Thanks for compiling this list, Michael. It's great to see writers making it in the tough online world.

Your list is a great resource for those looking to expand their writing endeavors.

Congrats to all of the nominees!

Kristen

Devon, I'm not at all surprised to see your blog there. It's one of my first stops every morning. :)

Devon, I'm not at all surprised to see your blog there. :)

I'm honored to be on the list!

Gives me even more incentive to write in detail about how I'm finishing my novel while writing a deadlined novella, editing another novel and juggling writing gigs to pay the bills! ;)

Mike, thanks for the clarification. Guess I jumped the gun with my post. I'm also pleased to learn that there were many more "votes." I was just counting those that appeared in the comments on your original announcement post.

I understand that the votes is only one aspect of the final judging. I just thought it might be illuminating to others to know the counts from your nomination page -- which I take as rather encouraging to the newer bloggers. One needn't muster 100's of votes to get a full consideration.

And I wish to underscore how much I've learned from the contest so far. Not often are they as transparent as this one -- and that transparency allows anyone to study the blogs and learn a lot. And my own place in the list isn't the major concern for me [I'm 68 and well past those concerns] -- learning more about the community of bloggers is my prime objective. And your contest has been very helpful.

Tom

Hey Tom;

Nominations actually ended today. Votes that came in after the 26th will still be factored into the final decision.

Also, there were far more than 54 votes.

One last point, it is not the number of nominations but rather the quality of the blog that will result in the top 10 final winners.

Thanks for your assessment.

Mike

Thanks, Michael. I find competitions like this very informative. I've followed the nominations closely over the month and find many of them appropriate for listing at my own blog. And I've picked up some good ideas about blog design and content.

I'd like to congratulate the finalists -- well deserved.

Some observations for those of us who missed the cut -- lessons for next year:

There are 19 finalists, while 18 failed to get a second nomination in time. There were 54 "votes" in all. The largest vote-getter received 15 nominations, six received 9 or more votes, nine received 4 nominations, with four finalists receiving 2 or 3 votes.

Almost all votes were cast before November 10. LESSON: Get your votes in very early. This year nominations ended a week earlier than the announced deadline of November 30. I learned that lesson the hard way, as my strategy was to wait til the end of the month to marshall my supporters. I'll be apologizing to my supporters for activating them too late in the game. Watch for me to reappear next year in EARLY November! ;-)

Make your call for support in this contest very prominent on your blog. Ten of the finalists called for votes in headlines on their blogs; two more requested votes within the body of a post. As many of the blogs nominated here are written by copywriters and commercially oriented bloggers, this seems like an obvious strategy. My own call for support in mid-November was much too oblique, and required a scramble over Thanksgiving -- lesson learned. Many of the finalists have also worked hard to develop a community feeling among their readers. That's the biggest lesson I've carried away from this exercise, and I'm already working to improve in this area.

I look forward to seeing all of you next November for another round. And many of you will be showing up automatically in my Google Reader so I can keep up with your good work.

And best wishes to all the finalists.

Tom

Great list! I'm glad to see a few familiar sites up there. :-)

Thanks so much for including the Renegade Writer blog!

Wow, I'm honored! It's nice to know I've made it this far but I'm very aware the other blogs are awesome!

Thank you, Michael, and the kind folks who nominated Writing the Cyber Highway :-)

Thanks Michael and everyone who nominated the write from home blog. I certainly don't think I can compete with some of these others (I'm no copyblogger), but it's nice to know at least two people read my blog. ;-)

Thank you so much.

Thrilled to make the first cut - thank you to all the Maven fans! :)

I'm thrilled to be listed among so many amazing bloggers!! Thanks, everyone.

Wow--I am surprised (and thrilled) to see my blog up there. Thanks so much for the opportunity, and thanks to my nominators!

Freelance Parent is honored to have made the list. Thanks to those who nominated us!

I'm glad Sharon! I nominated you. :)

Wow...I am so honored to be included on this list....I need to step up my blogging. :)

Woohoo! Get Paid To Write Online made the cut. I am over the moon!