The Top 10 Blogs for Writers contest is always fun to watch, and a great way to add some new favorites to your own list of must-read blogs.
This year the contest has shaken things up a little, moving from Michael Stelzner’s Writing White Papers site to Leo Babauta and Mary Jaksch’s Write to Done. Copyblogger was not eligible this year because our own Brian Clark was one of the judges along with Leo, Mary, Michael and Deb Ng.
The winners are a talented and creative bunch, with lots of strong fiction blogs appearing on the list. Congratulations to all the finalists and winners!
- Storyfix by Larry Brooks, with invaluable tips on how to get your manuscript to “better than perfect” so you can snag that book contract.
- Men with Pens by James Chartrand for comprehensive advice on writing, blogging, and business.
- Make a Living Writing, a new blog by Carol Tice, gives frank advice to writers about what it really takes to make a living in this business.
- Cats Eye Writer by Judy Dunn, about social media copywriting, branding, and how to get more visitors coming to your blog.
- The Renegade Writer by Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell gives the real scoop on why the usual advice for freelance writers is B.S. (and what you should do instead)
- Writer Unboxed, a popular multi-author blog on the craft and business of genre fiction, with advice on agents, editors, and of course writing.
- The Creative Penn by Joanna Penn offers solid writing advice from her personal experience. Readers call her podcast interviews with authors “as addictive as potato chips.”
- Victoria Mixon is both a professional writer and editor, and she brings her breadth of experience to the art and craft of writing fiction.
- Courage 2 Create by Ollin Morales is a passionate, personal blog about one writer’s journey as he writes his first novel.
And of course, we have to give a special proud nod to our own Copyblogger guest writers Larry Brooks, James Chartrand, and Carol Tice!
About the Author: Sonia Simone is CMO of Copyblogger Media and founder of Remarkable Communication. Follow her on twitter and let her know about your favorite writing blogs.
Reader Comments (60)
I enjoy Men with Pens a lot because they mastered the art of storytelling when they write their content. They write posts that a lot of other people can relate to
This is a fantastic list – thanks so much for sharing!
@ Christa, so true. I might never have come across these blogs otherwise.
Sonia:
Thanks for sharing this. I always wonder about the criteria for picking top blogs, in posts about top blogs. Even Time Magazine (probably other major publications) have the top blog picks. So it raises this question for me – what is the criteria used?
Randy
Randy, click through to the list, they explain it. The original set of blogs were chosen by readers, and then the 20 finalists were whittled to 10 winners by the judges, one of whom was Brian Clark.
It’s well worth your time to click through and then explore the winning blogs, they’re all terrific.
The finalists were all very interesting blogs as well — I enjoyed getting to know all 20 top finishers.
–Make a Living Writing
Thanks for the mention! Still getting used to seeing my name on this list, along with blogs and writers I’ve been recommending to others for years.
Congrats to you! It’s very cool to see a newer blog like yours on the list.
Thanks Sonia!
It’s really funny to me to be thought of as new at anything…it’s more like I’m an overnight success after 20 years of hard work…but I am relatively new to working my own personal blog.
I did start the blog back in 2008, but didn’t really get serious about it until earlier this year. I think I should get serious about winning the lottery next year and see how that goes…
Excellent list, Sonia. Another one that I personally enjoy (and would recommend checking out) is FuelYourWriting.com
Thanks Copyblogger. It is great to know what other readers think are the BEST resources. It is also a humbling reminder to keep meeting new people and learn…learn…learn.
Great list !
congratulations to all the excellent writers who won this year
I have never heard of any of these. Thanks for the new resources from a trusted voice.
Thanks, all very good
Good stuff!
This is definitely an early favorite for “most useful end of year list.”
It hasn’t fully registered for me, that I’m on this list.
I am honored and humbled to be on the same page as these outstanding writers and bloggers. Thanks again to Brian and all the other judges for their hard work. Must have been a very difficult task.
All I can say is Seattle is rocking this list! I think we should have a NW party and get together Judy —
I was tickled to death to see you there, Judy! Well deserved.
Great to have an easy go to list here to refer to, will check them out. Love your blog, thanks.
What a great list! And sooo happy it comes when I’m doing some down time, so I can leisurely rustle through them. Thanks for the recap.
Thank you for an excellent list which I’ll be putting to good use.
I’m not surprised by any of these. Good blogs all around. Congrats to the winners!
Great resource. I like Story Fix but all of these are solid. Can’t wait to dig in more!
Thanks for sharing these links. I am looking forward to clicking my way through New Years weekend and inspiring myself for the New Year!
As alway thank you for inspiring me often and always!
♥
Great list of blogs. I mostly read Men with Pens
Hi Sonia
Great list. Perhaps you could add some honourable mentions at the end with a few more who nearly made the cut?
Kind regards
Rob@Voz Media
Rob, click through and you can see all of the semifinalists.
Hey, thanks very much guys. It’s an honor to have my site on the list, and I’m in very, VERY good company indeed this year. It’s been good to see so many deserving people get mentioned and discovered. Keep up the good work, everyone!
Congrats on rocking that list year after year! You’re the graybeard on that list these days, I think.
This is a great list. I am a regular reader of Men with Pens. I love their practical advice on writing.
Thank you for the mention! I love running the Renegade Writer blog and I’m glad that others love reading it. I’m very experienced in writing for magazines but am only starting to become more savvy as a blogger. I’m going to subscribe to your feed right now!
Thanks for the list-always love “new finds.” I have a few on my RSS, now I can see about plumping it up even more.
Thanks again.
Thank you for the List Sonia, I’m so looking forward to the valuable lessons these blogs stand to offer.
Great list! I have a boat load of new stuff to read now. Thanks for the great post.
I Love James Chartrand writing style and hope to one day learn to be as good as James.
Great list, great people, great content.
ps. Kind of off topic, but I just noticed you guys switched to 2 column layout. How long have I not noticed this? Cool switch!
Great list, I just added 10 new blogs to my Google Reader
Great list! I feel “in the know” because I follow half of these already, and I’m looking forward to knowing much more! I also have a writing blog, http://www.excuseeditor.com, that focuses on inspiration and motivation for the beginning or blocked writer, and offers a monthly list of writing contests and markets I compile myself (researching markets and reading other people’s writing blogs is how I procrastinate–Guilty!)
Thanks for introducing me to a few new favorites!
Nice list, some are new for me
Thanks for your list Sonia.
Thank you for mentioning this list on your site! I was so honored to be a part of it, my fellow winners are people I’m also going to be reading in the coming year. They are all very useful in different ways.
didn’t know all of them thanks for sharing this great list.
Gotta feel a little sorry for Men With Pens. Even when Copyblogger isn’t in the contest, they still come second.
Still I am improving my writing skills so that i can be a good writer. I hope one day my hand written post will be on such websites.
Excellent post with a very great list. Personally, I love The Creative Penn, Joanna created a very dynamic and interesting blog, a website that gives pleasure to visit. It’s my favorite,
thanks for compiling the list, now its time to discover the blogs
Great list, as ever. I knew of 4 or 5 of these but must add the others to my Reader.
Have a peaceful, prosperous and fulfilling 2011
Nic
Arghhh! More reading to do but it will be worth it. Some excellent sites up there, so thanks
What a great list of blogs! I just started mine about a month ago, and reading great blogs like the ones that were chosen always gives me added motivation to kick things up a notch.
Well done!
Great list! Although I’m a frequent visitor to tech-related blogs (Tech Crunch, Mashable, etc.), I’m new to writing blogs. I’ll be sure to check all of these out. Thanks!!
Hi Sonia!
Great list, great inspirations! Checking it all out now.
Thanks for sharing out the list! I’ve subscribed to three from this, looking at the rest. Very helpful!
Happy New Year 2011!
Thank you, Sonia! It’s impressive to be in such illustrious company.
Nice and helpful list, I’ve personally been a fan of Wordplay lately. Very useful content.
i did not read the top text and straightaway jumped to the top ten list. I have read your top 10 blogs for 2009… So I was shocked to see that copyblogger was not included as Brian Clark was one of the judges. However, copyblogger is really everyone’s favorite and my favorite (even though they recently refused my guest post as they have a certain pool of guest writers :S yet I can’t lie).
I suggest, make a list of All-time top 10 blogs for writers and please don’t take Brian in as a judge
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