Yes, there will be a WordCount Blogathon in 2012. As in other years, it will take place in May.

If you’re not familiar with the blogathon, it’s a challenge to blog every day in May. In that respect, it’s similar to other community blogging challenges, such as NaBloPoMo (here’s a list of daily blogging challenges I compiled during the 2011 blogathon).

Bloggers – amateur, professional, whoever – who commit to blogging every day of the month are listed on the blogathon blog roll. If they make it the entire month, their names are entered in a drawing for writing and blogging-related prizes, which in years past have included books, tutoring, web design and other writing and blogging-related services.

The 2012 blogathon will include other features that have made past events so successful, including:

• A guest post exchange, a designated day for bloggers to swap posts with another blogger, preferably but not necessarily, another blogathon participant.
• Theme days, which aren’t mandatory but are helpful if you’re stuck for what to write about that day. Last year’s theme days included posts on favorite books and favorite places to write.
• Haiku days, also not mandatory, though the vast majority of bloggers who took part in previous blogathons did them because they’re short, easy to come up with and a week or two or daily blogging offer a much needed break!
• A members-only Google Group where bloggers can share links to their posts, get technical and other blogging questions answered.
• Live Twitter chats to kick off the blogathon, and to celebrate when it’s over.
• A weekly e-newsletter with blogathon updates.
• A blogathon badge to display on your blog.

Watch this space for registration, which will open some time in March.

Got a suggestion for how to make the 2012 blogathon even more wonderful? Leave it in a comment, or let me know at wordcountfreelance@gmail.com.

Time passed. And while I’m no less enthusiastic about blogging, this blog and the annual blogathon, I’ve had to do a reality check.

I adore the blogathon and have met an incredible group of people through it, people who have become some of my biggest fans, and even friends. Some of these people are still faithfully sharing links to their daily blog posts and asking each other questions about blogging on the WordCount blogathon Google Group that was set up for last year’s event.

But the hard, cold truth is that I lose money every time I host a blogathon. Last May, I probably lost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in time I would have otherwise used to take on paid writing or editing work. Not to mention the hours of sleep I lost doing blogathon-related administrative work into the wee hours of the night.

So I had to come to the conclusion that while a mini-blogathon was a great idea, I couldn’t pull it off twice in a calendar year. Not if I wasn’t going to charge people to participate – more on that in a minute.

If you were looking forward to a mini-blogging challenge this month, I hope you understand. And I hope you’ll still pick 10 days this month and blog every one of those days like you would have if the mini-blogathon had happened. Or maybe you’ll really go for it and join NaBloPoMo, National Blog Posting Month, which starts tomorrow and is being sponsored by BlogHer.

And don’t worry – there will be a 2012 WordCount Blogathon. As to the matter of losing money, I’ve already got some changes in the works to fix that. For one, I’m getting some help. I’m also contemplating offering two tiers of registration. One would be the usual free entry level with everything that’s been part of the blogathon in the past – the Google Group, weekly newsletter, etc. I may also offer a second, paid registration level that would come with an ebook on blogging and some other extras.

Thanks for your continued support of WordCount, the blogathon and me.

Happy blogging!

Here’s hoping you do, because the 2011 WordCount Blogathon once again includes a raffle drawing of writing-related prizes that anyone who makes it through the entire month could win.

Some of those prizes include free hosting for your blog for a year, blogging classes, resume help, journalist website membership, business cards, e-books and more.
All you need to do be eligible to win is register for the blogathon and post every day in May. You can read more about the blogathon and fill out the registration form here. Read about the guest post exchange and other special events taking place during the blogathon here.

The 2011 WordCount Blogathon prize drawing will take place on June 1 during the WordCount Last Wednesday live chat on Twitter at 10 a.m. Pacific time. Participants don’t need to be participate in the live chat to win.

Here’s the list of prizes so far. I’m still signing up sponsors, so this list could keep growing:

• One hour of resume help, PenPoint Editorial Services, Danielle Buffardi, owner
• 500 business cards, two-sided, two-color, Next Day Flyers
• Online course, Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting, American Writers & Artists, Inc.
• Blogging class, choose from WordPress 101 (4 weeks), Growing Your Blog (4 weeks), Blogging for Passion and Profit (6 weeks), Syndicating Your Blog/Column (TBA), WriteBlogLearn, Jane Boursaw, owner
• Membership, Knowledgewebb tech training for journalists website, Amy Webb, proprietor, Julie Sturgeon, sales manager
• $25 Amazon gift card
• Book, The Literary Ladies Guide to the Writing Life, Nava Atlas
• E-book, Pub Speak: A Writer’s Dictionary of Publishing Terms, Tracy Marchini
• AP Stylebook, your choice of print, online or iPhone edition

Are you interested in becoming a 2011 WordCount Blogathon sponsor? If so, email me at wordcountfreelance@gmail.com.

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!

Since this is the last Saturday of the month – and of the blogathon – I thought I’d switch things up a bit. I asked all 110+ blogathoners to share the one post they’re proudest of having written during May. This was a last-minute venture, so this isn’t a complete list – not all of the bloggers had time to respond (or maybe they were already out of town for the long weekend).

Here they are:

• Anjuli - bhulbhulaiyan – Chinese tea ceremony
• Christa Avampato - Christa in New York – A job you like
• Joan Lambert Bailey - PopcornHomestead – Sidewalk as eden, gardens of Yanaka
• Karen Bannan – Natural as possible mom – Throwaway society
• t.a. barnhart - Left Coast Foodie – Guest post: Karen Bannan
• Jane Boursaw* - Film Gecko – Tom Hanks talks Toy Story 3, Pixar and Mr. Potato Head
• Alisa Bowman - Project Happily Ever After – You get what you ask for
• Carson Brackney - Carson Brackney – Freelance writers, it’s your thing
• Danielle Buffardi* - Horrible Sanity – 5 tips for writers when speaking publicly
• Beverly Burmeier - Going on Adventures - Swimming with dolphins
• Fiona Chan - Candy Prison – My very first haiku
• Joy Choquette - One Year. 156 Fears. Life Changing – The gratefulness project
• Caroline Clemmons - A Writer’s Life – Writing is a great job
• Sue Dickman – Life Divided – Dehli Metro love revisited
• Jackie Dishner – Bike with Jackie – Inspiration schinsperation
• Tracy Doerr – Tracy Doerr – William Shatner…..we need to talk/Procrastination they name is William Shatner
• Ron S. Doyle* – Blog Salad – The digital privacy paradox
• Dana DuGan – Chick with a View – Modern Art{i}ishly played
• Cindy Elsberry - Doodle9 – I can drive!
• Heather Faesy – Blame it on the Full Moon – Run for the roses
• Jennifer Fink – Blogging Bout Boys – All boys?
• Barb Freda - Babette Feasts – 6 rules I routinely break in the kitchen
• Adina Genn – adinagenn’s blog – Be relentless
• Alexandra Grabbe – Chezsven’s Blog – Confessions of an addicted woman
• Elyse Grau – My Garden to Table – Hot preserves
• Katie Hinderer – Write Beyond the Cubicle – Changing your niche
• Amanda Hirsch – Tastee Pudding – Trust your gut
• Lisa Jaffe Hubbell – Eat, Read and Be Harried – Don’t tell me I can handle it
• Nancy Mann Jackson – Growing Food and Kids – Boys and gardens
• Robert Janelle – Without an Apostrophe – On subscription options
• Elizabeth King Humphrey – The Write Elizabeth – My circuitous South African roots
• B.J. Keeton – Professor Beej – Lost series finale review: The End
• Sara Lancaster – No.2PenBlog – Uptown Soap Co.: Expert soap making, expert mar/com pros
• Bill Lascher – Lascher at Large – The freelancedom to investigate
• Pooja Lohana – Brown-eyed Mystic – But what will the others think?
• Jenny Lynes – Welcome to the Good Life – Lessons from grammy
• Su-sieee! Mac – This and That. Here and There. Now, Sometimes Then. – What Daddy told me
• Harry Marks – Curious Rat – A letter to open source Apple bashers
• Joanne Mason – English Idioms - Big shoes to fill
• Andrea Genevieve Michnik – Andrea Genevieve - A home-made Mother’s Day present
• Kathy Murray – Out and Employed – The perils of winning one for the gipper
• Charles Newbery – Pine Tree Paradise – The giant
• Andrew Nielsen - A Green Mushroom – Innovation trumps graphics
• Eric Novinson – Costing a Green Future – Major organic farming initiative in Madhya Pradesh
• Andrea Parker – Autism Fundraising Guide – Why parents should not try to get children with autism to talk
• Tara Phillips – Two Hands and a Road Map – Around the town and a little beyond
• Jennie Phipps – WalletPop – How to make sure your complaints won’t be ignored
• Ed Pilolla – Ed Pilolla – Good morning
• Michelle Rafter, WordCount - What Yahoo’s deal for Associated Content means for writers
• Meredith Resnick – The Writer’s [Inner] Journey – A muse will not get you published, but writing even when you don’t feel like it will
• Rebecca Robinson – Rebecca Robinson – Maybe I’m just old, or maybe you’re just right: reflections on judging the Bruce Baer awards
• Joe Romano - Blogging Perspectives Daily – The Internet experience and blogging behind the Great Firewall - On the day it appeared, this post made it onto Freshly Pressed, WordPress.com’s daily list of featured posts, not bad for a guy who’s only been blogging a month – congrats Joe!
• Lisa Samalonis – Single Parent Savings – Don’t miss it
• Ovetta Sampson - Musings of a Writing Princess – Take 37 seconds for Haiti
• Lilian Schaer – Food and Farming Canada – First Ontario asparagus of the season
• Kristie Sloan – mkBeautyZone – The beauty of variety
• Stephanie Suesan Smith – Stephanie Suesan Smith PhD, Information Central – Natural is not necessarily safe
• Margarita Tartakovsky – Self-ish – When saying ‘I’m sorry’ is unhealthy, and how to stop
• Thinkingtoohard – Thinking too hard – Blessing no. 1 – time
• Jan Udlock - Imperfect Mom – Embracing the journey
• Brandi-Ann Uyemura – Brandi-Ann Uyemura – Be the super hero in your own comic book life
• Beth VanHoose – Writing in Sand – Blogs I visit frequently
• Rachel Vidoni – East Coast Musings – Cupcake conundrum
• Sarah Webb – Webb of Science – Blogathon haiku day
• Susan Weiner – -Investment Writing - Tips for how to connect with your workshop attendees
• Jennifer Willis – Jennifer Willis – Lech Lecha and building bridges

* These awesome participants are also WordCount Blogathon 2010 sponsors.

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.

Are you ready?

You may have ideas for blog posts lined up. But that’s not what I’m talking about.

If you’re going to devote extra time to blogging that means you’re taking time away from other things, either from other work or your non-work life.

To minimize the extra pain that comes with blogging every day – and a lot of people entering this year’s blogathon have indicated they want to blog more than they are now  – here are some suggestions for doing it all, at least for the next 31 days.

At work:

1. Schedule blogging time – I could spend hours on a blog post if I let myself – and sometimes I do. But since I’m running this thing, blogging too and have work commitments I can’t ignore, I need to make every writing moment count. I’m devoting the first hour of my work day to the blogathon – what can I say, I’m a morning person –  and when time’s up, I’ll move on to other things.

2. Schedule blog posts – I’m actually writing this post on April 24 to get a jump on things. Before the weekend’s over, I expect to have a plan mapped out for what I’m going to post every day of the blogathon. That way I won’t be faced with sitting down at the computer one morning with no idea what I’m going to write about.

3. Write fast – There are times to linger over a post. This is not one of them. Sometimes good enough is good enough, and this is one of those times. I’m not going to skip adding links or images. I’m just minimizing the time I spend finding just the right word or phrase. Part of writing fast is jotting ideas down when you get them – especially if “jotting ideas down” means going to the computer, laptop, iPhone or whatever you use and roughly out an outline, getting the lede or cutting and pasting some links so you can come back later and finish.

4. Keep it short – Blog posts don’t have to be long to be good. Sometimes a bite-size nugget of truth is all you need. A blog post doesn’t have to be one set thing. It could be a couple thoughts on something in the news, a list of links, a recipe, photograph, poem, snippet of overheard conversation, or a quick review of a clip you saw on YouTube (with the link or video included of course). Here are some more tips for writing short.

5. Pre-publish – The blogathon might be about blogging every day during the month of May, but that doesn’t mean you actually have to write every day. I’ll be using the pre-publish feature on WordPress to pre-write posts for weekends – because really, who wants to work on weekends?

At home:

6. Clear the decks - Right now my non-work to-do list includes a couple things I want to accomplish before the blogathon takes over my life. That includes registering my youngest for summer camps and finalizing details of our family’s summer vacation – activities I’d know would get pushed to the back burner if I tried to do them in May because of the extra blogging I’ll be doing.

7. Makes plans - This is sort of related to clearning the decks. Plan dinners, plan errands (all the better to do a bunch during the same trip), plan outings, plan free time (you’ll need it).

8. Ask for help – In my house I’m in charge of breakfast, lunch and dinner, but this month, I’m alerting the troops they’ll be doing some of the heavy lifting when it comes to meal times. Ditto for laundry and other household chores.

9. Let things go – Some tasks I’m attacking ahead of the blogathon (see above). Others I’m letting go until after May. I really want to get flowers planted in pots I put on the back deck during summer. But if it doesn’t happen until June, oh well; it probably won’t be sunny here until then anyway. And no one will notice but me.

10. Stick to healthy routines – When the stress is on, it’s easy to drink too much coffee, work too late, drop going to the gym and go out to eat or pick up fast food. I know – I’ve done all of that. Not this time. The more stress you’re under, the more important it is to stick to healthy habits – it’ll show in your energy level and your work. I learned that last year when I interviewed a management consultant who’s trained world-class athletes, CEOs and other top performers for this CBSMarketWatch.com story. OK, I may still drink too much coffee. But there’s no way I’m missing workouts or yoga – they’re my treats to myself for a job well done.

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.