Best Australian Blogs Competition

With the aim of celebrating the diversity, power and fun of blogging, The Best Australian Blogs Competition (an initiative of the Australian Writers Centre) is back!  The 2013 competition opened for entries last week. If you’re a fellow Australian blogger, you can enter here. It takes two minutes. The competition hashtag on Twitter is #bestblogs13.

With a judging team of publishing and blogging veterans, special awards for outstanding posts and an optional People’s Choice round, there are heaps of ways to win in 2013.

There is over $18,000 worth of writing training, books and cash available to win and Random House is the 2013 competition sponsor.

The Best Australian Blogs Competition is one of Australia’s largest and leading
blog competitions. The 2012 competition saw 1024 blogs entered, and over 17,000 votes cast in the People’s Choice round.

Here are the categories:

Commentary

For those who are blogging about a particular industry or area such as politics, media, sport, marketing and PR, technology, cultural industries such as theatre and the arts, international relations, advocacy and human rights.

Lifestyle/Hobby

For those who are writing about their lifestyle and hobbies. This category is for blogs about travel, food and beverages, health, fashion, craft, interior design and any other wonderful topic you’ve dedicated your blog to.

Personal & Parenting

For bloggers sharing their lives, reflections and their story online. Your blog will probably cover topics from the other categories but if it’s mainly your story or ideas, this is the category for you.

Business

For business owners, marketing managers and professional community coordinators. Blogging to build a community and promote an online business is a unique challenge facing business today. This category celebrates the blogs that communicate their expertise, workplace culture and industry well.

Words and Writing

For those who are blogging mostly about their writing experiences, book reviews, publishing, self-publishing, epublishing, book design, book publicity, and author blogs. We realised this category could also fit into commentary, but at the Australian Writers’ Centre we are committed to celebrating this valuable part of the blogosphere in a separate category. After all, it’s the wonderful world of writing that inspired this competition in the first place.

Special Awards

• Outstanding New Blog (under 6 months old)
• Outstanding Advocacy Post
• Outstanding Humorous Post
• Outstanding Use of Photography
• Honourable Mention

How does the judging work

The team at the Australian Writers’ Centre read all the entries and create a longlist for each category. After hours and hours of discussion and re-reading, these become shortlists. The shortlists are announced finalists. Each shortlist is sent to the relevant category judge, who scores the finalists and selects the category winner.

The category winning blogs then go into a final round. In the final round, these blogs are scored again by the category judges and competition coordinator. The blog with the highest score wins the 2013 title.

An Australian Writers’ Centre initiative
Suite 3, 55 Lavender Street, Milsons Point NSW 2061

Entries close March 28

I’ve entered – so if you’re a blogger too, be in it!!