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Top 10 Blogs for Writers - The 2008/2009 Winners

By Michael Stelzner

This is the year of the writer! With literally hundreds of nominations pouring in, this year’s 3rd annual competition was intense. The 37 finalists have been carefully examined, with the greatest weight on the quality of their content.  What follows are the top 10 blogs for writers.

If you’re a writer, you’ll find daily doses of inspiration and discovery at these excellent blogs:

  1. Copyblogger: As the undefeated champ, this blog has held the number-one spot for three straight years!  The baby of Brian Clark, this blog keeps winning because of its excellent and educational articles.
  2. Men With Pens: James Chartrand and Harry McLeod are the dynamic duo who continue to deliver rich content and community discussion.
  3. Freelance Writing Jobs: Founded by Deb Ng, this site is the first stop for freelance writers seeking new work and great articles (and it remains a top winner since this contest began).
  4. Write to Done: This blog delivers a steady stream of excellent articles for all writers and is the product of top blogger Leo Babauta.
  5. Confident Writing: Looking for encouragement? Joanna Young will help you take your writing to the next level.
  6. The Renegade Writer: Linda Formichelli and Diana Burell, authors of a book by the same name, help freelance journalists find inspiration.
  7. Remarkable Communication: One part writing, one part marketing and one part selling, this excellent blog by Sonia Simone will help any writer succeed.
  8. Writing Journey: Looking for a great stop on your writing journey? Bob Younce’s blog will refresh and energize you.
  9. Freelance Parent: Two moms, Lorna Doone Brewer and Tamara Berry, provide excellent perspective on writing while balancing time with little ones.
  10. Urban Muse: Susan Johnston covers a wide range of excellent topics that all writers will enjoy.

Congratulations to the winners. Be sure to check out these awesome blogs!

The badge of distinction: If you are a winner, feel free to post the image you see here on your blog and please link back to this page.

Of special note: The top 3 blogs in this contest were within 1 percentage point of each other, making this an exceptionally close race.  I have been impressed at the quantity and quality of blogs for writers that have emerged since we began this contest three years ago.  I encourage all bloggers to take a close look at what the above blogs are doing.

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This entry was posted on Monday, September 22nd, 2008 at 5:33 am and is filed under Freelance Writing, Writing White Papers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

  • Have been looking to connect with other writers website owners. This is a great list! Thanks:)

  • Thanks for the links. As a budding writer, I have been looking for something like this for a while.

  • bzuley

    This is wonderful find. It's hard to figure out who's out there doing what. I've started a mission to support novice authors and quality list of blogs is top on the list of needed resources. Thanks!

    www.peevishpenman.com

  • Great list of writing resources, thank you. Good luck to everyone!

  • Nominations are now open for this year's contest:

    http://www.writingwhitepapers....

  • indiaforex

    Oh my God so many fantastic blogs to check out!
    Thanks a bunch and good luck to all those brilliant bloggers out there :-)

  • First of all, thanks for compiling this list. Probably not my top 10 but really glad to see 6 of my favorite blogs there. In addition, I'll include this http://www.writingwhitepapers..... Thanks dude

  • Grats to those selected. You are an inspiration, and we hope to follow your example.

    <abbr>Precise Edit's last blog post..3 Strategies to Help Bookstores Survive Amazon.com</abbr>

  • great resource list. i was familiar with most of them, but picked up a few new ones. can you please let us know what the criteria is, and when you'll be looking for next nominations?

  • Excellent list of winners. Copyblogger is truly the best. As a freelance writer, these are my precious resources.

  • Thanks for this great resource Michael. When are you taking nominations for the next awards? Best regards, and congratulations to all.

  • Great list of top 10! I must say they all deserve it.

    Congratulations!!

  • Thanks for the great resource. I'm active reader of just about all of them except Remarkable Communication, which I hadn't heard of. Thanks for introducing me to a new writer's blog.

    <abbr>Susan's last blog post..Free writing workshops</abbr>

  • Kudos and congrats to the Top 10 Blogs for Writers!

  • Great list. We contribute to several of these now, but your list pointed out several new gems. Thanks!

    Congratulations to the winners!

  • Congrats to all winners. It's always nice to have your work validated. You may think you're doing it right, but it's always great to have your peers tell you so.

  • congratulations to the winners of the competition... quality writings makes them a winner..

    http://www.tomedes.com

  • CJ

    Interesting competition and a great list of sites. Thanks for that. You missed me off, of course, but hey! I'm used to that :)

    <abbr>CJ's last blog post..Funny That</abbr>

  • Those lucky bastards! I want to be on that list! Somebody nominate me RIGHT NOW!

    <abbr>Christopher Garlington's last blog post..Free Radio Commercial Copy Template!</abbr>

  • Actually this is NOT crowd scoring. In fact the criteria was revealed up front with the biggest weight on quality.

    See http://www.writingwhitepapers....

  • So what we have here is something called crowd scoring - the more votes the more likely you become a top blog as explained here: http://howto.commetrics.com/?p...

    But what about content, quality, and so forth - http://commetrics.com/?p=55

    This is an interesting list but, nevetheless, the criteria used should be published upfront and, most importantly, should we not look beyond crowd scoring?

    <abbr>WebUrs's last blog post..happy birthday to blog.Daimler.com</abbr>

  • As a new blogger, I am glad that I have found this list of top blogs. Now I should follow them regularly in order to improve my writing skills. Thanks and congrats to all.

    <abbr>Assam Blog's last blog post..World’s Fattest Man Losses Weight to Get Married</abbr>

  • My sinsere congratulations to all winners!!!

  • Congratulations to all the winners! Every name on that list deserves to be there. There were so many great entries, and anyone nominated at all should be very proud.

  • I guess it's an honour just to be nominated. Thanks to all who nominated me!

    <abbr>Michael Kwan's last blog post..What’s Up Wednesdays: Animal Edition</abbr>

  • Congrats to all the winners...

    <abbr>Wordsmith_for_Hire's last blog post..Media Diet Week 38</abbr>

  • The few that were missing from my RSS feeds have now been added. Great list. I aspire to one day be on it. (Dreams can come true!)

    <abbr>monica's last blog post..Top 10 Blogs for Writers</abbr>

  • I'm beginning to look forward to this contest every year! Thanks for hosting, Michael.

    I'm a big Men with Pens fan, but I read all of these because they provide quality information I can put to use. A few even brighten my day on a regular basis. Congrats to everyone who won.

  • Congrats to all the winners. Many of my favorite blogs are in here.

    <abbr>Sharon Hurley Hall's last blog post..Transferable Skills: Research And Organization</abbr>

  • Ntarugera François

    Mike:

    Since I am a man of conviction, let me read first what I am going to comment on simply because I believe in clarity.

    Finally I thank you again of having given opportunity to compete. This is where you can balance yourself.

    Ntarugera

  • The list resonates. I'm continuously impressed by the flow of value. Each source is uniquely divine.

    <abbr>J.D. Meier's last blog post..6 Steps for Putting Your Strengths to Work</abbr>

  • Whoohoo! I just got an email from one of my readers, and I'm thrilled to be among the top 10. Congrats to all the finalists and thanks for the honor!

  • Hey Brad - ProBlogger is an excellent blog, but it's not for writers. All of the blogs that won were designed for writers. I will go this far: ProBlogger has some of the best content out there for folks looking to market themselves and their blogs. However Darin's focus is not really on writing like the other blogs in the competition. But I certainly recommend it and am an avid reader of his blog. - Mike

  • Brad Holdstein

    I can't understand why a blog like ProBlogger isn't included on this list? While not only on 'writing' it covers lots of topics relevant for people wanting to promote their writing online. The recent 'crafting blog posts' series is also one of the best collections of posts on how to write content that I have ever seen. Not saying that the above list are not worthy winners, I subscribe to half myself, but I've learned more about writing at other blogs with broader topics also.

  • It's good to see so many really good blog sites making it into the top 10. Congratulations to all of you for a job well done and a great year. Thanks for doing what you do. :-)

  • Oh, wow. Thanks so much, Michael. Making this list was literally one of our 2008 business and personal goals and we kept it in mind all year to make sure we were providing really useful content. This is an honor and such a huge cherry on the ice-cream sundae that this week has been!

    Congrats to everyone who made the list this year. We are so proud to be in your company.

    <abbr>lornadoone's last blog post..Parents Meet Parents at BlogWorld 2008</abbr>

  • Congrats to all the winners! Lots of great stuff here (as if I needed more quality time sinks on my RSS reader).

    <abbr>The Copywriter Underground's last blog post..The “Top 10″ Writing Blogs Contest Concludes</abbr>

  • Congratulations to everyone! I'm humbled to be included in the list. And, unlike James, I'll be happy to hit #10 next year! Heh heh.

    @Michael: You've made my day. Thank you.

    @ Harry: HOLY CRAP! I DID, DUDE! Thanks for the nomination.

  • Congrats to all the winners! What a great group! Great choices Michael!

  • Damn...where'd I put that acceptance speech?

    I'd like to thank everyone who voted for us and the people in the MwP community for making this possible. Cliche, I know, but we couldn't have done it without you.

    @Michael: Thanks again for doing this contest. Last year's fourth place brought us great things and I can't wait to see what happens this year.

    @Deb: Congrats to you too! It was a close race and an honor to compete with you.

    @Bob: YAY! Dude! You made the top 10!

    And a hearty congratulations to everyone on the list!

  • Congratulations to the winners! It is an excellent list that mirrors my own RSS feeds.

    <abbr>John Hewitt's last blog post..PD 30 Day 21: Moving Beyond Imitation</abbr>

  • How very cool! I'm pretty much busting at the seams with the pride thing.

    <abbr>Sonia Simone's last blog post..Email Marketing: What’s an Autoresponder, and Do I Need One?</abbr>

  • Congrats to all the winners!! Very happy to see some of my favorite blogs on the list and to have found a couple of new favorites via this competition. Thanks again Michael for taking time to do this each year. I imagine it's a lot of work!

    <abbr>Amy Derby's last blog post..I’m Me. Who Are You?</abbr>

  • Michael, I'm so glad you count The Renegade Writer among your top 10. Thanks!

  • Michael, thanks once again for running this competition. I'm delighted beyond words to have made it to the top 10.

    Congratulations to Brian and all the other winners.

    <abbr>Joanna Young's last blog post..Can’t Get To Vegas? Come and Expo Here</abbr>

  • wow. that was FAST! I just cleaned up my blog for you over the weekend...you missed it :{ Incredibly efficient job, man!

    PS: Someone was snippity about this contest over at my About.com blog- called it a 'popularity contest':

    http://freelancewrite.about.co...

    <abbr>Allena's last blog post..How Long Does It Take You To Write An Article?</abbr>

  • Just listened to Brian Clark aka Copy Blogger at BlogWorldExpo. Great info both in person and on the blog!

  • Oh wow. This is so surreal, because much as I walk around saying, "Ha! We'll rock it!" it's still always surprising when we do.

    We had stiff competition this year too!

    Congratulations to everyone here and to everyone who was nominated in the first place.

    @ Deb - Heheheh... I didn't think I would, actually.

    @ Brian - Dethroning for you comes next year. ;)

  • Congratulations to all the winners! Every name on that list deserves to be there. There were so many great entries, and anyone nominated at all should be very proud.

  • Congratulations to all of the Top 10! Once again I'm honored to be among such company.

    And James and Harry especially - You promised to dethrone me and won! I can't tell you how proud I am.

  • Thanks once again Michael, and congrats to all the winners. I am, of course especially proud of James and Sonia! :)

  • Congrats James/Harry and Sonia!

    Good to see you made the cut. You deserve it. :-)

    <abbr>Dave Navarro's last blog post..How To Get Through Damn Near Anything</abbr>

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