When you do a monthly best-articles post for freelance writers, there’s only one place that can lead.

That’s right — I’ve rounded up all my monthly best picks and then culled through over 100 nominees, to find my picks for the very best articles on writing and blogging for the whole year.

In case you’re wondering, this was hard! I decided to suspend my usual rule of not allowing any one site to have more than one entry.

But no one writer was allowed more than one entry. As is my habit, I also went for a mix of writing and blogging topics for both beginners and more seasoned scribes.

Boiled it all down..and these are my must-reads.

Enjoy!

• 5 Crippling Beliefs That Keep Writers Penniless and Mired in Mediocrity by Jon Morrow on Copyblogger. Two words: Jon Morrow. I was hard-pressed not to break my rule and include more than one of his posts, but think this was my recent fave.
• 7 Deadly Freelance Sins by Lori Widmer at Words on the Page. A concise how-not-to-earn-well guide.
• The 8 Most Greatest Tips to Write Unstoppably Killer Headlines Guide Ever by Eric Cummings and Michael Cummings of On Violence, on Problogger. Regular readers know headlines are sort of an obsession with me…and I loved the case-study examples they give here.
• The 13 Blogging Master Post Templates You Can Use, Part 1 by Michael Martine on Remarkablogger. An essential post series for anyone looking to be a paid business blogger, or even to take their own blog seriously.
• 14 Ways to Create Multiple Articles on a Topic by David Arthur Smith on Writer on Fire. Writers are always asking me how I come up with so many story ideas. Here’s a primer on how you can get more pitches out of one idea.
• 17 Ways to Get Inside Your Client’s Mind So You’ll Always Hit Your Target Audience by John Wood on AWAI. I love to learn about the psychology behind effective writing — here’s a primer on applying how we think to effective ad writing.
• Everything Will Conspire to Stop You…So What? by Robert Bruce on Copyblogger. The ultimate excuse-ending post.
• How to Easily Write Brilliant Blog Posts by Stanford Smith on Pushing Social. More fun reader-psychology learnings, this time applied to blogging.
• How to Pitch an Editor and Win the Gig, by Susan Finch on Men With Pens. The whole process, beginning to end, and packed with tips on overcoming rejection and carrying on.
• How to Plan Ahead to Write a Blog Post To Go Viral by Francisco Rosales at SocialMouths. Great case study on designing a post to draw huge traffic.
• Not Getting Enough Traffic? Here’s Why by Corbett Barr of Think Traffic on DIYThemes. A good primer on the rules of blogging success.
• The Number One Thing Holding You Back From Freelance Writing Success by Linda Formichelli on The Renegade Writer. I find myself talking to writers about this a lot lately…and this post sums up the problem.
• One Big Reason Why Commercial Writing Pays Better and Resists “Off-Shoring” (and Why this Other Kind of Writing Doesn’t…) by Peter Bowerman on The Well-Fed Writer. This post explains exactly which kinds of writing will continue to pay well, and why. If you’re getting paid peanuts, you need to read this.
• Putting a Price on Your Capabilities: Setting Your Fees as a Freelance Copywriter by Debra Jason on The Write Direction. After you read this detailed post, I never want to hear you ask, “But what’s the going rate?” again.
• Think Twice About Writing for Revenue Share by Jenn Mattern on All Freelance Writing. A complete examination of all the pitfalls to this payment scheme.

Have a wonderful New Year’s weekend, all. May better writing income be yours in 2012!

What were your favorite online articles this year, writers? Feel free to add to my list.

I’m apparently in a practical mood this month — large number of “how-to” posts here for freelance writers and bloggers looking to learn more about their craft. Our winners this month are a tasty mix of well-known masters and fresh faces.

Enjoy!

1. The 3-Step Cure for No-Sales Syndrome by Sonia Simone on Copyblogger. Some of the advice in this great post, I find myself saying to people all the time. I recently had a prospect with a 12,000-person email list ask me what they should be blogging about. “Have you asked your audience what they want from you?” I said. They hadn’t. Shoulda read this post. Read it now, and think about how it applies to pitching your freelance writing services.
2. A New Way to Use Guest Blogging to Grow Your Blog by Onibalusi Bamidele of YoungPrePro, on Bloggingtips. If you don’t know Oni yet, he’s a very sharp teenage African blogger — just check out his Top 10 Blogs for Writers nominations over on Write to Done (see below for more info on that). Here, Oni documents the results of a guest post-a-thon he did recently.
3. First, ten by Seth Godin on Seth’s blog. I’m not sure I’ve had Seth on my top 10 lists yet — what an oversight! I love the conciseness of Seth’s posts…still working on getting my own wordcount down. This post sums up pretty much all you need to know about product development in nine paragraphs.
4. How to Change from a Social Media User Into a Social Media Leader by Dave Larson, @TweetSmarter, on KISSMetrics. Now that I’ve just finished up a social-media basics Webinar to conclude my How to Make Good Money Writing Online bootcamp, this post looks even more helpful than when I first read it. A great, quick advanced course on how to make your social media time truly productive.
5. How to Create an Immersive Blog Experience by Marko Saric on How to Make My Blog. Here’s a new site (to me, anyway) that I discovered recently. I loved this post — there’s even demo videos that show you his blogging practices in action.
6. How to Show (Not Tell) – a Writing Lesson from John LeCarré by Mary Jaksch on Write to Done. I was browsing all the wonderful nominations for Top 10 Blogs for Writers 2012 this blog got (thanks all — and feel free to add yours, if you haven’t nominated yet!), when this post arrived on top of it. I think I don’t talk enough about writing skill and writing style around here, and reading this post will go a long way to make up that deficit. This post is also a great example of how we can draw ideas from whatever we’re doing in our personal lives to create a great post.
7. How to Work From Home Without Going Insane by David Tate on Lifehacker. We can’t laugh enough in our precious, short time here on Earth, so I always love great, funny posts. This one outlines all the rewards and problems of being a home-based solopreneur in a sharp comedic style. I don’t write funny all that well or often, so I’m particular to posts that really pull it off.
8. Most Freelance Writers Suck – 52 Ways to Make Sure That You Don’t! by Ruth Zive on The Freelance Writing Blog. Ruth’s been hanging around this blog, and in Freelance Writers Den, and learning tons about what makes a rippingly useful blog post and a sharp blog headline — read the results here.
9. Need to Create? Get a Constraint by Jonah Lehrer on Wired.com. This fascinating post delves into the science behind a syndrome I discovered myself, both as a staff writer and a freelancer: Nothing concentrates the mind like a limit say, like, a deadline. Without that, your 500-word article could take two months to get done, hmm? Sort of explains how it is that some of us freelancers with three kids and a range of other responsibilities can still end up more productive than the rest of our writer friends.
10. One Big Reason Why Commercial Writing Pays Better and Resists “Off-Shoring” (and Why this Other Kind of Writing Doesn’t…) by Peter Bowerman on The Well-Fed Writer. Fascinating dissection of what writing types will continue to earn American writers big money, and exactly why. A roadmap for anyone wondering how to keep earning well as the downturn drags on…and on…and on.

Read any good articles for writers lately? Feel free to add more links in the comments.

Tune in next month, when I unveil my first-ever Best Articles for Writers of the Year post, where I’ll pick the best articles from all my monthly compendiums — plus maybe a pick or two from December — to create one best-of-the-best list. If you don’t already, subscribe and you won’t miss it.

I just have to say — there’s been some tasty articles about freelancing out there this month! Most of these folks I’ve been reading quite a while, but some of them haven’t popped up on my monthly best-of lists until now. There are a few fresh new faces, too.

I’m seeing themes here of blogging best practices, and marketing tips. Enjoy!

1. The #1 Reason You Aren’t Earning at Least $100/Hour by Ruth Zive on The Freelance Writing Blog. Ruth has only been freelancing a few years, but she’s a longtime writing pro who’s already giving back and helping folks out with some inspirational posts.
2. 5 Social Media Myths Disproved by Dan Zarella on FixCourse. This site is new to me, but Dan Zarella isn’t — watch for his interesting, data-backed advice to pop up all over the Interwebs.
3. 12 of the Best About Pages on the Internet by The Blog Tyrant on Blog Tyrant. If you haven’t discovered the mysterious, 25-year-old Australian Blog Tyrant, I’ve been reading him for quite a while and he has some solid information, so happy to find a chance to include one of his rants here.
4. Attention Writers: These 3 Simple Tricks Will Help You Make More Money with Less Effort by Sean Platt on GhostwriterDad. Sean is one of the hardest-working helpers of freelance writers out there. He’s actually madly busy writing his serialized apocalyptic novel Yesterday’s Gone with David Wright, but still takes time to help you make more money. I think that’s awfully nice of him.
5. How to Battle Scope Creep in a Writing Assignment by Linda Formichelli on The Renegade Writer. Now that I’ve brought Linda on as the Other Den Mother in Freelance Writer’s Den, I have a bit more free time…to read her great posts! This one’s got practical help for coping with one of the biggest problems in the freelancing game.
6. How to Write What People Actually Want to Read by Mary Jaksch on Write to Done. I think this is Mary’s first appearance on my monthly best-of lists, which is really weird, since I always devour everything she posts. Just a reminder to stop guessing what to write about, and go find out what people actually want to know. Seems simple, yet so many bloggers don’t do it.
7. Make Your Blog the Event of the Year (and Have People Clamor to Attend) by Tea the Word Chef on Problogger. Tea sets up a tasty analogy here on how blogging is like a dinner party, and makes it really work all the way through. Memorable post.
8. Moving Beyond Job Boards by Jenn Mattern on All Freelance Writing. Jenn has responded to the crash in available assignments at Demand Studios with a whole series of articles on how to move on from mills. We’re of a mind about online ads — stop wasting so much time on those and work on more productive types of marketing, folks.
9. The Ultimate Guide to Getting More Referrals and Increasing Word of Mouth by James Clear of Passive Panda. I discovered James at International Freelancers Day back in September. This is a long post that’s packed with great tips. Hoping to have James come guest on a Den Meeting call before the end of the year, but until then, you can read this for some sound advice on how to  get the clients coming your way without having to market your ass off.
10. What a Painted-On Bikini Can Teach You About Writing Words That Sell by Danny Iny on DIYThemes. Danny writes a good headline, hmm? The article is just as good. Great tips for writing persuasive sales copy here.

Read any good articles online lately? Feel free to add to my list.

Lately, I’ve been talking to a lot of freelance writers who have great portfolios but low incomes. Which I guess is why I have sales and marketing on the brain in this edition of our monthly Top 10.

These are all pretty recent vintage…seems like the last 10 days or so were red-hot for interesting articles on the business of writing. Lots of new folks here to follow, too.

Enjoy!

1. 10 Ways to Get Your Affiliates to Sell the Crap Out of Your Product by Barrie Davenport on A-List Blog Marketing. This one makes a nice companion piece to my own recent post of affiliate marketing tips.
2. Action! Can Our Hollywood Experiment Help You Make Money Blogging? by Joke and Biagio, on Problogger. You think you’ve heard every way to monetize a blog…but this couple have a unique model. Check it out.
3. Cold Calling for Freelance Writers by Linda Stephens, on The WM Freelance Writers Connection. This one makes a nice complement to the recent guest post I had here about cold calling by volume cold-caller Sarah Maurer.
4. Create an About Page for Your Blog That’s a Secret Freelance Sales Weapon — by Michael Martine of Remarkablogger. Most writer website About pages truly suck. They start, “I’ve wanted to write ever since I was 5…” and go downhill from there. Here’s a guide to how to give your About page a radical rewrite and make it into a real client magnet.
5. Does Your Networking Come Across as Stalking? by Jennifer Mattern on All Freelance Writing. Learn how to keep those boundaries healthy, people.
6. Sickly Sales Page? Try These 3 Copywriting Remedies by Amy Harrison on Copyblogger. I love the simple analogy here for how to make sales pages better. A great short course here on copywriting, all in one post.
7. Should You Unfollow Everyone on Twitter? — by Laura Click of Blue Kite Marketing, on Pushing Social. Radical action! But I’ve been thinking about doing it, since I don’t have time to scroll back through the 500 people I’m following to cull the list down. To me you want it to be just about 3-4 dozen terrific thought leaders, so you have an amazing tweetstream. But then I keep spotting new people I think I should check out…and the next thing you know, it’s a mess again.
8. Stop Selling and Start Telling — How Clarity Trumps Persuasion for Getting Sales by D Bnonn Tennant on KISSmetrics. This one makes a nice complement to Amy’s post above.
9. The Top 5 Things That Bother Me About This Headline by Alissa Walker on Good Technology. Finally, someone discusses how Google has crushed the creativity out of article headlines.
10. Word Count Limit Got You Down? Try These 6 Editing Tricks by Barbara Diggs on The Expat Freelancer. Here’s a great, short primer on how to write tight — which you should do whether your hitting your word limit or not.

Bonus news: For those who don’t already know, Copyblogger’s Jon Morrow has started a new site, Boost Blog Traffic. It’s not launched yet. But you want to register. If you have not yet experienced Jon’s genius, check out this awesome trailer on the home page for why you want to sign up .

Read any good articles for writers lately? Leave some more links in the comments and add to my list.