The 2011 WordCount Blogathon starts in 2 days and the 2011 American Society of Journalists and Authors Writer’s annual conference starts today and I’ve been working hard getting ready for both.

I’m using this week’s recommended reading to showcase a couple guest posts I wrote this week on two other writing blogs in honor of both occasions.

I’m  sharing the opening paragraphs of each – click through on the titles to reach the entire posts. And if you’re coming to ASJA please find me and say hi. Enjoy!

10 Reasons for Writers to Blog Daily, at Susan Johnston’s blog, The Urban Muse:

If you work full-time as a freelance writer, it can be brutal to juggle paid assignments along with maintaining a personal blog. If your blog isn’t a money maker, it’s easy to let a couple days – or weeks or months – slip by without adding new material. After all, why put the effort into something that’s not paying the bills when you could spend time working on something that does? But there are plenty of reasons to post regularly, especially if you have any desire to turn what started as a hobby into paid work.

An Editor Reveals 7 Secrets Every Writer Needs to Know, at Carol Tice’s blog, Make a Living Writing:

There’s something about editors that writers don’t get: They’re not the know-it-all, don’t-have-time-for-you, I’ll rewrite-this-because-I-can people you think they are. When it comes to editors, it’s easy to default to that kind of attitude if you’ve been on the receiving end of too many rejection letters or rewrites.

But if you can see past the “Thanks but no thanks” emails and the sometimes off-putting behavior, you’ll realize it’s not always about you. You’ll discover editors – most of them anyway – are just trying to get their jobs done and looking for people who can help them do that. You could be one of them.

Many editors work as writers before trading places, and a lot still do both. I fall into that category. Since late 2009, I’ve worked as the freelance editor of a finance website, where I set the editorial calendar and manage about 10 freelance writers, and also as a writer and blogger for a handful of business and consumer publications. Based on my experience on the other side of the desk, here are some secrets about editors you need to know:

Around Portland and the state, hyperlocal news sites, blogs, and other fledgling news efforts are popping up to take over where traditional media outlets have left off.

That’s the message that came through from journalists – including me – who discussed about the local media scene on this morning’s installment, Rebirth of Local Journalism, on Think Outloud, Oregon Public Broadcasting’s morning public affairs show.

In case you missed it, here’s a stream of the complete, 60 minute broadcast. Yours truly comes on at about minute 37 (give or take a minute or two).

The show, called “The Rebirth of Local Journalism,” airs live tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 9 a.m.

I’ll be one of the guests on the show, along with several other Portland and Oregon journalists who’ve made it their business to keep tabs on the local media scene.

The WeMaketheMedia. com conference, which takes place at UO’s Turnbull Center in downtown Portland on Saturday, is looking at what it would take to start a non-profit investigative journalism initiative in the area. Even if you can’t attend, you can get a taste of what they’ll be discussing by reading these working papers the group’s organizers have put together in advance of the event.

If you miss the OPB live broadcast, you can catch a podcast of the segment after it airs. Once a link’s available I’ll include it here.