Is this going to push back the timeline for the writing period further? I'm growing concerned that this is going to conflict with other writing projects (NaNoWriMo and Yuletide in my case, chiefly) and I'm going to need to decide if I can commit to this in addition to or instead of those other projects.

I realize that there are problems with this, but my preference would be for a shorter signup period rather than a shorter writing period or later writing period.

I want to be clear that I'm not intending to criticize. There are clearly a lot of logistical issues to navigate and from what I can see you've been doing a thorough, careful job of dealing with them. I just need to make a decision for myself from a time management perspective.