No so with a blogger I’ll identify as “K,” who blogs at Once Bitten as Sookie Stackhouse, the telepathic barmaid heroine of Charlaine Harris’ Southern vampire mystery series played by Anna Paquin in the hit vampire series “True Blood.”

Or Jay, aka, “Mena Grazie,” a blogger who runs an online newspaper for vampires and other paranormal fictional characters called The Preternatural Post.

Or Kathy Murray Lynch, a writer and author who blogs at That China Girl in the voice of Taya H., the main character of her novel in progress.

I never knew so many people didn’t blog as themselves until the 2011 Blogathon. When I roamed through the 200+ bloggers who’d signed up, I noticed a number who used a first name only, pseudonym or the name of a fictional character.

Call Me Anonymous

Out of curiosity, I asked this year’s blogathon participants why they did or didn’t blog as themselves. Based on what they shared, it boils down to the reason they’re blogging in the first place:

• People use their own name if they’re journalists, freelancers or other types of writers or are blogging to build a brand or a name for themselves because they’re working on a book or other project.
• If the nature of what they write about is more personal, they don’t.
• If they’re using a blog as a living lab to experiment with a character for a work of fiction or something else they’re pursuing, they blog as that person.
• If they’re running a company blog, they don’t put a name on posts at all or use the CEO’s name.

In Their Own Words

Here’s what bloggers said about identifying or not identifying themselves on their blogs:

It’s a fiction writing warm up – “The sole purpose of the blog is to feed my fiction, provide character development, do research and play with ideas. I got so much out of the blogathon last year, that I wanted to see if having daily deadlines and readers to bounce ideas off of, could generate the same energy in my fiction.  The short answer: It has. On a lot of days my posts have served as a great warm-up for my writing sessions. I think people’s answers reflect just how much blogs have changed over the years, going from the very personal to the very – impersonal isn’t the word – public, more like newsletters, or mini publications. At least that’s how I look at what I do.” - ” Kathy Murray Lynch, That China Girl

I want to own what I say – “Our blog centers around our mother-daughter relationship and us as authors (of) Depression Cookies. I still think it is very important for us to be genuinely exposed, shall we say. I want our readers to know (us) as authors, writers, parents, friends, women. But, to go one step farther, I would want to always blog under my name. I want to ‘own’ something I say.” – Tia Bach, Depression Cookies

First name basis - “I used to blog completely anonymously, but I felt silly about it. Now I use my first name only. It’s not a big deal to me exactly, and most people in my day-to-day life are aware of my blog. But I’m a substitute teacher and a touch of anonymity seems prudent since I do swear sometimes. Then again, my last name is extremely common, so maybe I I’m worrying over nothing.” – Tara P., Two Hands and a Road Map

My blog, my brand – “My blog is all me, all the time, because I’m all about the Reel Life With Jane brand. There are tons of entertainment sites out there, but only one me, so that’s what I push 24/7.” – Jane Boursaw, Reel Life With Jane

More in Their Own Words

Better known than my real name – “I blog under a pseudonym simply because when I started the blog, I was working in a field where doing a paranormal/vampire/gaming blog would not have been acceptable. I’ve been trying to transition to working in the horror/gaming/technology/paranormal genre and there ‘Mena’ is actually better known than my real name. In an effort to unite my ‘personalities’ I have recently begun listing the Post on my ‘real’ resume and the ‘real’ me is listed as the publisher of the Post on the About page.” – JC Hammond aka “Mena Grazie,” The Preternatural Post

From ‘terrified’ to ‘no apologies’ – “This is something I wrestled with when beginning a blog. I was pretty terrified to blog in general, because I knew ladymoxie would be a blog in my voice, uncensored. I have a lot of conservative family, some who think I wasted my education by even creating my blog, but I don’t take it personally. Blogging in my own identity allowed me to further the journey of completely being myself and having my own opinions, no matter what others think. Now I include my blog as part of my portfolio because it shows my style, voice, and sassiness – no apologies for who I am or how I write. The blog has lead to work, which reinforces my goal to be an honest voice.” – Alison Preston, Ladymoxie

Mistake to have separate personas – “Since I’m not a secret agent I have no reason to hide who I am. My blog represents one facet of me and is filled with my opinions. I mention it on Twitter and Facebook and try to tie it all together. I made the mistake early on in my social media life of having separate personnas. Some – such as my primary AOL screen name, my Yahoo name and my Skype name – I cannot change and have too many people I’m connected to on those services. I wish they would let one make a one-time change so I could bring those names in line with the rest of my online persona.” – Peter Weissenstein, Join Me for a Cuppa

Anonymous to protect the kids - “I have been blogging since 2004 and my children were all very young back then. My blog was originally about my adventures in homeschooling and I wanted to keep the protection of semi-anonymity for the sake of my little ones. Over the years, I’ve add several different blogs for several different purposes and still kept using only my first name. But now, with 4 of my children adults and 2 more teenagers and the younger 2 getting close to teen years, I no longer feel the need for complete anonymity.” – Kate M., Teaching What is Good

What about you, do you blog as you or someone else, and why?

Feeling lucky?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Don’t let the fact that 50 million people discovered it before you stop you from giving it a whirl. If you have a blog, Twitter is not only a good way to promote your blog, it’s also an idea factory you scan for things to write about, and a virtual hangout you can visit to discuss the latest blogging issues and trends.

Here to make a convincing argument for integrating Twitter into your blogging life is Jane Boursaw, an entertainment industry writer and blogger at TV Squad, Film Gecko and more. If you like what you see, consider taking Jane’s upcoming blogging class, which she mention’s at the end of the post. Hit it Jane:

Blogging and Twitter: The Perfect Match

For better or worse, Twitter seems to be here to stay, and that’s a good thing for bloggers. I manage five Twitter accounts for my various blogs, and get tons of traffic coming from Twitter for each one. Here are five tips and tricks to help you blend Twitter into your blogging life:

1. Feed those blog posts. No, I don’t mean give them grains and veggies. I’m talking about feeding your blog posts automatically into Twitter. There are several programs to do this, including TwitterFeed.com, but my current favorite is RSS2Twitter. The site is clean and simple, it supports multiple Twitter accounts, and once you sign up and set up your Twitter accounts, it starts immediately feeding your posts into Twitter automatically. No muss, no fuss.

2. Access Twitter easily. There are a number of programs to help you keep track of your Twitter followers and traffic, including TweetDeck, TweetGrid, and Tweetie. My favorite is Seesmic.com. Basically, what these do is provide a place to easily update Twitter, manage conversations with @replies and direct messages, stay organized with groups, see what’s trending, and manage multiple Twitter accounts easily.

3. Check out Twitter’s Help section. It’s a little bewildering getting up to speed on all the Twitter-speak like hash-tags, RTs, @names, trending topics, and everything else. Twitter actually has a great Help section that helps to sort it all out. So if you’re ever stumped on anything, that’s a great resource.

4. Build your followers. If your Twitter goal is to help build your brand and niche -– and not just to tell people what you’re having for lunch – the more followers you have, the more you’ll spread the word about your blog. To get followers, follow others, but focus on people and groups within your niche. For example, to build my niche of entertainment and get people clicking through to my blogs, I follow lots of people and groups in the movie, TV and celebrity niche.

5. Include updates that aren’t blog posts. It’s considered bad form (by whomever created the social media rules) to have ONLY blog posts going into your Twitter account. So in addition to your blog posts (which should be automatically feeding into your Twitter account – see Item #1), be sure to include Twitter updates about other fun things in your niche.

For more on Twitter, social media, and all things blogging related, sign up for my online class, Blogging for Passion and Profit. The next six-week session starts Monday, Oct. 26, 2009, but feel free to sign up after Monday, as well, and I’ll get the lessons headed your way. Email me if you have any questions or need more info, jboursaw@charter.net.

Jane Boursaw blogs at TV Squad, Film Gecko, CliqueClack, Ruby Shoes, and ifollo.com. Home base is Reel Life With Jane.

Best month ever – When I decided to write a post a day during the month of May I thought it’d be a fun way to celebrate my birthday, which falls during that month. Little did I know my blogathon would make May my biggest month ever for unique visits, more than 3,000. It also helped me expand my circle of freelance acquaintances, which led to a couple posts about interesting things other freelancers are doing on their blogs, such as Jane Boursaw, who blogs at Reel Life with Jane. I also did my first stint guest blogging, writing Making life work as a writer and mom, for Susan Johnston’s Urban Muse blog.

Recognition – WordCount is getting more exposure. During the last quarter, I was interviewed by Paula Berinstein, producer of The Writing Show podcast, about a post I did on writing short. When I interviewed Paul Brusso for an IncTechnology.com story on how small businesses can create a podcast, he taped the interview and turned it into a podcast. Earlier this week, I announced that I’d sold the rights to a WordCount post about conducting tough interviews. The essay will be included in The New Writer’s Handbook 2008, an anthology set to be published in August.

Growing numbers – Visits to and comments on WordCount continue to rise. Unfortunately the same holds for spam. Since the beginning of the year, WordCount has received more than 10,400 unique visits and 216 comments. Still pretty low numbers by some estimations, but it’s enough to boost my Technorati authority to 61 and put the blog eighth in Google searches of the phrase “Word Count.” The site’s also attracted more than 1,600 spam comments – thank goodness for Askimet for catching the vast majority of them.

Indirect revenue – The amount of money I’ve made directly from my blog is still tiny. But the research I’ve done on podcasts, social networks like LinkedIn and other Web 2.0 topics and tools for posts for this blog led me to successfully pitch stories on those subjects to several magazines and Websites. Total revenue from those stories: close to $2,000.

During the last quarter I also reached my 100th blog post milestone, reorganized my blogroll, updated my clips page and settled into a Monday through Friday blogging schedule.

Thanks for being part of the WordCount experience – happy reading!

Jane is Jane Boursaw, and she’s the creative force behind a package of entertainment industry writing ventures that includes weekly and monthly syndicated columns, blogs and her Website, Reel Life with Jane. She’s such a hit, this week Mediabistro.com ran a profile of Boursaw*, calling her a “blogging blockbuster.” (*You need to be a Mediabistro AvantGuild member to read the entire profile.)

One thing novice freelancers hear a lot is how important it is to find a niche or establish a beat. Boursaw is an excellent example of someone who’s done that – and then some.

Five years ago, Boursaw had a typical freelance career writing stories on a piecemeal basis. According to the Mediabistro Q&A written by E. B. Boyd, Boursaw had an “aha” moment and decided to focus her writing efforts on her life-long passion for movies and TV. She started writing family-friendly movie reviews and slowly built up a stable of publications that bought them on a weekly or monthly basis. Today, Boursaw’s reviews are syndicated in more than 300 publications nationwide. She also maintains five blogs, including Film Gecko, which she writes for B5 Media, a Toronto new media network that operates more than 325 paid blogs.

If that’s not enough, Boursaw writes celebrity profiles for in-flights and other magazines, including a recent profile of Hayden Panettiere for Latitudes.

Boursaw’s secrets: she works hard, markets constantly, has a professionally designed Website that she updates constantly. She’s a regular on a variety of freelance writer message boards, including Freelance Success. And she lives about as far away from Hollywood as you can get, in Traverse City, Michigan, with her husband and two kids.

Bravo Jane!