Welcome to the third annual WordCount Blogathon, which takes place May 1-31, 2010.
The Blogathon is an annual event that unites freelance writers from all over in a common commitment to learn more about blogging by posting to their own blogs every day during the month of May.
In 2009, close to 45 freelancers from around the United States participated, blogging about everything from frugal living to gardening, cycling to social media. See a complete list of 2009 participants here.
How’d I come up with this crazy idea?
In spring 2008, I was a still a blogging newbie and looking for motivation to post more consistently. I challenged myself to blog every day during the month of May. Since misery loves company, I invited other writers to join me. The WordCount Blogathon was born. Some two dozen of us posted about work, life, love, food, travel, kids and a lot of other things. We wrote a lot, learned a lot, and a good time was had by all.
Flash forward to 2009. Magazines are folding. Newspapers are getting skinnier by the week. Freelancers who once made their living writing for print publications are looking to expand their repertoire to include podcasting, multimedia reporting – and blogging.
So once again, we challenged ourselves to blog every day. We also held a guest post exchange day where we spent one day writing on someone else’s blog, and vice versa. We also tracked our activity on Twitter, using the hashtag #MayBlog2.
We wound things up on June 1 with a Blogathon wrap party, chatting about what worked, what didn’t, what we learned and what we’d do differently next time.
To sign up for this year’s Blogathon, fill out the registration form below. Once we receive it, we’ll send you information about the official WordCount Blogathon Participant badge to display on your site. You’ll also be added to the Blogathon email list for weekly announcements.
And don’t forget to sign up for the WordCount RSS feed so you get daily updates sent directly to your blog reader.
You can follow the WordCount Blogathon on Twitter using the hashtag #Blog2010.
If you have general Blogathon questions, catch me on Twitter, @michellerafter, leave a comment here, or email me at michellerafter (at) comcast(dot)net.
Attention sponsors: I am actively soliciting advertisers, underwriters and other types of sponsorship for the 2010 blogathon. If you have a writing-related product or service freelance writers might be interested in, please feel free to contact me.
If you’re new to blogging, or want to host your own blogathon, here are some resources to help you get started:
- The well-dressed blog post
- A few words on writing short
- The art of the link
- 5 ways to blog every day without freaking out
- Top 10 strategies for driving traffic to your blog
- What freelancers should know about SEO
- The use and abuse of Twitter to flog your blog
- 6 sure fire strategies to get more comments on your blog
- Sex sells, and other blogging lessons learned
Register for the 2010 WordCount Blogathon:
Registration for the 2010 WordCount Blogathon is now CLOSED. Thanks to everyone who signed up. If you missed the cutoff, feel free to play along with us on an unofficial basis. And don’t forget to sign up for next year’s WordCount Blogathon before May 1, 2011.
[...] was Guest Post Exchange Day for the 2010 WordCount Blogathon. I had two really great guest posts, and I got to make guest posts on two awesome [...]
[...] } So yesterday was guest post day for the 2010 Blogathon which I’m participating in. Thirty-one days of straight postings. I swapped posts with the [...]
[...] from the Blogathon and Yahoo! Local 19 May 2010 Posted by Jennie Phipps Comments (0) WordCount Blogathon hostess Michelle Rafter asked all of us who were participating in this year’s Blogathon to [...]
[...] back on Day 1 of the Blogathon I asked readers to tell me what this blog should be. Guess what I forgot? The title and [...]
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[...] week as part of the WordCount Blogathon I posted a round-up of some of my favorite blogs. I realized I’d never be able to fit all of [...]
[...] Saturday, Blogarinos! On Day 10 of the Blogathon, amusingly-named blogger Su-sieee! Mac posted a comment here at the Blog Salad: Hoo-boy! Came over [...]
[...] story of recovery and defying the odds Jump to Comments On weekends during the WordCount 2010 Blogathon, I’ve been trying to publish inspirational stories or newsy bits I see around that might help [...]
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[...] Today, I’m presenting my first Haiku to the world. No joke. It’s part of the 2010 Wordcount Blogathon, which ends one week from today. (Can you believe I’ve written every day for nearly an entire [...]
[...] contributing a guest post. Brandi and I recently swapped one post for another during the 2010 WordCount Blogathon and we decided to keep the door open for occasional future guest posts. That’s why you’re [...]
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[...] Even though I blew the 31 consecutive day thing after a hackfest and the decision to rebuild CarsonBrackney.com from scratch, I’m still following through with the remainder of the 2010 WordCount Blogathon. [...]
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[...] this month, as quite a few of my most recent readers know, I was diligently participating in the 2010 Blogathon. It has been an interesting experiment for me. I tend to resist writing for frequency. I think [...]
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[...] 5/24, was haiku day for participants in the 2010 Wordcount blogathon. At the time I didn’t post a haiku, because I had other things to say. Today, my brain is [...]
[...] by organizesf Twenty-eight down and two to go. Blog posts, that is. When I signed up for a May blogathon, I vowed to post daily from the first day of May to the last. Now I’m feeling relieved that [...]
Wotcher!
My name is Sarah and I am starting a WORLD-WIDE REVOLUTION!
I’m trying to bring the word “Wotcher” (which means “hey there”) into the American dictionary.
Anyways, I really wish I had signed up…
Guess I’m all out of time now.
Best of luck to all contestants!
Cheers,
Sarah
[...] the blogathon will be long since over, my Slayage presentation will be behind me, and my novel will be drafted, [...]
[...] Jump to Comments I’m having a hard time believing that Wordcount Blogathon 2010 ends tomorrow. I’ve blogged for 30 straight days, something I wasn’t sure I [...]
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[...] today, as I compose the last post for the 2010 Wordcount Blogathon, my body is craving Boston. Sure, it’s sentimental (I am a product of the ’70s), but [...]
[...] an administrative note: Alas, today is the official end of the WordCount Blogathon 2010. Yesterday, I reflected on what a long, often challenging, but rewarding trip it’s been. [...]
[...] doing the WordCount Blogathon, I also learned a few lessons that I think might be helpful for you, too. While they aren’t [...]
[...] Michelle Rafter, organizer extraordinaire of the Word Count Blogathon will have a great link-roundup of other participant’s “What they learned” posts. [...]
[...] on April 30 — then really, this is my 32nd straight day blogging as part of the Third Annual Wordcount Blogathon. It’s been hard. Often I’ll have to reach deep to come up with something to blog about, [...]
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[...] up, you have to put more articles up in the beginning to get some traffic going. Visit the other blogs [...]
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[...] to write something real for awhile now. By that I mean a note, direct from me to you. Since the 2010 Wordcount Blogathon is now over (see that rockin’ badge on the lower right? Yeah, I did it.), I’ve got some [...]
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[...] here’s the thing. I blogged every day in May, as part of the WordCount 2010 Blogathon… and I didn’t enjoy it. It wasn’t meaningful. I only really cared about a handful [...]
[...] means committing yourself to a month of daily blogging—not an easy task. For this year’s WordCount Blogathon, one blogger approached the challenge with an experiment in web [...]
[...] and (be still my heart) Foursquare, I was back in the social media world. Tack on that wacky Blogathon business, and I’m in it deep [...]
[...] short: experience counts! Jump to Comments After posting for 31 straight days as part of WordCount 2010 Blogathon, I know I’ve fallen off a bit this week. Please forgive me. I’ve been catching [...]
[...] information on this year’s WordCount Blogathon can be found here. Anyone interested in signing up for next year’s Blogathon, or sponsors wishing to get [...]
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[...] was the last day of the 2010 WordCount Blogathon . I signed up, along with 115 plus other people, to post to my blog every day from May 1 to May 31. [...]
[...] i won a prize from michelle rafter. michelle rafter!!! creator and organizer extraordinaire of wordcount blogathon. you sign up and in doing so the idea and and the challenge is that you’ll blog every day of [...]
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[...] The 2010 WordCount Blogathon [...]