Photo courtesy misteraitch

Dear WordCount is an occasional advice column that answers your questions about freelance writing, blogging and working as a self-employed writer. During May, I’m answering questions posed by writers in the 2012 WordCount Blogathon.

Dear WordCount:

I received an email and a comment from the same sender and both say the same thing: “I would like to be a guest blogger for (your blog). Do you have submission guidelines?” I’m wary of taking a risk with someone I don’t know. How do you handle guest post inquiries from people you don’t know?

– P

Dear P:

Good question. Getting queries from potential guest bloggers comes with the territory as your blog gets more popular, so in a way, it’s a good thing because it means people are starting to notice you. But it’s a bad thing, because more often than not, pitches asking to guest post on your blog aren’t really about you, they’re about getting whoever’s making them wanting to feed off your blog to get themselves more publicity.

WordCount receives a handful of guest post requests a week. Ninety-nine out of 100 I immediately delete. They’re carpetbombing blogs like mine with guest post requests to bring traffic back to their own blogs. But they wouldn’t add any value to what I do. If they include suggested topics for posts, the topics are more often than not so generic I couldn’t use them. Once or twice I’ve agreed to have someone write the post since they were offering it for free. But the writing was such SEO-driven drivel I couldn’t use it.

Why It Pays to Do Due Diligence

A good way to decide whether you’d want a guest post from someone who contacts you out of the blue is to check their website or the website of the company or organization they represent. It like asking a guest attending a masked ball to uncloak themselves so you can get a peek at who they really are. Ask yourself:

• Does it look profession?
• Is the subject related to what I blog about?
• Would I want to be affiliated with them, even if just through a blog post?

If you answer “No” to any of those, don’t feel bad about writing back to say, “Sorry, it wouldn’t work for me.” Or just delete the request. If however, you like what you see, ask the would-be guest poster to send you a couple of their published posts and propose a couple topics, so you can further assess whether they’d fit into your blog. If what they produce doesn’t pass muster, don’t feel bad about turning them down. After all, it’s your blog, and as the publisher and editor in chief, it’s your call what you run or don’t run.

When it comes to guest posts, I’ve had better luck making the first move. I ask writers or bloggers I know if they’d be interested in writing a post. I’ve had the best luck approaching writers or bloggers who are promoting a new book, ebook, blog, etc., because they’re already in promotion/marketing mode and are happy to write something that would interest my readers and help them push their own work.

Create Guest Post Guidelines

I finally wised up and created guest post guidelines. Now when someone who seems semi-legitimate writes asking to give me a free guest post, I send them a link to the guidelines and ask them to send me ideas for a couple posts. It’s enough to scare away anyone who’s not serious. Here’s a link: WordCount guest post guidelines.

Don’t get me wrong: I love guest posts, and run them all the time. I’m just very particular about the kind of guest post I run because they, like everything else I publish, represent me.

If you’ve never run guest posts on your blog, here’s some information on how to get started: Dear WordCount: How do I run guests posts on my blog?

If you have a blog, how do you handle requests from people you don’t know to write guest posts? Share your story by leaving a comment.

Photo courtesy sexyninjamonkey

[Editor's note: It's another theme day for the WordCount Blogathon, when everyone is writing on the same topic: If I started a blog today, what would I do differently? Here's my answer. -- MVR]

When I started blogging, I didn’t have a clue. I’d been doing the stay at home mom thing when blogging first got popular, and jumped into it as part of my re-entry into the workforce.

I put zero thought into why I was blogging or what I was going to write about. I created a blog on Blogger on a lark and wrote my first post the same day.

That was mistake No. 1. The initial result was all over the place – like a kid finger painting.

Instead of diving in, I should have considered how blogging fit into my freelance business, researched good blog practices and compiled a backlog of posts before going live.

That’s just the start of the newbie mistakes I made as a beginning blogger.

Here are 5 other blogging missteps I made, and what I’d do differently if I started over again today:

Mistake #1. Hosting a blog on a free service.

I started out on Blogger but quickly switched to WordPress.com. I keep WordCount on WordPress.com for close to two years, until it became clear that I wasn’t going to be able to do all the things with my blog that I wanted using the templates available on the free site. I also was starting to think about using the blog to generate revenue, which isn’t allowed on blogs hosted by WordPress.com.

In fall 2009, I hired a website designer to port the site to a self-hosted blog using WordPress.org software and give it a new look and feel – and never looked back.

Mistake #2. Writing about whatever I wanted.

Picking a subject and sticking to it is good for everyone: readers like to know what to expect. Sticking to a topic can make you an expert at it, which is a good way to interest companies or organizations in becoming advertisers or sponsors.

After casting around for a couple months, I settled on writing about the freelance business, a great topic for the time because of the changes taking place in the business. It gave me the chance to write about writing basics, books, and other subjects related to being a freelance journalist that I enjoyed dissecting. And it helped introduce me to an online community of other writers, a nice substitute for the real-life workplace camaraderie I always enjoyed when I worked as a staff writer.

Mistake #3. Running posts without pictures.

When it came to including images with my posts I was extremely inconsistent until this year. That’s bad, because SEO like blog posts with pictures, and readers do too.

Then I discovered Pinterest, the social network that lets people share images they find online. Pinterest has become a popular way for writers and bloggers to promote their work - but you can only do that if your story or blog post has an image that you can share.

Since I started using Pinterest a few months ago, I now include an image with every post I write. It’s not that hard to find sources of free images: sometimes I run logos or other corporate materials that are free for the taking (as long as you give due credit to the source). Other times I create screen captures to run as images. Occasionally I run my own photos.

Most of the time I use images I’ve found doing a Creative Commons search on Flickr or Google that the authors have granted permission to re-use (again, with the proper permissions). For more information, read a post I wrote on where to find images for blog posts.

Mistake #4. Blogging for free.

It took me years to wake up to the fact that I could be making money from my blogging efforts. It’s true that within months of teaching myself to blog I was pitching and getting assignments to write about blogging software companies – but I’d been a tech reporter for years so that wasn’t all that surprising. It took me a lot longer to start looking for ways to earn an income directly from my blog – and I’m still not doing a very good job of it.

I discovered BlogHer, applied to join BlogHer’s advertising network and got accepted within a month or two. But it took me about three or four months to actually fill out all the paperwork to start running ads on my site. I also joined Amazon’s affiliate program, but so far it’s been a bust: I don’t run enough posts about books, and when I do, I sometimes forget to use the special Amazon affiliate code when I include links and images of books.

I’ve talked about using the blog to sell ebooks on writing basics and other subjects, but whenever I’ve been ready to start on that in earnest I’ve landed a great assignment and put it on the back burner. Will this be the year I actually pull the trigger? Stay tuned.

Mistake #5. Being disorganized.

The first couple years I ran this blog, I jotted down ideas for posts whenever and wherever they came to me, including on the yellow legal pad I use as a daily to-do list, and in a journal that I kept in my bedside nightstand – very low tech. Then I started creating posts in Draft mode and writing ideas down there – which explains why I have more than 100 unfinished posts in Draft mode.

Around the time of last year’s blogathon, some other bloggers turned me onto an editorial calendar plugin for WordPress blogs. It’s an application that creates a calendar inside the main WordPress dashboard that you can use to schedule and start writing posts. You can configure it to show three or more weeks at a time. It’s got a drag and drop feature so if you’ve got a post scheduled for a Tuesday and you decide you need to run it on Thursday, you can drag and drop the post from one date to the other. Brilliant. Maybe because I’m a visual person and love calendars, but using it has made it easier to schedule posts days or weeks in advance, to program standing features (like the “Dear WordCount” advice column that runs here on Thursdays) and figure out how to cover myself by re-running older posts when I know I’ll be especially busy with other work.

Here’s another post I wrote about common mistakes that beginning bloggers make: Bad beginnings: 10 newbie blogging mistakes and how to fix them 

If you were starting a blog today, what would you do differently? Share your experience by leaving a comment.

Photo courtesy Sarah Moon

[Editor's Note: May 14 is the Guest Post Exchange, when bloggers in the 2012 WordCount Blogathon are swapping posts with someone else in the challenge. Today, you can read my post on 10 lessons about writing from authors in the 2012 Portland Literary Arts lecture series on Sarah Moon's  book blog, Clear Eyes, Full Shelves. -- MVR]

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Sarah Moon is a Portland, Ore., writer and communications consultant. She teaches classes on blogging, social media and web writing and design at Pacific Northwest College of Art and works with creative types on web and writing projects. She blogs about books and reading at Clear Eyes, Full Shelves, and co-hosts The Postscript sports and culture podcast. Follow her on Twitter at @SarahSMoon.

I teach classes on blogging and web design at a local college, and when we get to the unit on mobile devices, I have students pull out their internet capable devices to see who uses what. I’ve seen it all: iPhones running various versions of iOS; Android smartphones ranging from old clunkers (like mine) to the latest and greatest; Blackberries, iPads, Nook Colors, Kindle Fires, iPods, you name it. Rarely does someone use a single device — in a class of 10, we’ll often as many as 25 gadgets on the table.

Sarah Moon

It’s important because today, mobile devices are the fastest growing way people are accessing web content, including reading blogs. As bloggers, you need to think about how your posts appear on these devices — otherwise, you could end up driving readers away.

Here’s what you can to do optimize your blog content for mobile devices:

1. Practice smart design. Before you leap into all the options available for mobilizing your blog, you can follow a few basic design steps to make it easier for mobile readers. These basic tips have the added bonus of making your blog more readable overall:

• Increase the body font for your blog to 14 points, or “14px” in web speak. Not only is this friendly to those of us with less than perfect vision, it reads better on a variety of devices than 12px, which was the old norm.
• Increase the line spacing of your content to 1.5 em (tech speak for a line and a half of white space between lines of text), which makes text much easier on cramped screens than single-spacing.
• Minimize drop-down menus. Sometimes they’re unavoidable, but drop-downs can be a nightmare to navigate on small touchscreens.
• Make sure navigation elements in sidebars, post meta area and top-level navigation are well-spaced so it’s easy for touchscreen users to click on the proper links.
• Remove Flash elements. Flash simply does not play nicely with mobile. Beware: many slideshow embeds still utilize Flash.

2. Consider using responsive themes and templates. “Responsive” is the new buzz word in mobile design, with good reason. These blog design themes scale to whatever screen a blog is viewed on. There are a number of them for self-hosted WordPress blogs, many are premium but there are a few freebies as well. These themes are kind of magical, as you can see content reflow as you adjust a browser’s window size; check out the Dear Author blog for nice example. A huge advantage of these themes over traditional “mobile” or “touch” plugins is that they maintain the integrity of sidebar content such as ads or category navigation. Additionally, mobile plugins can make commenting buggy but they play far nicer with responsive themes.

3. Look at mobile plugin options. If you’re happy with your current theme, you still have  options for making your self-hosted WordPress blog mobile-friendly. Many plugins detect the device your visitors are using to access your blog and display a mobile theme. The most popular is WP Touch, which has a number of options and an app-like look (the Pro version supports iPad). You can also install OnSwipe on your WordPress blog, which turns your blog into a slick, tablet-friendly site when accessed from one of those devices.

Keep in mind that it is absolutely critical to test these plugins on a variety of mobile devices to make sure all of your standard features — particularly comments and other forms — work properly when plugins are running.

4. Make use of what’s already available. Many free blogging platforms have mobile options built into their architecture. Unfortunately, those options aren’t also intuitive or obvious. Here’s what to know about mobile options on some of the most popular platforms:

Blogger. Two times out of three when I visit a blog powered by Blogger from my smartphone or tablet, the mobile template has not been activated. To do that, log onto your blog and then click on the “Design” link. Once this option is turned on, Blogger does the rest.

WordPress.com. If you use WordPress.com, you shouldn’t have to do anything — the mobile option is turned on by default. Should you accidentally unselect this option, WordPress.com provides these great instructions for reactivating your mobile theme. You do, however, have to do a bit of work to make your WordPress.com blog iPad-friendly. When logged into your dashboard, simply click Appearance > iPad and then check the box that turns on an iPad theme when someone visits using that device.

Squarespace. Many of my students love the lesser-known Squarespace for both blogging and websites. I’ve completed several projects on this platform recently, including my own blog for book lovers, and all the new Squarespace template options now reflow the journal — Squarespace speak for “blog” — to fit mobile screens. I’m a beta tester for the next version of Squarespace and the platform will be fully responsive in that release.

TypePad. If you blog on TypePad, you’re in a tough spot, because while it’s possible to customize a mobile template, the platform has no ability to auto-detect when readers are using mobile devices to read content. So, even though there are mobile options on that platform, without code-heavy jerry-rigging, there isn’t a method to ensure that mobile visitors will see the mobile version of your Typepad blog. I suggest that Typepad bloggers pay particular attention to my first tip regarding smart blog design.

Ultimately, you’ve got many decisions to make when it comes to making your blog mobile-friendly. Unfortunately, there is no single best solution for ensuring your blog’s compatibility with mobile browsers, especially considering all the platform-dependent variables.

My best advice is to practice smart design, stay up to date with what’s available on your chosen blogging platform and keep a eye on your visitor statistics so you can implement mobile strategies that best match the devices from which readers access your blog.

How have you redesigned your blog to accommodate smartphones or tablet computers? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Photo courtesy Tiger Girl

Dear WordCount is an occasional advice column that answers your questions about freelance writing, blogging and working as a self-employed writer. During May, I’m answering questions posed by people in the 2012 WordCount Blogathon.

Dear WordCount:

I don’t know how guest posts work. I need a basic how-to guide that includes how a guest blogger posts to your blog and vice versa.

– P

Dear P:

This is a timely question since the guest post exchange that’s part of the 2012 Blogathon happens on May 14.

If you’re swapping posts as part of a guest post exchange, here’s how it works: You write a post and send it to your partner in Word or a similar text or blogging file format. Most bloggers would like you to submit a head shot or other digital image of yourself to run with your post, along with a one- or two-line bio. If you know how to use hypertext (links to information that’s found elsewhere online), include a couple – but don’t overdo it. Your partner should follow the same steps for sending a post to you. Then you upload the post to your blog like you would any other post that you write, and schedule a run date or publish it right away.

I run posts from guest posters all the time, so I have guest post guidelines, which you can see on in this post about how to write a guest post for WordCount.

If you don’t already have guest posting guidelines, think of anything that you would want a guest poster to know: do you want them to suggest a headline and a meta description for their post? Do you want them to suggest a few keywords? Do posts on your blog usually run a certain length  (300 to 500 words is good)?

If you’d like to see an example of what a guest post looks like, here’s one that website content writer Sara Lancaster did for my blog recently: Guest post: 4 naughty tips for a better blog

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Dear WordCount:

Hey Michelle, how much will I pay if I get a self-hosted WordPress blog? What are the advantages and disadvantages of a self-hosted blog?

– A

Dear A:

How much you’d pay depends on the host service company you use; I use BlueHost. I pay about $10 a month; I also pay for six domain names – the one that I use and five others that are similar enough that I wouldn’t want someone else to use them. That’s something on the order of $160 to $180 a year for those services.

I also paid a website developer/designer to move my blog from WordPress.com to a self-hosted site, and to design my site. You could do that on your own, but because of how much I work, I had someone do it for me. Those costs can range from several hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on how elaborate you want your website/blog to be.

Here’s some more information on self-hosted WordPress blogs, from a #wclw live chat I did a while back with web designer Ron Doyle: Working with WordPress: themes, hosts, plugins and more.

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Dear WordCount:

I’ve been blogging for years using just my own photos. Where else can I find images?  Today I’m working on a post on different ways to use Mason jars and I’d like to include images from the source articles.  Do I need to contact each blog to ask permission?  Do I include a link in my post to the image on their blog, or pull the image down and re-host it?  Each of those seems questionable as far as copyright goes. How do others do this?

– AR

Adding photos to blog posts is smart, because they make your posts look more professional, because readers like them, and because Google notices them, which helps your posts appear higher in search engine results. But as you suspected, you can’t just grab an image to use in a post without regard for who owns it; if you do and it’s protected by a copyright, you’re infringing on the owner’s intellectual property.

Here are some popular sources for finding images for blog posts:

Creative Commons. My standard fall-back source for photos is Creative Commons. It’s a clearinghouse of content, including images, that the license holders make available for other people to use online with limited or no restrictions. On the Creative Commons site, use a search window to type in keywords that describe the image you’re looking for. The site’s internal search engine will look through images from Google and Flickr and videos on blip.tv. If you see something in the search results that you’d like to use, click through to read what licensing rights the copyright holder is making available. Sometimes all they ask is that you identify them as the photographer when you run the photo (which is exactly what I did for the photo that’s running with this post). Read about more sources for free photos in this comment that a WordCount reader left on a previous post about using images in posts.

istockphoto and stock photo services. Stock images are another way to go. Stock photos or illustrations are existing photos that the owners sell online, often at very low prices. Many bloggers use istockphoto.com, an online stock photo company that sells images for as little as 95 cents. istockphoto lets you buy credits that you can use to purchase images. Other sources of stock photos that bloggers I know use include rgbstock and Stock.xchng.

DIY. As you already know, there’s another option: taking your own photos. You don’t need a fancy digital camera to take pictures. If you’ve got a smartphone, just point and shoot. You can post the photo to Flickr, Facebook or Twitpic, then copy and paste it into a blog post, or use WordPress’ QuickPress feature to put it directly into your blog.

Dear WordCount:

I signed up for the Blogathon. How do I add the badge code to my blog?

– M

Dear M:

Adding the blogathon or any other badge to a blog seems more intimidating than it really is. Here’s a step-by-step explanation from Jackson Zeiner, who blogs at Word Waves, and Peggy Noonan, a freelance writer and blogger who blogs at Alternative Medicine For You. These instructions are for adding the badge code to a WordPress blog:

1. Copy one of the code for the badge size you want to put on your page.
2. Go to your blog’s Dashboard.
3. Go to Appearance.
4. Go to Widgets. Now you will see two columns. The left side lists the widgets available for your blog and the right column called Sidebars shows all the widgets you have activated on your site.
5. Find the Text widget and draft it to the Sidebars column. If you want the badge code to appear at the top of the sidebar column, drop it on top of the other widgets shown in that column. If you want it to appear lower, drop it there.
6. Click on that Text widget to open it.
7. Paste the badge code into the blank space.
8. Click Save.
9. Return to the Dashboard. Click Preview to see how it looks, or open a new browser tab or window, open your blog and see how it looks. If the badge is too big, copy a smaller image code and follow the same steps to paste it into the text widget instead.

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Dear WordCount:

I just wanted to confirm that if I add badge to side bar of main page of blog, then I don’t need to post it on the blog posts every day.

– C

Dear C:

That’s right. The badge code is a fun decoration to put on your blog, not a requirement to have on each post. In fact, you don’t even need the badge. But lots of people display them to show that they’re part of a large blog challenge community. You’re doing all the hard work, you might as well get the glory.

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Dear WordCount:

Quick question (and maybe a silly one, but I can’t find it anywhere) – where is the Blogathon group on Google+?

– H

Dear H:

Around here, there is no such thing as a silly question. And this is a tricky one. The Blogathon group is on Google Groups, not Google+. Google Groups is an online forum that people can sign up for to talk to each other. Google+ is…. an online forum that people can sign up for to talk to each other, but with pictures, Circles and other cooler stuff. Google Groups has been around longer but doesn’t get hyped as much as Google+. But for the blogathon, we like it. Who knows, maybe by next year we’ll move the entire operation to Google+. One more thing you need to know about using the blogathon Google Group: you need a Google account to log in. If you don’t have one, you need to create one. Use this form to create a Google account.

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Dear WordCount:

Where will I see the topics of the day?

– E

Dear E:

Some blogging challenges email you a daily writing prompt. The Blogathon isn’t one of them. Because our bloggers write about so many different subjects – gardening, parenting, gadgets, the environment, triathlons, faith, frugal living, freelance writing and a lot more – there’s no way everyone could follow a daily prompt. Instead, we encourage people to come up with their own topics. But we make it easy for them, by providing a handful of theme days during the month. The first one is May 7, when everyone is encouraged to write on the following: “5 movies that have inspired my blogging.”  Here is the complete list blogathon calendar of events.

Here’s the alphabetized list of everyone in the 2012 WordCount Blogathon – all 250 of them! Each entry includes the participant’s name, link to their blog and a short description. Entries are taken from information bloggers shared when they registered; if you need to make changes to your entry, let us know. Thanks to Blogathon manager Jan Udlock for compiling the list. – Michelle V. Rafter

A

Abra Cole – The Magical Miss, The pursuit of photography and pie.

Akanksha Garg - Smiling Mystic Cloud, A mirror that reflects the experiences of life.

Alana Mautone - Ramblin’ With AM, Living in upstate New York.

Aleksandra Milcic Radovanovic - Linguist Blog, Writing about translation and applied linguistics.

Alison Preston Baldyga – Lady Moxie, On a constant search for wellness.

Amanda Steinhaus – Ms. Panda’s Blog, Poetry, children’s stories, playwriting and more.

Andria – Find me Frugal(er) , Helping people cut costs and save money without taking it all too seriously.

Angela Aboulnaja - DMV Art, A comprehensive view into the art scene in DC, Maryland and Virginia.

Anna Murphy – Murphy Baby, Wife and mama to baby Ronan. Recorded words because I never want to forget what this feels like.

Annabelle – Shopping Detox, Where retro style meets personal finance.

Anne Noble – Mac’s Musings, My hopefully intelligent and coherent ramblings.

Anne Wainscott-Sargent – The Writing Well, Celebrating excellence in writing and storytelling.

Annette Gendler - Memoir, Writing & Life, Writing, teaching and publishing memoir and creative nonfiction.

Annie Logue - Ann Logue, Financial and current events, from author of four Dummies books on investing.

Anyes - Far Away in the Sunshine, Stories of a woman pursuing her creative dreams.

Ariel -Nuestro Contrapunto, A husband and wife writing about theology, literature, culture, actuality and more.

Aron Mturi -Aron Creativity, International celebrity news, current affairs, music and articles, especially from East Africa.

Aundra Weissert – Chestertown Fit for Life, Adventures in homesteading and personal fitness.

Ayesha Usman – Mommy First, Juggling a professional career and motherhood.

B

Barb Freda - Babette Feasts, Feast with me.

Barbara McDowell Whitt – WCHS, MPHS and Park College…Diary Writing 1960-1965, An Iowa farm
girl’s view of high school and college life in the 1960s.

Beth – Chasing My Joy, My journey to becoming an Ironman.

Beth Zare – Beth Zare, Personal thoughts about life.

Bill Lascher – Lascher at Large, Telling the true story of a young foreign correspondent’s adventures during World
War II.

Billie Noakes – The Billie Gram, Observations about life from a freelance writer and storyteller with a slightly bent sense of humor.

Brian Mann – Brian P. Mann, Rants, raves…that’s about it.

C

Cariann McCready – Unionvale Mom’s Spot, Rural life with family, food, crafts and books.

Carolina -Sew Carolina Knits, Running, quilting and knitting.

Carrie Schmeck – Bizzi Writer, Business copywriting that makes a difference.

Cathleen McCarthy – Save on Cities, Travel, entertainment and family fun along the Northeast Corridor: Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington DC.

Cathy Canaceli – Periwinkle Confessions, It’s fun to be a godly girl.

Cathy Morton – Cathy’s Voice Now, Mother, grandmother and alcoholic/addict in long term recovery.

Caylie Price – Better Business Better Life, Blast your business to success, live the life you want!

Cheryl Wright – Cheryl Wright, Life, writing, interior design and more.

Chris Lowe – Blue Oregon, Contributing blogger at Oregon Progressive.

Christianne Cook – A Day in my Mind

Christina - Lazy Bones Running, Ramblings from an obsessed runner.

Christine Calvin - Inspired Life, Whatever strikes my fancy.

Christine Heinrichs - Poultry Bookstore, Information on heritage breed poultry.

Claudia Neely – Social Skills Success, Teaching parents of special needs teens, pre-teens and young adults how to mainstream their kids into successful peer groups and more.

Cody Ray – The Home of Challenge Pissing, Movies, music and whatever else I think is cool.

Connie Ong – Unbirthday Escapades, A look at memories past and present.

Cristina Santiestevan – Outlaw Garden, Breaking the rules by growing vegetables even when HOA says no.

Cynthia Pelcher – Cynthia Banessa, Sharing gardening, crafts and dishes.

D

Daisy – Compost Happens, Taking care of family, garden and coffee.

Dania Bianchi – The Health Nut, Health reports and news for the average mom; and Dania Bianchi, Content marketing for small businesses.

Danielle – Porridge Report, Digital doses for the modern family as seen by a distracted mother and writer.

Daphne – My Distant Husband, We are together; yet, living apart.

Darlene Peltz - Everything Relationships, Exploring ways to improve how we talk, treat and deal with each other.

Darling Sookie – Darling Sookie, Fictional telepathic barmaid who tweets too much and enjoys being a role player.

David Allen – Mac 20Q, Mac technology blog.

Dayle Fraschilla - I Shall Be a Toad, Everything that means anything to me.

Debbie Kaplan – Frisco Kids, Your guide to kid-friendly events and trips around the San Francisco Bay area.

Discorunner – Discorunner, Running, biking, swimming, and blogging in the nation’s capital.

Don Gonzalez – Joe Catholic, Where men can get to know, share and defend their Catholic faith.

Doña Bumgarner - Aubergine, Musings of a midlife mama.

Dylan Fogle – East Nashville Jugglers Club, Experience juggling.

E F

Ed Borasky – Borasky Research, Computational and data journalism.

Ejila Makangu – Ejimak, French-English translator

Elise Ventura – Skipping Stones, Current events, atheism, pop culture and more.

Elizabeth King Humphrey – The Write Elizabeth, A round-up of reading, writing, editing and parenting.

Elyse Grau - My Garden to Table, Growing what you eat, eating what you grow.

Emily Taylor – Southerners in So Cal, A Southern girl in surfer country.

Estelle Sobel Erasmus - Musings On Motherhood, Midlife and Other Forms of Madness, My transformative journey through motherhood.

Eva Schweber – Tech Whisperer, Helping you select, use and integrate your gadgets.

G

Gabryyl Pierce -Gabryyl Pierce, Writer of words, purveyor of awesome.

Glenneth Redd - Let’s Talk and Walk, Getting healthy through walking, better eating and having fun.

Gloria Marie – Gloria Marie, Inspiration for creatives and other people who desire to live an incredible life.

H

Harry Marks - Curious Rat, A technology blog combatting stupidity from wherever it comes.

Heather Craik – Shades of a Dream, Writing, marketing and design in business.

Heather Williams – This Blog Will Give You Cancer, “I love talking about nothing. It is the only thing I know anything about.” – Oscar Wilde.

Hillah Culman – The One Ingredient, Cooking with one main ingredient.

Holan Kerrick – Gadget Girl Tips, Tips, tricks and humorous stories about technology for the everyday person.

Holly Swanson - State College Mom, Being a mom, Penn State, and whatever else I deem blog-worthy.

J

J. Audrey Miller – Romance in the Writing, Romance and writing: a perfect match.

J9 – J9 Style, Channel Your Inner Fabulous.

Jackie Dishner - Bike with Jackie, Your guide to inspiration, encouragement, quirky stories, laughs and life-changing adventures.

Jackson Zeiner – Word Waves, A blog about literature in its various forms and how it’s changing.

Jan Roberts Culpepper – Simply Jan, A simple look at a not-so-simple life.

Jan Udlock – Imperfect Mom, Professional writer, parenting expert, mom of five.

Jane Boursaw - Reel Life with Jane, Syndicated family movie and TV reviews.

Jane Neff Rollins – Kitchen Sink Genealogy, Family history of all 4 branches of my family.

Javier Cabral – The Glutster, Food, angst, punk rock and a really fast metabolism.

Jeannette Vancio – Charity Heart, Encouragement for lovers and dreamers.

Jenn - Wordzopolis, Financial services marketing.

Jenn Maxwell – Jenn Maxwell, Writer, designer, dreamer.

Jenni Derryberry Mann - Mamahhh, Navigating the labyrinth of motherhood one breath at a time.

Jennie Phipps – Detroit on the Cheap, Living well is the best revenge.

Jennifer Eckert – Pregnant at Forty, Pregnant for the first time at 40.

Jennifer Fink – Blogging About Boys, All about boys.

Jennifer Patrick - Still Living the Dream, Raising two young kids in my 40s.

Jennifer Walker - My Morning Chocolate, Delicious inspiration for people who wake up thinking about food.

Jennifer Willis - Jennifer Willis, Journalist, writer, author, and essayist.

Jessica – Pink Rose, Gen-Y writer who loves to garden, craft and write.

Jessica Quinn - Northern Front, The sweet life in Northern BC.

Joan Lambert Bailey - Popcorn Homestead, Exploring Japan one vegetable at a time.

Joanna Yuen – Slow-poke Posts, Fiction writing.

Joe Wilcox – Queer Joe, Adventures in finding my passion…knitting.

Jodi Rosenberg – 100 Smile Challenge, Simple ideas to help you find more smiles in your life.

Jodi Torpey – Write Better Faster, Changing the way you think about your business writing – one reader at a time.

Joel Whitaker – Catholic Faith and Fitness, Helping Catholics become spiritual, financially and physically fit.

Joelle Pittman – MEM to LAX, Southern girl bouncing between Memphis and Los Angeles.

John Beck – And a Little Wine, Book lover, baseball fanatic, life enthusiast.

Jon Bell - On Mount Hood, All things Mount Hood.

Jovette Gadson – Honey Suga Sweet, Creative expressions from the soul.

Juan Luis Cornejo – Cornejo Sports, Soccer and more.

Judy Downing - Flights of Fantasy, Thoughts about becoming a better writer, with an emphasis on fantasy and science fiction; and Writer in Charge, Exploring today’s publishing choices.

Julia Biggs - Aunty JuJu’s Perspective, My thoughts for now.

Julie Farrar – Traveling Through, Traveling through the second half of my life.

K

Karen C. – The Vegetable Garden, Simply organically.

Kat Hasenauer - Sports Girl Kat, Balancing life as sportswriter and educational administrator.

Kate Megill - Teaching what is Good, Teaching younger women according to the Titus 2 model.

Kate Reilly – Polkadot Suitcase, Finding fun through creative living.

Kathryn - Kathryn’s Cards, Making cards for Operation Write Home.

Kathryn Lance - KL and Her Books, Writing and related matters, from a long-time fiction and nonfiction writer and editor.

Katie Morell – Katie Morell , Full-time freelance writer specializing in business, travel and human interest topics.

Katie Jett Walls – Woah Baby, The weird and wonderful of expecting and becoming parents.

Katrina Hutchesson – Kat’s Place – My Life, My life and our family.

Katy Manck - Books YA Love, Recommending young adult books beyond the bestsellers.

Kellyn Christison - Journalism 111, A blog for my multimedia journalism class.

Kimberly LoSavioe - Blogging w/Gypsy @ Gypsy’s Treasures, A blogging and WordPress designing mom.

Kirsten Doyle - Running for Autism, Runner, writer and special needs mom trying to make sense of life.

Kirsten Oge – Puppy Paws and Dirty Noses, First time mom and housewife.

Kyle Yasumiishi – Kyle Yasumiishi, Student journalist blogging about the future of journalism.

L

Laura – Word Grrls, Creative writing inspiration.

Laura – Not Just 9 to 5, Changing focus while I work into a freelance writing career.

Laura Finger – Boat Jumpers, Keeping entrepreneurs in their right minds.

Laura Orsini - Marcie Brock, Book Marketing Maven, Marketing advice for self-publishing authors.

Laura Tokie – In My Little Town, All about family on the fly.

Leah Ingram – Suddenly Frugal, How to live more on less money; and Philly on the Cheap, Deals, discounts and living on the cheap in the Philadelphia area.

Lenore Skomal - Gut Check: Making simple sense out of life, Daily blogger for Erie Times-News.

Leslie – The Chic Adventurer, Beauty and chicness can exist anywhere.

Liberty Montano - Liberty’s Yarn, Helping make stuff free of crap and drama.

Lindsay – With a Little Love and Luck, Fight stigma and kick postpartum depression’s butt.

Lisa Carter - Intralingo, The art and business of literary translation.

Lisa Jaffe Hubbell - Land Guppy, Writing about good food, good books, and good times.

Lise Capitan – Lise Capitan, A translator talks about work, language and translation.

Liz Sheffield - Motherlogue, A mother talks about mothering, writing and life.

M

Mammy Mohamed – T-Mark, News and fashion.

Margarita Tartakovsky – Margarita Tartakovsky, Language, life and fashionable pursuits.

Margin Fades – Margin Fades The joy of movement. Words. Food and movement.

Maria Gajewski – Changing River Consultants, Helping you help others.

Mariann L. Dyson – 4 Writer Mom, Penning a novel while single-handedly raising four children.

Marianne - D is for Dovey, Quilt-making, reading, gardening and life in west central Florida.

Marie-Louise – Muse Translation, Musings from a freelance French to English translator.

Marijke Vroomen Durning – Med Health Writer, Health news from a nurse turned writer.

Mark Connolly – Spiritual Advocate, You know, like the Paraclete.

Mark Wahlton – Save the Jumble, Meandering through the ADD-addled mind.

Marvin Kirkland – Impermanent Insanity Writes, Writing and mental illness.

Mary Lebeau – Raising Waltons, Passing down old-fashion values in a 21st century world.

Masa – Hearting Handmade, DIY, eco-friendly, vintage, creativity and giveaways.

Matthew J. Perry – Sharing the Pants A husband and wife blog about women winning bread, men making homes, both raising kids and coping with cultural shifts.

Megan Wollenberg – Army Wife Writes, The ups and downs of PCS-ing to Italy.

Melinda Copp – Life List, Nature and nature writing.

Melinda McGuire – Melinda McGuire Writes, Writing with a Southern Slant.

Melissa Luznicky Garrett – Someday When I’m Famous, Author of adult and young adult novels.

Melissa Lindberg - Get Creative with the Good Idea Girl, Parenting, party planning and holiday celebrations.

Melissa Miller Young – Zen Life Solutions, Providing positive and healthy information and Word Miller, Making your marketing efforts and message shine.

Mena Grazie - Preternatural Post, News and information for role players, fictional characters and legendary creatures.

Michal Karni – Lights Along the Way, Writing practice from Jewish sources.

Michelle – Team Tori, Six-year-old rock star fighting neurofibromatosis.

Michelle Mahoney – Intuitive Tarot, Learn the cards today.

Michelle Rafter - Word Count: Freelancing in the digital age, News, tips and advice for self-employed writers.

Mikaela D’Eigh - La Belle Dame de Merci, Reflections on art of all mediums.

Mimi - Wife, Writer, Mom, All Blessings, Writer and parent to 5 special needs children.

Mridu Khullar Relph - Mridu Khullar Relph, Thoughts on writing and life from a female freelancer in India.

N

Nancy Kopp - Writer Grannys World, My tips and encouragement for writers.

Natalie – Fluent Historian, Languages, history and Russia.

Nicky LaMarco – Freelance Writing 4 Beginners, Freelance writing for beginners.

Noelle – Sustainably Happy, Happiness: one day at a time.

O P

Paola – Research and Kitchen, A concoction of ethnographic and food studies.

Patricia Ann C Perkowski – Spiritual Lives of Women, Nurturing moms, nurturing the future.

Patrick McGraw – PFM Reports, Mostly true stories from home and on the road.

Patti Goldenson – Sometimes Sideways, A place to talk about feeling sideways, cry about it, laugh about it and let it go.

Patty Core – Daily Nutrition Plus, Proactive health and wellness information.

Peggy Crippen - Military Move HQ, Information for military families changing duty stations.

Peggy Noonan – Alt Med for You, Alternative medicine news and how-to information.

Pia Savage – Courting Destiny, A blog about everything and nothing.

R

Rachel Ward – A Discount Ticket To Everywhere, What I’m reading, re-reading, reading to my children and translating.

Rashida – Books, Bass and Beauty, Dedicated to educating, entertaining, and empowering today’s Black woman.

Rebecca Koffman – Walking Portland, Walking in Portland and beyond.

Reeti Roy – The Magic Ink Stand, All things quirky, personal and confessional.

Rhonda Booker - Mygr8reads, Books I like to read, and my writing practice.

Robin – A Word, A Bird, New blogger.

Ron Dere – Just There, Crisscross of neurons in ASCII.

Ronda Levine - Not Quite Ally McBeal, Just another girl with a theme song.

Rose Medlock -  SGV East Food Swap, Create community by exchanging homemade and homegrown goods.

Rossandra White – Rossandra White, A former bushbaby’s take on writing and appreciating life.

Ruth Terry – Ruth Writes, Changing the world…one word at a time.

 S

Samuel Slate – Irrational Handbook, Humor, gaming, speculation and fiction.

Sandra Hume – Little House Travel, Everything Little House fans and their families should know about traveling to places Laura Ingalls Wilder called home.

Sara Carbaugh - Your Creative Ally, Online marketing tips, tutorials, and motivational posts.

Sara Lancaster - No 2 Pen, Showcasing examples of sharp website content.

Sarah - Animals Help Heal, Different ways animals can be used in healing.

Sarah E. Ludwig - Parenting by Trial and Error, The learning curve in raising kids.

Sarah Moon – Clear Eyes, Full Shelves, Multi-genre blog for readers.

Sarah Morgan – Sarah Morgan, Jumping puddles in the rain.

Sharon C. Jenkins – The Authorpreneurship Project, Equipping authors to better handle the business side of writing.

Sheela Kangal - Skangal Works, Just another playwright climbing social media.

Sheila Callahan – Sheila Callahan, What’s on my mind.

Silja Hurskainen – Silja Hurskainen, A Finnish freelance writer and blogger living in Estonia.

Sita Henderson -  Sita’s Sanctum , A journey of faith filtered through the Word of God.

Sona Charaipotra – Sona Charaipotra, Writing and balancing first-time parenthood.

Sonal Garg – Sonal Garg, Creating something every day.

Stephanie Smith - Information Central:  Gardening Questions Answered, Your vegetable questions answered.

Stephanie Vozza – Five Minute Mom’s Club, Simplify, simplify, simplify. Then organize.

Sue Ann Bowling -The Homecoming Blog  Official blog for the book, Homecoming.

Sun Hee Yoon – Fiery Memoir, Daily struggles in motherhood, and the ups and downs of being a housewife.

Susie Klein – Recovering Church Lady, Pleasing God is simply not as hard as you think.

Suzanne – The Tales of Missus P, Little adventures of me.

T

T.A. Barnhart – t.a. barnhart , A progressive voice from the Pacific Northwest.

Taasmom - Mommy Dearest, A mommy’s moments.

Tammy Ellingson – Mama Can Dance, A dancing mama who still grooves to her own beat.

Tara L. Daves – Occupation, Shmoccupation, Adventures in the world of unemployment.

Tara Phillips – Two Hands and a Road Map, Making poor blogging choices since 2010.

Tatyanna Wilkinson – Smart Girl, Wise Woman, Blog, forum and workshops for young women 18 to 24.

Tere Scott - Teachable Scotts Tots Homeschool, Parenting and homeschooling; and Elephant Ears Learning, Homeschooling resources and tips.

Tia Bach – Depression Cookies, A mother and daughter’s journey in writing, and much more.

Tina Armstrong-Ogbonna -Teena News, My opinions on news and events.

TJ Whelan – Moonlight and Shadows, Musings of a Texas moonbaby.

Tracey Arial - Arial View, Exploring the world through words.

Tracey V. – Never Switching to Decaf, Ramblings about life, family, cooking and photography.

Traci - A Purple Paintbrush, Making and sharing art.

V

Valerie Lakey – Blue Skies, Seeing life in a positive light.

Van Waffle - Speed River Journal, An urban naturalist’s progress.

Vanessa Geneva Ahern - Hudson Valley Good Stuff, Where to eat, play and re-charge your spirit in the Hudson Valley.

Veronica Armstrong – Veronica Armstrong, Eye candy, inspiration, kids, life and happiness.

Veronica Del Bianco - The Eco Niche, A blog that celebrates nature, good food, and learning something new.

Victoria Musgrave -Victoria Musgrave Communications, A communications consultant working with health care organizations and entrepreneurs.

Vivian Tran – Stem Favorites, Not all those who linger are lost.

W X Y Z

Walter L. Johnson II - Communications Careers Corner, Your guide to advice on careers in communications and media.

Yael Grauer - Yael Writes, Freelance writing services.

If you sign up for the 2012 WordCount Blogathon and successfully post all 31 days in May, you could win a Kindle Fire e-book reader, review of your blog, WordPress tutorial, one-on-one business or writing coaching, $100 cash, books and more.

All of these fabulous prizes come courtesy of the companies and individuals generously sponsoring this year’s contest.

Prize winners will be randomly selected from names of bloggers who complete the month-long challenge. Winners will be announced at the end of the wrap-up chat on Twitter on June 1. Use #blog2012 to tune into the chat, and to follow all the bloggers in the blogathon during May.

If you haven’t signed up for the blogathon, there’s still time. Registration is open until 11 p.m. Eastern time/8 p.m. Pacific time on May 1. Here’s the registration form.

Here are this year’s Blogathon prizes and the companies and individuals offering them:

• Kindle Fire e-book reader  – Amazon’s color e-book reader. From Jason Lancaster at Spork Marketing, an Internet design firm specializing in search engine optimization, pay-per-click ad management, and search engine friendly design.
• 1 hour of WordPress tech support - Your choice of consulting, training or hacking for your WordPress website or blog. From Ron Doyle, proprietor of Waterday Media, offering media strategy, design and development for small businesses and individuals.
• $175 writing review package – One-hour business writing review or coaching session, plus 100 Bucks! From Jodi Torpey, writer, trainer and consultant, and blogger at WriteBetterFaster.
• $150+ Blog Sharpening Package – A written review of your blog, 1-hour phone consultation and No. 2 Pen, designed by Acme Studios. From website content expert Sara Lancaster, of No. 2 Pen.
• 2 hours of book or other editing – Two hours of editing your book manuscript or other editing services. From Danielle Buffardi, writer, editor, social media manager and website content management consultant at PenPoint Editorial Services.
• 6-month membership to Writer, Compose Yourself!  - Free use of this members-only creative writing site (regularly priced at $15/mo.) launching at the end of May. From co-founder Heather Craik.
• $50 pack of DVD movies - Customized for you, or your family and kids. From Jane Boursaw, syndicated movie and TV reviewer and blogger at Reel Life With Jane.
• Valhalla – Your own copy of urban fantasy novel (or if you already have it, another book) from journalist, author and blogger Jennifer Willis.
• Socially Responsible Investing for Dummies – And miscellaneous Dummies swag. From author, independent writer and analyst Anne C. Logue.
• 2012 AP Stylebook – Latest edition of this industry-standard guide to grammar and usage. From WordCount Editorial Services (that’s me!)
• $25 Amazon giftcard - From WordCount Editorial Services (that’s me!)

More info about sponsors

WordCount Editorial Services receives no additional remuneration – monetary or otherwise – from blogathon sponsors in exchange for their support.

If you’re interested in becoming a sponsor of the 2012 Blogathon, it’s not too late. Contact me at wordcountfreelance@gmail.com.

This Sunday and every Sunday during May, I’m re-running popular posts on subjects that readers ask for. 

Each year, a significant portion of people who sign up for the WordCount Blogathon are beginning bloggers. They’re taking the challenge to learn more about blogging and what will help take their blogs from startups to superstars.

To help them, and anyone else who’s considering starting a blog, here are some of the most popular posts that I’ve written over the years on the subject:

• Bad beginnings: 10 newbie blogging mistakes & how to fix them - Don’t just write about yourself, and other tips.
• How to pick a topic for a blog - Write about what you know, or what you want to know better.
• The well-dressed blog post - Meta descriptions, keywords and other essential elements that every blog post should have.
• 8 essential reasons to put links in your blog posts – Adding links to posts shows readers you’re part of a bigger conversation, it’s good blogging etiquette, and it saves you from having to explain or define things every time you write about them.
• Dear WordCount: How long should a blog post be? - The sweet spot is…….
• 5 ways to blog every day without freaking out - Plan ahead, and pre-write when you need to.
• Top 10 strategies to drive traffic to your blog - Be timely, funny, sexy – and don’t skirt controversy.
• 6 surefire strategies to get more comments on your blog - Start by reading and commenting on other blogs.
• 10 sure cures for blogging burnout – Jot ideas directly into draft mode on your blog as soon as you have them, and more suggestions.
•  5 reasons you should obsess over blog stats – Monitor page views to see what kinds of topics readers like best.

Flowers are blooming, baseball’s here and my taxes are almost done. It can only mean one thing.

The 2012 WordCount Blogathon is coming.

I’m getting ready to open registration for the Blogathon, the community challenge to blog every day in the month of May. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read this Blogathon FAQ.

Last year was a big one for the Blogathon. More than 200 professional writers and other bloggers participated. I added a Google Group that became a central gathering place for people to share links to their posts, ask questions and kvetch about how much they were loving – or by the very end, hating – the experience. I also started a weekly Blogathon newsletter to keep everyone apprised of when guest post exchanges and other events were happening.

To celebrate hitting our 5th anniversary, I’m thinking of adding some new features to this year’s event, but want to gauge people’s interest. For example: I’ve started using Pinterest, and want to know if I should incorporate Pinterest boards into this year’s Blogathon.

If you’ve participated in the blogathon before or are thinking about it for this year, what features would you like to see included?

Please help me out by taking this simple poll.

Then stay tuned. Registration for the Blogathon opens next week. And if you’re talking about the Blogathon on Twitter, use the hashtag #blog2012.

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!