Blogathon Week 1: Three cheers for 1 blogger who’s done all 6 daily blogging challenges

Every Saturday this month, Im sharing interesting people and posts from the 2013 WordCount Blogathon. — MVR

It takes motivation, stick-to-it-iveness and imagination to make it through 30 days of blogging. Multiple that times six, and that’s six months of posting every day.

Over the six WordCount Blogathons that I’ve run since creating the event in 2008, only one other blogger has made it posting every single day of all of those months. That blogger is Jennifer Willis, who blogs at Jennifer Willis: Journalist, Author & Editor.

Willis is a Portland freelancer who specializes in topics related to spirituality and religion, living, sustainability and health. If you live in Portland, you might know her as the writer behind the popular Oregonian “Northwest Love Stories” series of monthly Q&As with couples who’ve been married for 50 years or more that’s run since February 2011. In a post this week, Willis explains how she fell into the series: it’s a sweet read. She’s also an indie author who focuses on “urban fantasy and playful mayhem.” Here’s more about her books.

A few other bloggers have signed up every year but didn’t make it posting every day.

Other Blogathon Veterans

Approximately a dozen bloggers have participated 4 or 5 years. They include:

• Barb Freda – Food writer and blogger at Babette Feasts. The photos that run with the posts Freda writes about food are always amazing.
  
• Danielle Buffardi – Writer, editor, social media manager and website content management consultant at PenPoint Editorial Services. Buffardi has been a Blogathon sponsor for the past several years. Thanks Danielle!
• Jackie Dishner – Freelance write and blogger at Bike with Jackie, “Using my special brand of BIKE to teach you how to turn obstacles into opportunities.”
• Jan Udlock – Parenting blogger turned virtual assistant extraordinaire, Jan’s helped manage the Blogathon for the past two years. She blogs at Jan Udlock, Virtual Assistant, and also is a sponsor this year. Read more about how Jan and I work together in this June 5 post I did for the American Society of Journalists and Authors: How I work with a virtual assistant.
• Jennie Phipps – Owner of FreelanceSuccess, the online writers’ forum, and blogger at What FreelanceSuccess Says.
• Joan L. Bailey – An American expat living in the Tokyo suburbs, Bailey turned a hobby writing about the city’s urban farm scene and local farmers’ markets into a flourishing freelance writing career. Read her blog, Japan Farmers Markets, and her own account of her blogging success story: How the Blogathon changed my writing career.
• Leah Ingram – A long-time freelance writer and spokesperson, and proprietor of the Suddenly Frugal blog on tips for frugal living.
• Ron S. Doyle – A freelance writer, editor and web designer who started out blogging in the event, and now helps behind the scenes, creating the registration form and badges and acting as the troubleshooter in chief. Doyle’s also a sponsor this year.
• Sandra Gordon – A frequent contributor of articles on baby products, saving money, health and nutrition for books, magazines and websites, blogging at Baby Products Mom.
• Sara Lancaster – Owner of No. 2 Pen, a Denver web and content marketing writing services business.
• Tara Phillips – Blogging at Two Hands and a Road Map . Phillips’ goal for this year: “To make a few people laugh and get back into the habit of writing. Oh, and not to bail on the Blogathon like a crybaby wuss, which is what I did last year.”
• Walter L. Johnson II – Started the Blogathon writing about news in his home state of Georgia; in recent years, he’s bogged about jobs in media, communications, advertising and social media at Communication Careers Corner.

I compiled the list from information people submitted when they registered for this year’s Blogathon – if I missed someone, I apologize. Kudos to all of them and everyone else joining us this year!