Though it’s still January and spring seems like it’ll never get here, May will come sooner or later and with it the 3rd annual WordCount Blogathon, where writers across the country challenge themselves to blog for 31 days straight.

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.

The house is a mess. The bills are overdue. I missed a deadline. I haven’t signed my son up for a single summer camp or planned the family’s summer vacation.

I’ve been too busy blogging. For the past month I’ve posted here every day. 31 days, 31 blog posts – a couple more actually because some days I wrote more than once.

Why spend so much time writing for free, something that I counsel other writers against?

Because for the second year in a row, I hosted a month-long blogathon for freelance writers. This year close to 45 showed up. Together we blogged through weekdays, weekends and a holiday. We held a guest post exchange and wrote on another writer’s blog for a day. We encouraged each other on Twitter. Tomorrow we’ll be back on Twitter for a blogathon wrap party. You can tune in too, just follow the hashtag #MayBlog2.

When I thought up doing a blogathon last year, I only had a few month of blogging under my belt. My posts were sporadic and I didn’t know much about traffic or SEO. The blogathon was a way to stick to a schedule, teach myself about blog promotion, and bring a few friends along for the ride.

This year my blogathon goals were different. Over the past 12 month, I’ve settled into a regular posting groove, learned about promoting my work, and seen traffic grow 10 fold. For me, this month was about tackling subjects I’d wanted to cover but hadn’t made time for, like putting together this list of top 25 digital media trendsetters. I also used it to build my “brand” to get recognized in the industry I blog about, and getting to know other writers and bloggers better, especially those that cover what I do.

By those measures, the month was a success. At the same time, and just like last year, the best part was having friends along for the ride.

For most, if not all the writers in this year’s blogathon, blogging is still a side project, an early morning or after hours gig we do in addition to our “real” writing, the magazine or Website assignments that pay the bills. But I predict that for more and more of us, blogging will be the assignment, whether it’s for a publisher we already write for, at HuffPost to drive traffic to our other work, ourselves to promote a book or project, a hyperlocal news site, or ghostblogging for a corporate client.

So there’s a solid business case to be made for a freelance writer spending time becoming a better blogger. In 2009, blogging is a skill every writer has to know.

What have you learned from the blogathon, or from your own blogging practice? Feel free to leave a comment. I’ll include some of the best along with other lessons learned from Monday’s blogathon wrap party in an upcoming post.

You signed up for a blogathon and realize you now have to blog about something every day for a month. Ack!

There’s no getting around the fact daily blogging is work. But there are ways to minimize the extra effort. Writing short, planning ahead, mixing up the types of blog posts you write, creating standing features that run the same day every week -  they’re all paths to daily blogging bliss.

It may be a slog, but there’s a silver lining to posting every day. If you want to broaden your freelance repertoire, learning how to blog is the first step toward pitching yourself for paid blogging gigs. Fees for paid blogging assignments are all over the map, so it’s good to know how to write different kinds of posts, how long it takes to write a post and the basics of driving traffic to a blog, so you can take all that into account when negotiating  rates.

Whether you’re taking part in this blog’s 2nd annual May blogathon, or if you just want to learn how be a better blogger, here are 5 sure-fire strategies for coming up with posts every day:

1. Plan ahead – Let me start by saying, this is the hardest for me to do. I know some bloggers who write a week’s worth of posts at a time, and others who chart out what they’re going to write several weeks ahead of time. I don’t do that very often, normally just to cover myself for vacations. But even planning a few days worth of posts – or even just the next day’s post -  is a start. Especially if it gives you time to think ahead about what you want to say and collect URLs that might related to the subject you’re writing about. However, there’s something to be said for the spontaneous blog post, especially if you’re fired up over something and need to write about it while the idea’s fresh. If you’ve banked a number of pre-written posts on evergreen topics, there’s no harm in slipping a spontaneous post into the front of the queue.

2. Write short – If you’re blogging for yourself, you can decide how much or little to include in a single blog post. Some days you might feel like writing 500 or 1,000 words reacting to a news event or on a subject that’s close to your heart. Other days, you may just want to share a news story or blog post someone else has written with your readers, so your post could consist of a link to the original with a paragraph or two of explanation or commentary. Here are some other suggestions for writing short.

3. Mix it up – Unless your blog is set up to be something very specific – a recipe a day, a daily journal entry, all photos -you don’t have to write the same kind of blog post every time. In fact, mixing it up is a good way to get readers to keep coming back to see what you’re going to do next. In a typical blog, you could include:

• Commentary – Your POV on current events.
• Lists – Readers love ‘em.
• How tos – Learned something new? Share.
• Best ofs – A handful of older blog posts on a certain topic. I’ve use this to cover for vacations.
• Interviews – Some of my best-read posts are Q&As I do with other writers on a variety of writing related topics.
• Links – Lists of links to posts on blogs you read on the same subject as your own.
• Announcements – Tell the world when your articles, books or other work appear.
• Reviews – TV shows, movies, books, music, electronics, software, services – anything related to your blog’s theme.

4. Create standing features – A standing feature is a certain type of post that runs on a regular basis. On WordCount, I have two standing features, a weekly recap of highlights from the online media business that runs on Fridays, and a Q&A with freelance writers that runs on an irregular basis but about every 2 to 3 weeks. Standing features give a blog a sense of regularity, and readers come to expect and appreciate them them – and that’s what brings traffic back to your blog.

5. Pre-publish – As writers, we have deadlines. So some days are harder to devote to blogging than others. Blog software that let’s you pre-publish posts is made for those times. Write whatever posts you need to get ahead and use the publish feature to schedule when they’ll appear. This is also a great way to avoid blogging on the weekends, because really, nobody should work on the weekend, especially if you’re not getting paid for it.

Got your own secrets for writing one or more blog posts a day? Please share.

Since announcing the 2nd annual WordCount May blogathon last week, no fewer than 34 writers have signed on to take the challenge of posting once a day during the month. I’ve added a few stragglers since the original list went up, so if you’re participating and are running a list of fellow blogathoners on your own blog, you might want to take another peek and add the late comers.

Several freelancers have signed on after having read about the blogathon on Twitter – welcome! It’s not too late to join us. Just leave a comment on this blog or email me at michellerafter (at) comcast (dot) net.

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I sat in on some great discussions of the future of news and the role journalists and bloggers can play in it at the 3rd annual BarCampPortland yesterday at CubeSpace, the shared work environment on S.E. Grand Ave. It was a lively discussion, which I plan to expound on this week. Until then, you can read what John Hill, a journalist who works at The Columbian in Vancouver, Wash., thought about it in his blog post, called How hyper is your local?

Last year in an effort to learn more about Web 2.0 and drive up traffic to this blog, I challenged myself to write a post every day during the month of May. Because misery loves company, I invited writers I hang out with on the FreelanceSuccess.com writers’ newsletter and message board to join me.

In the end, more than two dozen writers who blog about everything from dogs to food to pets participated in our own version of NaNoWriMo, which I guess you could call NaNoBloMo – although I think another blogger uses that already. And it doesn’t roll off the tongue very well. But I digress.

Being a glutton for punishment - and piling on work – I’m announcing the 2nd annual WordCount May blogathon. Ta da. The best part is, it’s open to any writer with a blog who wants to participate. All you have to do is write. About whatever you want. For 31 days. That’s it.

If you want the world to know that you’re in on the experiment, I’ll be posting a list of blogathon writers tomorrow and will probably update it one more time after that. If you’re in, leave a comment here or on the Freelance Success message board. Include your name, your blog’s name, a brief description of what it’s about (really brief, like less than 6 words) and the URL.

After last year’s blogathon my blog traffic jumped, I was more confident about my ability to write posts on a regular basis, and I made a lot of new friends. If you need more convincing why taking part in a blogathon is a good idea, here are a few other lessons I learned last year.

Whether you’re in or not, tune in tomorrow for a list of writers who’ll be participating. And stay tuned next week, when I’ll provide suggestions for easy blog posts for those days you just don’t have time for a long post or can’t think of something on your own.

5/07 UPDATE: I’VE ADDED THREE MORE TO THE END OF THE LIST. MVR

5/02 UPDATE: I’VE ADDED A COUPLE MORE LATECOMERS TO THE END OF THE LIST. MVR

NOTE: I’VE ADDED TWO LATECOMERS TO THE BOTTOM OF THE LIST. MVR

I’m ushering in May by kicking off a blogathon, where I promise to post something every day this month. I’m calling it A Post a Day in the Month of May.

I’m doing it to celebrate a milestone birthday coming up in a week or so, and the start of spring.

I’ve persuaded 19 other freelance writers to join me. During the course of the month I may write more about each one. For now, here’s a list of who’s joining me in my great birthday blogging adventure:

Janine Adams – Organizing tips galore.

Jane Boursaw - Covers everything about movies including reviews, trailers and industry news.

Diana Burrell – Diana is one half of the team behind the popular The Renegade Writer books and blog, which are both crammed with good stuff for writers.

Jackie Dishner – Writes about biking, but so much more. Her post today on biking and body image is amazing.

Marijke Durning – Writes about the newest in health and safety news, and a bit about life as a freelance writer.

Carolyn Erickson – Carolyn is using the blogathon to recharge her blogging batteries – good girl!

Amy Grisak – A good-looking blog about “seizing the moment,” with lots of posts about gardening, food, family life and more.

Roxanne Hawn - Covers the “true tales, brags and whines about my life with a rescued border collie named Lilly.”

Sandra Hume – A blog about Laura Ingalls Wilder! My 7-year-old son and I just read “Little House in the Big Woods” and I fell in love with it all over again.

Elizabeth Kricfalusi - “Miss Adventure” writes about adventure “in many different shapes and flavors.”

Trish Lawrence - According to Trish, “It’s mostly blather about my writing, gossip, and my opinions on things as opposite as Gossip Girl and James Frey.”

Sue Poremba – Writes for and about writers. Today’s post is about coming up with queries.

Sarah Ludwig Rausch – A mom of four and freelance writer: it’s worth visiting Sarah’s blog just to see the picture of her cute kids.

Meredith Resnick – Actually, Meredith has four blogs but I only picked one to link to for now, on “real world news and real world views” of adoption. Meredith, how can you keep 4 blogs going?

Dawn Weinberger – A fellow Oregonian, writes about life after her husband Carl’s successful liver transplant last year, chronicling “our journey of faith, hope and healing.”

Susan Weiner – “Coverage of investment-related topics by a financial writer-editor who’s also a CFA charterholder.”

Late entries:

Charmian Christie – Christie’s Corner takes a light look at food. Her motto: “Real food. Real life. It ain’t always pretty.”

Jen Miller – Writes about the New Jersey shore in support of her new book, “The Jersey Shore, Atlantic City to Cape May: Great Destinations: A Complete Guide.”

Claudine Jalajas – Writes about the joys and pain of remodeling her house.

Barb Adamski – A Canadian writer who blogs about lacrosse, “its past, its present, and its future.”

Leah Ingram – The Lean Green Family (formerly Suddenly Frugal), all about living frugally and green.

Dara Chadwick – Fit in Real Life.

Jennifer Willis – Thoughts from the spiral.