it! Registration is open from January 15 to January 31. Only those registered during this period will be eligible for prizes.

WHAT NEXT?

Once you're registered, get ready! 

You may want a notebook or dedicated computer file for all your notes, ideas, and activities.

Print out our activity grid and look it over.

Then, during the month of February:

• READ each daily post from a talented nonfiction author or editor. Take notes. Visit the author’s website. Take full advantage of this “conference session”. Every person who posts is focused on helping you be a better writer.

• WRITE a comment. If you are registered, the comment (only one per day) will make you eligible to win that prize! Add an insight or mention something that resonates.

• TAKE ACTION! Your grid contains 35 activities related to what nonfiction writers do. You complete one activity for each of the 28 days in February. (It’s okay if you do several in one day. Life happens!)

• On February 29, if you did everything above, you will vouch that you read, commented, and took action each day (honor system). That will put you into the drawing for the prizes.

If you don’t register, you will still be able to read all the posts and comment if you like. We hope you will find this to be a fun mini-conference packed with education, inspiration, and support. 

Welcome!

- The NF Chicks