The WordCount 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.
This year, close to 45 freelancers from around the United States participated, blogging about everything from frugal living to gardening, cycling to social media. You can see the complete list of the 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. This year we kicked things up a notch by holding 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. If you’re interested, there are several ways to see the wrap party’s raw tweet stream:
- On Twitter, search #MayBlog2.
- On Tweme.com, search on “#MayBlog2″.
- Email me and I’ll send you a .pdf file of the entire chat (NOTE: The document is 24 pages long).
If you missed it this year, tune in for the 3rd annual WordCount Blogathon in May 2010. To sign up, or 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
[...] everyone who’s participating here. For Blogathon updates and a bunch of blogging tips, click here. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Welcome to the 2nd annual WordCount [...]
[...] across the Blogathon, the topic of content aggregators like Helium is blowing up. What started as a guest post on [...]
[...] what I’m doing. Definitely don’t pay any attention to Darren Rowse, Chris Garrett, Michelle Rafter, Tim Beyers, BikeSnobNYC, Heather B. Armstrong, Seth Godin, or Craig Stoltz. Those guys [...]
[...] to blogging every day during May. In case you missed it, or want to learn more, I created The WordCount Blogathon page (in the column to your right). A good time was had by all – so mark your calendars for [...]
Wish I could have made the wrap party. Thanks, Michelle, for organizing this whole endeavor. I learned a lot, made a lot of new friends and am a little sorry to see it end.
See you next year!
Jenny
http://www.bloggingboutboys.blogspot.com
[...] all got out of this year’s blogathon. If you’re interested, you can read all about it here on [...]
[...] blog and the annual blogathon connected with [...]
[...] Blog for days: This may sound counterintuitive to busting blogger’s block, but it can work. If you decide to blog for seven, fourteen or even thirty-one consecutive days, it can help you get over yourself. Meaning, you don’t do as much self-editing because you don’t have time to waste. If you go this route, it’s also a good idea to share it with your readers—they can cheer you on and even stir post ideas. It’s the same idea behind NaNoWriMo and The WordCount Blogathon. [...]