So why not take it a step further and put WordCount on your blog reader, or sign up to have it delivered directly to your email inbox?

It’s easy. Click on the orange subscribe button in the upper right corner of the page to add WordCount to your blog reader. If you’d rather get WordCount in your email inbox, click on the little envelop right next to it.

Sign up for WordCount and you’ll receive an average of three posts a week on subjects ranging from the best ways to do research online to top digital media trends to how to break into hyperlocal news.

Need more encouragement?

Here are 8 reasons why you should put WordCount on your blog reader:

1. You’ll get WordCount posts delivered to your email inbox or blog reader as soon as they’re published.

2. You’ll be joining more than 400 other WordCount subscribers – truly a well-informed bunch.

3. You’ll never miss an installment of WordCount’s Recommended Reading for Writers, published every Friday and chock full of links to interesting articles on writing and the writing business. For a sample, look here.

4. You’ll be among the first to get notices of upcoming WordCount Last Wednesday monthly chats on Twitter, where I lead discussions about the latest tech tools for writers and other topics of interest. For a sample chat, look here.

5. If you miss WordCount chats, you’ll be able to read recaps online. For a sample, look here.

6. You’ll get the scoop on the annual WordCount Blogathon, held every May, where writers and bloggers take part in a communal commitment to post 31 days straight – a great exercise if you’re starting a blog or need motivation to work on one you’ve already got.

7. You’ll be able to take “Put WordCount blog on blog reader” off your to-do list – such a good feeling.

8. You’ll become one of WordCount’s BFFs!

With WordCount coming up on its third anniversary and continuing to grow in traffic and reach, I realize how grateful I am to everyone who has added it to their blog reader, posted comments, participated in the annual May blogathon, and generally made it possible for me to talk about what I love – writing and the business of writing – for a willing audience.

As was the case in WordCount’s first two years, some of the posts I wrote this year drew more readers than others. In some cases it was because I touched on a topic that was in the news, or covered something with universal appeal. Other times it was because I stumbled onto the right set of tags to get a post to appear at the top of Google search results.

Whatever the case, here are the 12 most popular posts on WordCount in 2010.

1. 10 things J.K. Rowling taught me about writing – I hit the jackpot with this post on Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling’s writing style, which I wrote after finishing the seven-book series. The post tapped into interest in Rowling and all things related to the boy wizard. It also helped that I included a publicity photo – images help posts show up higher in search engine results. I wrote the original in summer 2009 and when it continued to get traffic after more than a year, I wrote an update this fall to coincide with the release of the “Deathy Hallows” movie. The new post was also among the top 20 most visited on my blog this year as well.

2. Best of WordCount – Beat the recession – This January 2009 compilation of posts on how freelancers can deal with the recession is proof that if the information is good enough, people will continue coming back to it.

3. The 2010 WordCount Blogathon - The third anniversary of my annual month-long blogging fest was the biggest ever, which helps explain all the traffic to this page, which describes the event.

4. Top 10 qualities of a good editor – An oldie but goodie, this 2008 post continues to draw traffic, mainly because it’s the No. 1 result in Google searches for the term “qualities of a good editor.” Takeaways from this post: write about things other people aren’t, and pay attention to keywords or tags you use to describe a post.

5. In Portland, the big story is snow – Another instance where including a photo has helped drive traffic. In this case, the photo that goes with the post drives most of the traffic – a good reminder that it’s important to tag photos so search engines can find them.

6. AOL’s Patch hiring spree – boon or bane for freelance writers? – This post drew traffic because I wrote it the day AOL announced it was expanding its Patch hyperlocal network – and hiring lots of journalists to staff it. Sine I’d blogged a lot about hyperlocal news, I was able to add my own opinions to the basic facts, turning into more of an editorial than a straight news piece. In the days and weeks immediately after, a number of prominent online publications referred to it. Moral of the story: it pays to write about the news, and add your own take to what’s happening.

7. Top 10 blogs for freelance writers – Posts about writing resources are always popular on WordCount, especially lists of writing-related blogs that freelancers should follow.

8. Back to basics: the nut graph – A while back I started a series called Back to Basics to cover fundamentals that all freelancers, writers and bloggers should know. This post on nut graphs – a paragraph high up in a story that explains what it’s about, puts the subject into context and tells the reader why they should care – has been the most popular entry in the series to date, with many other blogs linking to it.

9. 10 businesses freelance writers can start today – When the recession shuttered magazines and forced newspapers into massive layoffs, it irrevocably changed the way the freelance writing business works. Now more than ever, independent writers need to think like small business owners, and be more assertive in running their own show. This post was popular because it spells out 10 different writing related, single-person businesses a freelancer can start, with examples of writers who are doing just that.

10. Best WordPress plug ins for writers – This post about plug ins for WordPress blogging software with special appeal to writers was based on information shared during the inaugural WordCount Last Wednesday monthly chat I hosted on Twitter. Website developer/writer/tech guy Ron Doyle was my guest, and provided a lot of the material in the post.

11. WordCount Q&A: Suite 101 CEO Peter Berger and a question of quality – This is one of many posts I’ve done over the past two years on the pros and cons of writing for so-called content farms, sites that pay extremely low wages for people who may or may not be professional writers to crank out copy (I can’t even use the word “stories” to describe the end product) to draw in eyeballs and hopefully, money from click-through advertising.

12. 7 simple SEO tips for writers – Another post based on a WordCount Last Wednesday live chat, this one about search engine optimization (SEO) that I hosted with special guest Jason Lancaster, head of Spork Marketing, a Denver Internet marketing firm. I’ve purposely used my background covering technology and consumer electronics to blog regularly about tech tools for writers and it’s paid off, as traffic to this post attests.

Got a favorite WordCount post you’d like to see again? Or an idea for a subject you’d like me to write about more in 2011? Please let me know. I’m mapping out future posts and would love to hear your thoughts.

My current favorites run the gamut from straight news to very personal, from blogs that provide tips for improving your writing to sites that tell writers how to change their freelance business to keep up with the times.

I compiled a new list because today all the writers and bloggers in the 2010 WordCount Blogathon are writing on the same subject – our favorite blogs.

So here’s my top 10 blogs for writers, in alphabetical order:

BusinessJournalism.org – The recently reorganized website of the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism at Arizona State University includes several blogs worth tuning in. One is freelance business writer  Melissa Preddy’s Story Ideas blog, where she shares suggestions for business stories five days a week, including tips for localizing national news and trends. Somebody who wants to help me come up with pitches? That’s definitely worth putting on a blog reader.

Roger Ebert’s Journal – Talk about a second act. For a long time, Roger Ebert was like air: around but not anyone you thought about much. He’d become famous for Siskel & Ebert, left TV after having major health issues and was still writing movie reviews for the Chicago Sun Times but had receded into the background of journalistic fame and fortune. All that changed after Ebert started blogging, and even more when he took to Twitter. Then came Chris Jones’ Ebert profile in Esquire – along with candid photos of Ebert minus his lower jaw, which he lost to cancer. The piece went viral thanks in no small part to people (like me) who read it, loved it, and shared it with their online social circles. The story – and Ebert’s response to it, brought even more people to Ebert’s blog. Today Ebert uses Twitter to discuss everything from politics to love, sports to immigration, along with reviews for new movies and appreciations of old ones. Ebert proves that blogging and online brand building isn’t just a young man’s game.

Mashable – You can’t be an independent writer without using social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, and Mashable is one of the best sources for keeping up with what’s new.

Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist – If you’ve read WordCount for any length of time, you know I have a love-hate relationship with P.T.’s blogging style. It’s over the top, confessional, self-focused but also brilliant conceived, smart and continually surprising and evolving. I interviewed Trunk recently for SecondAct.com – I’ll link to the post when it’s up – and discovered that behind the sometimes off-putting exterior is an extremely astute businesswoman who knows exactly what she’s doing when it comes to her blog. As Trunk’s said herself, you won’t see an ad on her blog yet it’s made her bundles of money, because she’s used it to create a business, launch a speaking career, write books, etc. Want to make money as a blogger? Follow Trunk.

ProBlogger – Independent writers need to have their own blog, whether they’re veteran freelancers or recently removed from a staff job; if you don’t believe me, Penelope Trunk’s been preaching the same thing for years and see above for where it’s taken her. ProBlogger isn’t written specifically for journalists, but the lessons Darren Rowse shares apply to anyone.

Reflections of a Newsosaur – Alan Mutter brings his unique experience as an ex-newspaper guy turned venture capitalist to this erudite blog that examines the evolution of the news business from ink and paper to bits and bytes. Never one to pull punches, Mutter explains in plain English what newspapers continue to do wrong while offering intelligent advice for what media companies old and new should be doing today and in the future.

Regret the Error – Craig Silverman’s compilation of newspaper and magazine corrections operates under the assumption that someone needs to hold news media accountable and by pulling corrections together it’s serving a larger purpose . It’s also a great example of how a lone writer can carve out a niche for themselves, and make a difference.

Romenesko – This simple listing from Poynter Institute is hands down my favorite daily news digest on what’s happening in newspapers, magazines and the digital media industry. Mediaite and Mediabistro might do a better job of keeping track of who’s in, who’s out and who’s made the biggest buzz that week, but Romenesko is more timely and comprehensive.

There Are No Rules – Writer’s Digest Publisher Jane Friedman uses her blog to talk about changes happening in all forms of media, including magazines and book publishing, and what writers need to do to keep up. She also shares about upcoming Writer’s Digest classes and events, making it a good way to keep tabs on the magazine if you don’t get to the website very often. On Fridays, Friedman lists the best links, quotes and inspirations for writers she found on Twitter that week.

Basket of Kisses – I put this one out of alphabetical order at the end because I mainly read blogs for work and this one isn’t work related. It is, however, a good one for writers who aspire to creating a blog following to know about. One downside of working by yourself is not having anybody to talk to the morning after your favorite TV show is on. Maybe in the age of Tivo and DVRs this isn’t the cultural phenomena it once was. Still, I can’t not watch Mad Men in real time and sharing comments on Twitter after the fact just doesn’t cut it. So Monday mornings after a new episode I log onto the Lipp sisters’ Basket of Kisses fan blog to share and compare with other show devotees. Bloggers should take note: The best blogs are about community and Basket of Kisses is a great example of that. The proprietors aren’t trained journalists, but they’ve done an outstanding job of using reader comments, live blogging, photos, video and links to similar sites to create the kind of  interactive experience that pulls readers in and keeps them there, an experience many newspaper entertainment section editors only wished they had.

A lot of that has to do with the Blogathon Google Group Rebecca Allen helped get started earlier this week. As of May 6, about 75 blogathoners had signed up and conversations about guest posts and blog topics are in full swing. If for some reason you didn’t get the invitation, or had trouble signing up, let me know.

Between the conversations going on in Google Group and on Twitter – at #Blog2010 – I’m getting to know more about this year’s blogathoners and reading lots of posts. There’s so much good stuff out there, I’ve decided to devote the remaining Saturdays in May to a list of especially engaging entries I happened upon this week.

Here’s this week’s edition of Around the Blogathon:

Build-a-blog workshop – Writer and website designer Ron Doyle is using the blogathon to crowdsource a redesign of his blog, BlogSaladBlog.com. Each day Ron picks a different element of his redesign and asks readers to vote on the direction he should take. So far so good, with the possible exception of the color scheme readers chose for him – not sure how well rust, tan and green are going to look together.

Scofflaws, reveal yourselves – In a completely different type of interactive experiment, Kathy Murray is asking readers to fess up if they’ve ever broken the law. A long-time journalist (and former newspaper colleague of mine), Murray runs Out and Employed, a blog offering job advice to ex-offenders that grew out of a class she teaches at an adult detention center.

Trust your gut – Tastee Pudding blogger Amanda Hirsch writes about how scary but important it is to trust what your instincts tell you about what you do for work, where you live and how you live. Good advice, especially for self-employeds like freelance writers who too often say “Yes” to projects for the money despite the alarm bells going off in their heads over circumstances of a project.

Idioms R Us – Speaking of trusting your gut, that expression is called an idiom and idioms are the subject of the blog, About English Idioms, Joanne Mason started recently and is using the Blogathon to get up and running. Mason is a freelance writer, long-time ESL teacher and tutor, so who better to unravel the mysteries of why we say face the music when we mean accept the consequences of what we’ve done than someone who’s made language her career.

All-in-one blog reader – Keeping up with 110+ blogs participating in this year’s Blogathon is daunting. Dylan, who blogs at DiscordianZen put together an RSS feed that groups all the blogs in the Blogathon onto one page, making it a real time saver.

In the fourth annual competition, 10 winners were chosen from 28 finalists and more than 300 nominated blogs. Writing White Papers’ Michael Stelzner picks winners based on several criteria, including the amount of community interaction, i.e., comments on blog posts. So thanks to anyone who’ve ever stopped in to read something and been inspired to leave a comment – it takes a village to raise a blog.

In case you’re new here, WordCount charts the evolution of the media business from print to online, and the changing role independent writers play in it.

I started WordCount in January 2008, so making it onto a list of blogs that have been around much longer is incredibly rewarding. Congratulations to the other winners, and to a fantastic collection of nominees. Here a peek at all 10 winners:

• Copyblogger
• Men With Pens
• Write to Done
• Editor Unleashed
• Freelance Writing Jobs
• Confident Writing
• Urban Muse
• WordCount
• The Adventurous Writer
• Fuel Your Writing

Michael Stelzner’s Writing White Papers blog is running its third annual contest to choose the top 10 blogs for writers.

So I’ll just come right out and say it: vote for me!

It’s been nine months since I started WordCount to blog about freelance writing in the 21st century – what it takes to be a successful freelance writer and how the switch to digital media is changing the way we work and the tools we use to do our work.

In that time, I’ve written about everything from search engine optimization to new media classes for freelancers to my own list of best blogs for writers. In May I hosted a blogathon that attracted more than two dozen other freelancers. I’ve seen one of my posts included in a book, The New Writer’s Handbook 2008.

During the year, dozens of you have told me privately or left comments about how much you’ve learned from what you’ve read here. So if you like WordCount, please consider nominating this blog for Writing White Paper’s top writing blogs award.

To nominate WordCount, leave a comment here. Voting closes Sept. 12.

Thank you!

Today: Best blogs for writers

Best blogs for writers – WordCount’s most popular post ever – more than 1,000 page views – lists a variety of blogs written by and for freelance writers of all stripes, including journalists, magazine feature writers, copywriters and more.

Best blogs on the media business – With so much happening at newspapers and magazines these days, it pays to keep up with the Times, the New York Times, that is. Here’s how.

Writer’s Digest’s 2008 Best Sites for Writers – The annual listing of 101 best Websites for writers, many of which are blogs by and for freelancers.

Tomorrow: Career development for freelancers