Winners of more than $1,200 in writing and blogging-related prizes were randomly selected from the names of everyone who blogged all 31 days in May.

As a surprise consolation prize, everyone who blogged 31 days straight will receive a special WordCount Blogathon badge created by writer/web designer Ron S. Doyle that says “I did it!” to post on their site. I’ll be sending out those badges shortly.

Here are the prize winners, what they received and the sponsors who donated all those goodies.

• Blog/Website SEO Review – Custom analysis of your blog or website from Internet marketing specialist Spork Marketing. Spork’s Jason Lancaster will analyze more than 50 aspects of your website or blog’s design and structure to create a report on what’s working, what’s not and suggestions for 10 easy fixes to make it more search engine friendly. The winner must agree to publish a post about the review process, either on their site or on Spork Marketing’s blog. Value: $500 WINNER: Charles Newbery – Pine Tree Paradise
• Blogging Class – One admission to TV and film blogger Jane Boursaw’s popular class, Blogging for Passion and Profit, Premium level. Value: $250. WINNER: Katie Hinderer – Write Beyond the Cubicle
• Coaching – A one-hour “Get Unstuck” laser coaching session with Marla Beck, life coach for writers, good for writers looking to take on more meaningful assignments, overcome writer’s block. Value: $185. WINNER: Jan Udlock – Imperfect Mom
• KnowledgeWebb subscription – 1 year subscription to KnowledgeWebb, online and in-person training for everyone and anyone working in content. Their motto: Don’t sweat the tech! Value: $129. WINNER: Tara Phillips – Two Hands and a Road Map
• Resume help – One hour of resume writing service from Danielle Buffardi of PenPoint Editorial Services to overhaul an old resume or start a new one. Value: $125. WINNER: Thinkingtoohard – Thinking too hard
• Editing services – One hour of writing, editing, freelance business or social media coaching fromWordCount Editorial Services (that’s me). Value: $125. WINNER: Alexandra Grabbe – Chezsven’s Blog
• Task scheduling software – A copy of Simple Task Timer, time tracking software writers can also use to schedule projects, produce productivity reports and generate invoices. Value: $49.95. WINNER: Rachel Vidoni – East Coast Musings
• Online Markets E-book – Hot off the presses, The Urban Muse blogger Susan Johnston’s new e-book, The Urban Muse Guide to Online Writing Markets, with information on 40 online writing markets that buy freelance articles, as well as samples of successful query emails and a glossary of writing and web terms. Value: $15.99 WINNER: Joy Choquette – One Year. 156 Fears. Life Changing.
• Starbucks gift card - Preferred fuel for bloggers! Value: $25. WINNER: Sarah E. Ludwig – Parenting by Trial and Error
• Associated Press Stylebook 2009 – New, paperback edition, shipped directly to you from Amazon.com. Value: $12.89. WINNER: Katie Jett Walls, One per Week

Thanks again to the 2010 WordCount Blogathon sponsors for donating some fantastic prizes. Sponsors will be contacting prize winners shortly. Winners, if you don’t hear from them within the next week, please let me know.

A lot of people ended up not blogging every day, but came close to it, were faithful about leaving comments on other people’s blogs, or just had fantastic attitudes. To reward them, I added a surprise prize drawing for anyone who signed up for the blogathon but didn’t blog all 31 days. The prize: a $25 Amazon gift card. WINNER: Heather Frendo – Thrifty Knee Socks.

That’s all blogging every day amounts to, a couple hundred extra words added to whatever else you do for a living or for fun.

But oh, how hard those words can be.

The words themselves are simple. As professional writers, we’re good with words. It’s planning what to write, doing the research, scheduling the time to write, making it look good and promoting our efforts that takes all the extra work. Do it every day and blogging can quickly turn from a passion to a pain.

So today, as we head into June and the yearly experiment that is the WordCount Blogathon ebbs into the past like a receding tsunami, we’re taking the time to celebrate surfing on the crest of the wave – or in some cases, just dog paddling to stay out of the undertow.

All this is happening at the real-time wrap party on Twitter for the 2010 WordCount Blogathon at 8:30 a.m. PT. You can follow along at #Blog2010.

The order of events is as follows:

No introductions – Normally a real-time Twitter party or live chat would start with introductions, but since we’ve gotten to know each other pretty well over the past month, we’ll skip that part – it’ll also help us end within 60 minutes. If you’ve been playing along but haven’t introduced yourself yet, feel free to do that on our Google Group, which will remain up and running even after the Blogathon is over.

Questions – We’ll kick off the party with questions. If you haven’t attended a Twitter live chat before, here’s how it works:

1. As the host, I’ll post a question - I’ll leave a set amount of time for people to answer – probably close to 10 minutes – then we’ll move onto the next question.
2. If you want respond – Preface your answer with the number of the question. For example, for the first question I’ll write “Q1: What was your favorite part of the blogathon? #Blog2010″ Your response would look something like: “Q1: Making friends with bloggers from different countries #Blog2010,” or “Q1: Figuring out how to add photos to blog posts. #Blog2010″
3. Make sure to add #Blog2010 – to the end of your reponse, which lets people follow the conversation.

Here are the questions:

• Q1 – What did you like best about this year’s blogathon?
• Q2 – What was the hardest part?
• Q3 – What would you do differently next time?
• Q4 – What blogging tip or trick did you learn?
• Q5 – What would you like to see added to the 2011 WordCount Blogathon?

Prize drawing – Anyone who made it through 31 straight days of blogging is eligible for prizes.* In advance of the wrap party, I’ll use a random drawing service to pick names of the winners. Winners will be announced at the end of the question and answer period, at approximately 9:20 a.m. PT. I will also announce them on Twitter, the Google Group, the Freelance Success message board and on this blog tomorrow. You don’t need to attend the wrap party to be a winner. Winners who aren’t at the wrap party will be contacted within 24 hours.

*If you did not blog every day, please let me know so I can remove your name from the random drawing service (which will make my life a whole lot easier). You can notify me via email, by leaving a comment here or by leaving a comment in the appropriate thread on the Google Group.

Sponsors – Thanks again to the 2010 WordCount Blogathon sponsors for donating some fantastic prizes. If you are one of the lucky winners, the sponsor of the prize you won will make arrangements for getting it to you directly. If you don’t hear from them within the next week, please let me know.

Thanks to everyone for a fantastic blogathon experience – we’ll see you next year!

146 – Percent increase in number of writers and bloggers in this year’s Blogathon. Last year, 45 people signed up. This year 111 signed up by the May 1 cut off to be eligible for giveaways. As of May 2, registrations continued to trick in even though people who sign up now aren’t eligible for prizes.

91 – People participating in the WordCount Blogathon for the first time. For the math challenged, that’s 82 percent.

15 – People participating for the second time.

5 – People participating for the third time. Blogging every day is hard work, but these veterans have figured out it out. All of them – Jane Boursaw, Jackie Dishner, Susan Weiner, Jennifer Willis and me – are full-time professional writers who make their living from some type of writing, blogging included.

18 - Number of guys participating, a Blogathon record. (I owe Bill Lascher cookies from bringing in one of them.)

7 - People using the challenge to start a blog. 

25 - People using the challenge to jumpstart a blog they created and abandonned somewhere along the line or as motivation to post more often.

23  - People whose No. 1 goal for the blogathon is to make it to May 31 without collapsing.

6 - People whose No. 1 goal is “to have fun!” including Meredith Resnick, of of The Writer’s [Inner] Journey.

2 - People whose Blogathon goal is increasing their blogging revenue by posting as often as possible, including more than once a day. Film Gecko‘s Jane Boursaw is shooting for three posts a day. Jennie Phipps, a long-time freelance writer and editor, and owner of Freelance Success, started writing for AOL’s WalletPop blog in 2009 and was pleasantly surprised by how much she made. “I’ve decided to make it a bigger (and recognized) part of my income stream,” Phipps wrote when she signed up for this year’s event. “I’ve set a goal and I need the encouragement offered by the blogathon.” Bloggers such as Boursaw and Phipps make a set fee per post from an online publisher, or earn money from click-through advertising shares from either a website they write for or their own site. The more they write, the more they make. As these pros show, it’s possible to make money blogging, but it takes work.

9 - People using blogs to promote a small businesses. Entrepreneurs have figured out blogs are a good way to connect with customers, be part of the community or show they’re an expert by discussing what’s happening in their industry. During the Blogathon, Sheena Brockington is using Greenhouse Advertising to share ideas with prospective small businss customers. Danielle Carter is using Live and Love Life VA to explain the mundane business tasks entrepreneurs can outsource to outside service providers. Romance novelist Carolyn Smith, who writes under the pen name Caroline Clemmons, is using A Writer’s Life to promote her books.

6 – People whose primary goal for the blogathon is boosting traffic to their blogs, including Teresa Mears, who runs MiamiOntheCheap, and Jodi Torpey, who runs Western Gardeners.

They’re off – the 2010 WordCount Blogathon is here.

This year, more than 110 writers and bloggers from around the world – yes, around the world – have banded together to meet the challenge of posting every day in the month of May.

The diversity of the writers and bloggers represented here blows me away.

We have high school students and grandparents, writers in Japan, Malaysia, India, Canada and the United States, dudes and dudettes, newcomers and bloggers who’re returning for the second and third time – I’m talking about you Jane Boursaw, Jackie Dishner, Sarah Ludwig and Jennifer Willis.

In this group are writers I’ve known for 20 years or more, Portland journalists I’ve gotten to know and bond with over the past year, freelancers I’ve known for several years through the forums on Freelance Success, my Twitter crew, and writers and bloggers I’m meeting for the first time.

There are bloggers who write about politics, regional news, gardening, food, parenting, relationships, education, religion, entrepreneurship, green business, travel, health, and of course, writing.

I’m publishing the complete list for a few reasons, first and foremost to show the world what an awesome bunch you are. Blogathoners can copy and paste the list onto your own blogs. It also comes in handy for finding a partner for the May 18 official guest post exchange day, or if you’re considering writing posts about other writers and bloggers during the Blogathon.

One caution: Play nice. Some of you here have blogs for business. The Blogathon is about having fun, so refrain from using this list to promote products or service.

Without further ado, here are the bloggers of the 2010 WordCount Blogathon:

• Rebecca I. Allen – 356 No More, A journey from couch to fit
• Christa Avampato – Christa in New York, Curating a Creative Life
• Anjuli – bhulbhulaiyan, a complicated entanglement of zigzag pathways
• Joan Lambert Bailey – PopcornHomestead, Gardening, place and my life in Tokyo
• Karen Bannan – Natural as Possible Mom, Because natural isn’t always possible — or easy
• t.a. barnhart – Left Coast Foodie, Damn, that’s good: a foodie blog by someone who knows what he’s doing
• June Bell – Enough is enough! Advice and support
• Teresa Bitler – Forty Firsts, A Midlife Crisis in the Making
• Athena l. Borozon – Altar Valley Daily Orb, The Desert Rat Dialogues
• Jane Boursaw* – Film Gecko, Cool movie news and reviews
• Alisa Bowman – Project Happily Ever After, Marriage advice from a recovering divorce daydreamer
• Carson Brackney – Carson Brackney, Consultant, Copywriter, Content Provider, Factotum
• Ben Bradley, Ben’s (Not Quite) First Ever Presence on the Interweb, Blog of an aspiring human being
• Sheena Brockington – Greenhouse Advertising, Cultivating ideas for small businesses
• Danielle Buffardi* – Horrible Sanity, Going into the mind of a mother and freelancer
• Beverly Burmeier – Going on Adventures, Travel stories from near and far
• Diane Calhoun – Violet is My Color, Life just happens, deal with it
• Danielle Carter – Live and Love Life VA, Helping you do more of what you love, and less of what you don’t!
• Fiona Chan – Candy Prison, A typical teenager
• Joy Choquette – One Year. 156 Fears. Life Changing. One woman tackles her fears
• Bernard Chung – Green Tea World, It’s more than just a cup of green tea here
• Caroline Clemmons – A Writer’s Life, Writing tips, interviews and miscellaneous ramblings
• Shelley Clunie – ShelCluzo’s Blog, Healthy, wealthy and wise at 62
• Cocotte – Leaping into Life, Uncommon stories to nurture body, mind & soul
• Christianne Cook – A Day in My Mind, The world through my eyes
• Sue Dickman – Life Divided, Food, garden, books . . . and India
• Jackie Dishner – Bike with Jackie, Using my special brand of BIKE to teach you how to turn obstacles into opportunities
• Tracy Doerr – Tracy Doerr, A chronicle of ideas and things that inspire me
• Ron S. Doyle* – Blog Salad, All the blog that’s fit to eat
• Dana DuGan – Chick with a View, It’s good to live on the edge. The view is better.
• Dan Eldridge – Labor Party, A Young Pioneers Media blog for Creative and Alternative Entrepreneurs
• Cindy Elsberry – Doodle9, Paddling down the stream…of consciousness
• Heather Faesy – Blame it on the Full Moon, My kids, writing and reading
• R. Jill Fink – My Opera, Musings about writing, food, weight loss and other hilarious things
• Jennifer Fink – Blogging Bout Boys, All about boys — raising them, educating them, learning with them
• Damaris Fish – Damaris Fish on Genealogy, Researching my family history and helping others with theirs
• Dylan Fogle – Discordianzen, The map is not the territory
• Katie Foote – Littlefoote’s Lab, A chronicle of what the unemployed girl in NoPo is up to.
• Barb Freda - Babette Feasts, Feast with Me (Food, Wine, Travel and Photos)
• Heather Frendo – Thrifty Knee Socks
• AndreaGenevieve – Andrea Genevieve, Where social medium, technology and higher education meet
• Alexandra Grabbe – Chezsven’s Blog, Life as a green innkeeper on Outer Cape Cod
• Elyse Grau – My Garden to Table, Growing what you eat, eating what you grow
• Wendy Korn Heppt – Budget Style on a Shoestring, Budget savvy fashion, beauty and related news and ideas
• Katie Hinderer – Write Beyond the Cubicle, A freelance writer’s thoughts on the industry
• Amanda Hirsch – Tastee Pudding, In the search for creative life, the proof is in the Pudding
• Lisa Jaffe Hubbell – Eat, Read and Be Harried, Making it through life one book at a time
• Nancy Mann Jackson – Growing Food and Kids, Gardening, harvesting, cooking and preserving with kids in tow
• Robert Janelle – Without an Apostrophe, Ottawa freelance tech journalist
• Elizabeth King Humphrey – The Write Elizabeth, Writing. Creativity. Play. Life.
• Walter L. Johnson II – Georgia News Beat, An inside look at what’s happening in the state of Georgia
• B.J. Keeton – Professor Beej, Pop culture commentary with an academic slant
• Amy Kocur – AmyLizK, Maryland/ DC Metro area arts and analysis
• Courtney Koschel – Finding My Muse: A New Writer’s Journey,
• Sara Lancaster – No.2PenBlog, Resource for my clients and others interested in marketing communications
• Bill Lascher – Lascher at Large, A contemplative, pondered and unrushed thought banquet.
• Mary Dixon Lebeau – In the Boom Boom Room, Remember staying out until the street lights came on?
• Pooja Lohana – Brown-eyed Mystic, On writing and more!
• Sarah E. Ludwig – Parenting by Trial and Error, The learning curve in raising kids
• Jenny Lynes – Welcome to the Good Life, A student environmentalist exploring responsible, cheap, and fun living
• Su-sieee! Mac – This and That. Here and There. Now, Sometimes Then., Rambling about anything and everything that interests me
• Harry Marks – Curious Rat, Chewing at the tech industry’s wires…nom nom nom…
• Joanne Mason – English Idioms, What they mean, how we use them, where they came from
• Kim McNeill – Kim’s Play Place, An active parent trying to make sure my kids are educated
• Teresa Mears – MiamiOntheCheap, Discounts, deals and free events in Miami
• Rose Medlock – RFM, Rose Flores Medlock
• Heather Minton – Stumbling into Grace, The adventure of following God and figuring it out in Portland
• Kathy Murray – Out and Employed, News, career advice and job resources for ex-offenders
• Alexis Neely – Life, Business and the Pursuit of Truth, A blog about the intersection
• Charles Newbery – Pine Tree Paradise, The life of a work-at-home writer and father of three
• Eric Novinson – Costing a Green Future, A green business blog
• Tracy O’Connor – I Hate My Message Board, Humor, crankiness, a museum of snack foods and the odd motivational piece
• Andrea Parker – Autism Fundraising Guide, For parents of children with autism
• Lilac Penafiel – What Have You Learned Today, Life lessons learned everyday…
• Tara Phillips – Two Hands and a Road Map
• Jennie Phipps – WalletPop, AOL’s personal finance blog
• Ed Pilolla – Ed Pilolla, What the f*** is love?
• Sue Poremba – I Breathe, Therefore I Write
• Michelle Rafter, WordCount, Freelancing in the digital age
• Kate Reilly – Polka Dot Suitcase, Family fun through creative living
• Meredith Resnick – The Writer’s [Inner] Journey, Bestselling authors, professional creatives and emerging voices in quirky dialogue about how they write and why it works
• Vanessa Richardson – Way Out West Texas, City girl from California moves to Way Out West Texas, what will happen?
• Rebecca Robinson – Rebecca Robinson, Updates on freelance projects, reflections on journalism innovation in Portland and beyond, and brainstorms from the wee hours
• Carey Rossi – Thank You Everything, Appreciate the little things
• Natasha Rogue – The Writing Blues, Little tips on how I find motivation to get past the difficulties of writing life and the road to publication
• Andrea M. Rotondo – Luxury Cruise Bible, Your source for unbiased luxury cruise reviews
• Melissa Sais – Digital Mom, Raising kids in a digital world
• Lisa Samalonis – Single Parent Savings
• Sami – Stonerpreneur, Stoner antics as they relate to my business and personal growth
• Ovetta Sampson – Musings of a Writing Princess, A Look Inside the Mind of a Professional Griot
• Dina Santorelli – Making Baby Grand, And I thought giving birth to real babies was hard…
• Lacey Savage – Tips and WIPS, Talking about writing fiction
• Lilian Schaer – Food and Farming Canada, A blog about the farming side of food
• Kristie Sloan – mkBeautyZone, Skin care and makeup information training and products
• Matthew Smith – Smidgen PC, Big news about tiny PCs
• Michelle Smith – Law Office of Michelle R. Smith, Because it’s your life, your family and your choice
• Stephanie Suesan Smith – Stephanie Suesan Smith PhD, Information Central
• Claire Splan – Alameda Garden, Gardening issues in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond
• Margarita Tartakovsky – Self-ish, {Sorta} Sage Advice on Being a Better You
• Thinkingtoohard – Thinking too hard, This is where I empty my head
• Blake Thompson – Black Thompson daht Net, “I’m just saying…”
• Jodi Torpey – Western Gardeners, Your online guide to gardening in the West
• Paul Tullis – Grim Tidings- True/Slant, My rants about politics & policy
• Jan Udlock – Imperfect Mom
• Brandi-Ann Uyemura – Brandi-Ann Uyemura, Rather be freelancing: tips for the beginning writer
• Beth VanHoose – Writing in Sand, My adventures in freelance writing, and other stuff
• Rachel Vidoni – East Coast Musings, A humorous look at kids, family and life
• Jen Walker – My Morning Chocolate, Writing, experiments, culture and adventure in food
• Katie Jett Walls – One per Week, 52 posts on things that matter to me
• Sarah Webb – Webb of Science, Connecting science and life
• Rebecca Weber – Newstilt SAfrica, Dispatches from South Africa
• Susan Weiner – Investment Writing, For investment and wealth managers who want to communicate more effectively with clients and prospects
• Rashida Williams – Really Rashida, Urban lit author blogging about my life and times
• Jennifer Willis – Jennifer Willis, Thoughts on religion, sustainability, media and culture

* These awesome participants are also WordCount Blogathon 2010 sponsors.

In case you’re just tuning in, the Blogathon is an exercise in community blogging, where writers with blogs commit to posting every day during the month of May.

This year, everyone who participates is eligible to win fabulous writing-related giveaways valued at close to $800, including classes, coaching, resume makeovers, software, e-books and more.

As of April 24, we’re close to 50 participants, but I’m still hoping to get more before May 1. Participants get cool badges for their websites to let the world know what they’re up to. If you want to join us, sign up here.

If you’re participating in the Blogathon, there are some events you should know about. Put them on your calendar so you’re ready when they roll around:

April 26 to 30 – Check in here all week long for posts on how to get ready for the Blogathon. I’ll be writing about how to come up with ideas for posts, how to clear the decks so you have the time you need for extra blogging, how to cover yourself when you need a day off and more.

May 1 - And they’re off! On the first day of the Blogathon, I’ll run a complete list of participants, which if you’re joining us, you can copy and put up on your own blog.

May 3 - I’ll sift through information writers provided in their registration forms to come up with a picture of how many people are joining us for the first time and how many are returnees, and all the reasons why people are crazy enough to blog 31 days in a row.

May 8 – On this and every Saturday during the Blogathon, I’ll showcase some of the week’s most interesting posts from Blogathon writers.

May 10 – NEW! WordCount Blogathon Group Blogging Day #1. For the first time, I’m inviting everyone to write about the same thing. The topic: The 10 blogs I can’t live without. Write a post about your favorite blogs – how easy is that? Make it short, make it long, include screen grabs, or not. The fun part is know we’re all in it together.

May 18 – Official Blogathon Guest Post Exchange Day. Look at the list of particpating bloggers running May 1 and ask someone on it to swap posts with you. Or exchange posts with a friend, that’s fine too. The point is to write on someone else’s blog that day, and have them write on yours.

May 24 – NEW! WordCount Blogathon Group Blogging Day #2. Another opportunity for everyone to write about the same thing. Only this time instead of me picking what we write about, someone else gets to come up with the theme. Submit your suggestion by May 9 and I’ll pick the best one and announce it on May 10, on the first group blogging day. Good times.

May 31 – You did it! The WordCount Blogathon is over. Back to your regularly scheduled programming. But wait, there’s more…

June 1 – The official WordCount Blogathon wrap party on Twitter. We’ll congregate at 8:30 a.m. PST at hashtag #Blog2010 for a fast-paced discussion of what we loved, what we hated and what we’d do differently next time. Plan on 30 minutes, though I’ll stay for an hour in case anyone else wants to.

Feeling lucky?

You could be one of the big winners in this year’s WordCount Blogathon.

To mark the event’s 3rd anniversary, I’ve lined up some fabulous giveaways for writers who commit to blogging the entire month of May.

Thanks to some awesome sponsors, more than $1,200 in prizes will be awarded to randomly selected participants at the end of the WordCount Blogathon:

• NEW! (Added April 29) KnowledgeWebb subscription - 1 year subscription to KnowledgeWebb, affordable training for everyone and anyone working in content. Their motto: Don’t sweat the tech! Value: $129.
• NEW! (Added April 27) Blog/Website SEO Review – Custom analysis of your blog or website from Internet marketing specialist Spork Marketing. Spork’s Jason Lancaster will analyze more than 50 aspects of your website or blog’s design and structure to create a report on what’s working, what’s not and suggestions for 10 easy fixes to make it more search engine friendly. The winner must agree to publish a post about the review process, either on their site or on Spork Marketing’s blog. Value: $500
• One admission to TV and film blogger Jane Boursaw’s popular class, Blogging for Passion and Profit, Premium level. Value: $250.
• A one-hour “Get Unstuck” laser coaching session with Marla Beck, life coach for writers, good for writers looking to take on more meaningful assignments, overcome writer’s block. Value: $185.
• One hour of resume writing service from Danielle Buffardi of PenPoint Editorial Services to overhaul your old resume or start a new one from scratch. Value: $125.
• Hot off the presses, The Urban Muse blogger Susan Johnston’s new e-book, The Urban Muse Guide to Online Writing Markets, with information on 40 online writing markets that buy freelance articles, as well as samples of successful query emails and a glossary of writing and web terms.
• A copy of Simple Task Timer, time tracking software writers can also use to schedule projects, produce productivity reports and generate invoices. Value: $49.95.
• One hour of writing, editing or business coaching from WordCount Editorial Services (that’s me). Value: $125.
• Starbucks gift card - Preferred fuel for bloggers! Value: $25.
• The Associated Press Stylebook 2009 – New, paperback edition, shipped directly to you from Amazon.com. Value: $12.89.

To be eligible, all you have to do is sign up for the blogathon and blog all 31 days. Winners will be randomly drawn and announced on June 1 during the real-time WordCount Blogathon wrap party – watch here for more details.

To sign up or learn more about the blogathon go to the official WordCount Blogathon page.

In addition to a chance to win fabulous prizes, all WordCount participants receive a free badge to place on their blog to let the world know they’re part of this wonderful group – that’s it at the beginning of this post.

A big shout out to WordCount Blogathon sponsors for making this possible:

• Jason Lancaster and Internet marketing specialist Spork Marketing.
• Jane Boursaw, freelance writer and blogger at Reel Life with Jane and a whole lot more.
  Marla Beck, life coach for writers.
• Danielle Buffardi of PenPoint Editorial Services.
• Susan Johnston, freelance writer and blogger at The Urban Muse.
• Alex Garrido, author of Simple Task Timer.
• Ron Doyle for designing the participant and sponsor badges.

If you’re a company that makes products or services for writers and would be interested in sponsoring the WordCount Blogathon, please contact me here.

If you’re new to these parts and wondering ‘What the heck is a blogathon?’ let me enlighten you. The blogathon is group commitment by a steadfast band of writers from all over to blog every day during the month of May. The fun starts Saturday, May 1 and doesn’t stop until we’re all blogged out on Monday, May 31.

If you’ve participated in the blogathon before, welcome back.

This year we’re kicking things up a notch – several actually. In hopes of improving your blogathon experience, we’ve added:

• A blogathon registration form – Fill it out to put yourself on a blogathon mailing list for weekly updates, pep talks and announcements. You’ll find the registration form live now on a special WordCount Blogathon page on this site. By registering you’ll also get the…
• Official blogathon participant badge – …designed by my main man Ron Doyle, the wiz behind the redesign of this blog, my business cards, letterhead and Twitter background page. Display it on your blog to tell the universe you’re a blogging fiend, and proud of it.
• Daily themes – Stuck on what to write? This year the official blogathon headquarters staff (i.e. yours truly) has come up with a cheat sheet of sorts, a slate of weekly topics you can post about, thereby offloading some of the pressure to come up with original material every single day. Watch for more information on this before the blogathon gets under way.
• Giveaways – Sorry, you’ll have to stay tuned for future announcements about the fantastic writing-related products and services I’ll be giving away during this year’s event!

We’re also bringing back some oldies but goodies from last year, including an official guest-post exchange day, where you pick a blogging partner and agree to trade posts on the appointed day. We’ll also share what we learned during a blogathon wrap party on Twitter the day after the blogathon is over, which is Tuesday, June 1.

Speaking of Twitter, you can follow Blogathon-related activity using the hashtag #Blog2010

Approximately 45 writers participated in last year’s blogathon. This year my goal is to coax at least 100 writers into joining. Think we can do it?

For more information or to sign up for this year’s blogathon, go to the WordCount Blogathon page.

Whether you’re taking the plunge, or just thinking about it, sign up for the WordCount RSS feed to see all upcoming blogathon-related announcements.

I’m convinced the reason Streep’s been recognized so many times is because she’s a good picker.

By picker I mean Streep has a good feel for what roles would be right for her, overall and at that particular point in her career. My hunch is she takes into account the script, director, producers backing the picture, amount of time she’ll need to invest in the project, and finally, the money. Whether she’s got a good agent or just a keen sense of what works well for her, it’s made her career.

On Sunday night, Sandra Bullock won the Oscar for her portrayal of a take-charge mom who brought a homeless black teenager into her Southern white family in The Blind Side. Bullock’s a good actress too. Whether she’s on par with Streep is a subject for a different blog post. But Bullock’s been in lots of interesting, if not heavyweight films over the years. She’s also been in a lot of dogs: to wit, she’s the only actress ever to win an Oscar and a Razzie (for All About Steve) in the same year.

It’s taken the actress they call America’s Sweetheart this long to grab the golden statue because she isn’t as good a picker as someone like Streep.

So what does this have to do with writers?

Writers, like Streep, Bullock and other creative types, are only as good as the projects we pick.

Pick a stimulating assignment that pushes you beyond what you thought yourself capable of doing and you wind up improving your writing, your portfolio and your chances of that higher profile publication saying “Yes” the next time you query.

Pick something easy you’ve done over and over again, and you don’t grow.

Pick a publisher that pays peanuts, pays in exposure or can’t or won’t pay at all, and you end up frustrated, and quite possibly, broke.

Figuring out what projects to pursue is something some writers are naturally great at. Others are lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. Still others have to work long and hard to figure out the process.

If you’re someone who innately knows what projects are right for any particular place and time, hooray for you – I’ve love to hear how you go through that decision-making process.

If you’re not, here are some things to think about the next time an opportunity comes your way or when you’re thinking about which assignment you want to do next. Call them the 5 Ps of Picking a Project:

1. The project – Am I excited to do this? How much time and effort will it take? Does it fit into my writing specialty? Is it an area people are interested in, one that I could make into a new specialty? Do I already have sources I could talk to who know the subject? If not, how easy would it be to find them? Will I have to travel? If so, how much time will it take me away from other projects?

2. The people – Have I worked with the editor or staff before? If so, are they easy to work with or overly demanding, demeaning or rude? Do they make a story better or edit in mistakes? Are they quick to answer emails or phone calls?

3. The publication – Is it a magazine, website, newspaper, company I want to be affiliated with? What kind of reputation do they have? What kind of financial situation are they in: on the way up or down? How do they treat their writers?

4. The pay – Is the compensation worth the number of hours I need to put into the project to do it justice? What rights are involved? Are expenses included? Is it pay on acceptance or publication? If it’s low paying, can I reuse the research and pitch a different story to a different publication? Could it lead to more work or a contract or retainer position?

5. The big picture – How does this fit into my goals for my writing business this year? For my career? Could it lead to more lucrative work? Is it something I’ll be proud of? Can I squeeze this in without sacrificing projects I’m already committed to? How does this fit into my non-work life?

Nobody’s criteria for choosing project is exactly the same. But by going through a well-reasoned thought process you could end up like Meryl Streep, a perennial winner.

ONA is the largest professional organization for reporters, editors and other journalists working primarily in digital media, whether on staff for newspapers or magazines or for themselves as freelancers, bloggers or entrepreneurs. Based in Washington D.C., ONA has regional chapters around the country and in recent years has started several international outposts.

The ONA recently asked members to submit proposals for conference sessions. Suggestions poured in, including proposed sessions on teaching writers how to code – and computers how to write – building nonprofit news ventures and thriving as a journalist entrepreneur.

Now the organization’s crowding, asking anyone and everyone interested to vote on which of the 118 proposed topics they’d like to see at the conference. To vote, go to the Session Selector page, and create an account. Each proposed topic comes with a brief explanation, and you can see who the presenters would be. You can give a thumbs up to select as many as you like.

Although it’s still months away, it’s not too early to start thinking about attending ONA 2010. Last year’s conference in San Francisco was a sell out, with guest speakers such as Twitter’s Ev Williams and BlogHer’s Lisa Stone, and close to 750 professional and student journalist in attendance.

For more information on the ONA 2010 conference visit the main registration page. Get conference updates on Twitter at @ONA10 and track conversations at #ONA10.

Last year close to 50 writers participated in the blogathon. In addition to putting up a list of all participating writers on our respective blogs, we had an official guest post exchange day and a real-time wrap party on Twitter to discuss what we loved, hated and learned.

Here at WordCount world headquarters, I’m already hatching plans to make this year’s blogathon the best ever. Already in the works: an official button participants can prominently display on their blogs to show the world what they’re doing. And once again we’ll have an official guest post exchange and a real-time wrap party.

I’d like to take it to the next level – but what is that exactly? Contests? Prizes? Guest posts from editors? Pre-blogathon posts to help you plan how to blog every day in the month of May without going crazy or stopping everything else you do?

Since this is a participatory event, I’d like to hear from you. Whether you took part last year, think you might this year, or just want to have a say in things, I’d love your input. Please take the following poll to let me know what new things you’d like to see this year.

And don’t forget to check back here regularly for more WordCount Blogathon 2010 updates.