Aussiejourno's Weekly Blog Awards

Top Ten Blogs For Week Ending 24 February

1. http://aquarius2626.blogspot.com/
2. http://www.ramblingtraveler.com/
3. http://chewy-myblog.blogspot.com/
4. http://dancewithsun.blogspot.com/
5. http://steph-lealman.blogspot.com/
6. http://www.bartraeke.com/
7. http://colorado-bob.blogspot.com/
8. http://web.mac.com/allancook/
9. http://www.dearcinema.com/
10. http://travellinmama.blogspot.com/

And an honourable mention goes to http://circlesinthesandbysamadhiwhitehouse.blogspot.com/

Nominate a blog for next week's awards:
It's simple. If you would like your blog (or someone else's) to be considered for next week's awards, please leave the url on this post, in the form of a comment. You can nominate as many blogs as you want. Entries close at midday Greenwich Mean Time each Friday. If you don't have a blog of your own, you can nominate someone else's blog.

The concept:
Aussiejourno's Weekly Blog Awards are meant to encourage bloggers from all round the world. More importantly, the awards give new bloggers the chance to get their blogs noticed in an increasingly popular forum, alongside the world's most-visited blogs. There is no monetary reward, no live TV coverage, no red carpet interview, but the exposure comes with international bragging rights.

The focus:
I will judge the best blogs - irrespective of whether the blogs have been in existence for only a week or for five years. Newbies will be considered along with well-established blogs. Everyone - and this is of paramount importance - starts on the same footing.

The reason:
I've been mentoring some bloggers for a while and would like to give them another reason to keep blogging. Not every blogger gets ranked by the big services - and this concept will give them special incentive. It is important to know that the work of a blogger whose url has only 10 hits can be ranked alongisde a blogger whose url has 10,000 hits.

The judge:
It's important that you know my background if you're going to submit blog/ blogs to be judged by me. I am a career journalist with almost 30 years' experience in writing, editing, design, newspaper technology and production.
In my early twenties, I edited the national sports magazine `Sportsworld' for the ABP media group, and I also had a stint in 2001 editing the Melbourne daily newspaper `Melbourne Express', a Fairfax publication. I served as managing editor (production) of `The Age' in Melbourne, one of the world's best broadsheets.
In 2002 I was shortlisted for a Walkley Award, the Australian equivalent of a Pulitzer. In 2005 I was shortlisted for a national News Award.
My photographs are published in three countries and my first novel, `Vegemite Vindaloo', was published by Penguin Books India in April 2006 and made the bestseller lists, ranked ahead of Frederick Forsyth and Jeffrey Archer. The novel also made it to No.1 on a list compiled by the Oxford Bookstore.