THE 2013 BLOGGING FROM A TO Z APRIL CHALLENGE SIGN-UPS WILL OPEN THIS WEDNESDAY JANUARY 30TH!
A lot of you been asking when the Linky List will appear and now it's nearly here. You will find the sign up list here on this blog as well as the blogs of all of the co-hosts. It doesn't matter which blog you sign up at. It's all the same list.
Here are the co-host sites where the list will appear:
Arlee Bird Tossing It Out @ArleeBird
Damyanti Biswas Amlokiblogs @damyantig
Alex J. Cavanaugh Alex J. Cavanaugh @alexjcavanaugh
Tina Downey Life is Good @TinaLifeisGood
DL Hammons Cruising Altitude 2.0 @DL_H
Jeremy Hawkins Retro-Zombie @iZombieJMH
Shannon Lawrence The Warrior Muse @thewarriormuse
Matthew MacNish The QQQE @MatthewMacNish
Konstanz Silverbow No Thought 2 Small @KonstanzS
Stephen Tremp Breakthrough Blogs @StephenTremp
Livia Peterson Leave it to Livia @LiviaGPeterson
L. Diane Wolfe Spunk on a Stick @SpunkOnAStick
Nicole Ayers The Madlab Post @madlabpost
You don't have to sign up only on Wednesday either. The list will be open for sign-ups until April 1. There is an advantage to signing up early on though. It's mainly for networking purposes and establishing contact with other participants early on. If you start visiting participant blogs in the months leading up to the Challenge you can make new friends and renew old ones with whom you may have lost contact.
Once you sign up to the list, be sure to announce it on your own blog so your followers will know about the Challenge. Tell them what it's about and encourage them to join in on the fun. Since a big part of A to Z is about networking, the more we have participating, the more new bloggers we can meet and have visit our blogs. You can really give a boost to the amount of followers you have between the time you sign up and the end of April. And remember--more followers means an increased potential for readers on your own blog.
So now's the time to shine. Show the blogging world what you can do. Make new contacts and introduce yourself to others. April is the time for Hyperblogging. Join the fun and come out of April a changed blogger. There are a lot of bloggers who will back me up on that.
If you were a past participant, how did A to Z affect you? If you would like to do the Challenge but feel like you can't, what is holding you back? What would you like to tell others about the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge?
29 comments:
Signing up for that first A to Z was the best blogging thing I ever did.
It changed my life and made many friends.....some are still with me today. Not only that Lee meeting you a year ago made the A to Z all the more special.
Yvonne.
I am ready to go. This will be my first time participating.
I am more than ready to sign up for this! I joined Blogging from A to Z last year when my blog was brand new. The A to Z blog hop got my blog off and running faster than it could have done without the hop. Everyone, especially those with a new blog, should join A to Z. It's a lot of work, but there's nothing wrong with work.
Precious Monsters
I'm signing up but never ready. :)
Hi Arlee,
Its really good to back again, last year left half way due to some unforeseen reasons which i mentioned, hope and believe that this time i can meet the finish line. We wish you all a better blogging days here @ A to Z blog challenge.
Keep Inform.
With Best Regards
Yours Sincerely
Phil
I really want to do it this year again, but can't make a decision until the last minute when some stuff at home clears up.
My first year at A to Z was very stressful but by the end of the month I found a comfort with blogging I hadn't had before. I learned to only do as much as I could and not feel guilty for not doing more.
Looking forward to this year's challenge! My biggest challenge last year was trying to visit more blogs than I did; hoping to get an earlier start this year with posts being ready so I'll have more time to visit :)
betty
I missed sign ups last year but I still participated, I liked it because it was a challenge to me to post everyday in April, minus Sundays of course. I have the button already on my blog and waiting for sign ups Wednesday.
The challenge made me realize I really could write posts that were informative and helpful. It also pushed me to the limits of my creativity, and revealed which posts drew the most comments.
I'm hoping I will find my writer's voice this year!!
I'm ready to sign up for my second time! I've almost completed my spreadsheet with topics for all 3 of my blogs. I don't like to rush and post whatever at the last minute, so I plan and post ahead (a long way ahead!!) it works for me and then I feel like I have plenty of time to visit other blogs.
Great locker room speech, Lee. You're a wonderful leader!
I highly encourage you to follow all that good advice you just read. The more connections you make, the more readers you'll have, and isn't that what we all want? Our unique voice to be heard all over the world.
I agree with Yvonne, it's the best thing I ever did for my blog. The friendships I've made are lasting, and what I've learned about blogging and writing has made me better at both!
Tina @ Life is Good
http://kmdlifeisgood.blogspot.com/
Co-host, April 2013 A-Z Challenge
@TinaLifeisGood, #atozchallenge
Great to hear so much positivity out there. The point is that it can be done. Preparation ahead of time can help a lot.
Thank you for your supportive words, Tina.
Lee
A Faraway View
An A to Z Co-host blog
I've mentioned that I don't like the word limit in the new guidelines.
I think the WC should be optional as a reader has the 'option' to pass on to the next blog if they don't have the time or inclination to read a longer post.
This is a stumbling block for me, as I use these posts to form a collection on a theme. Short 100 wc posts won't work for me.
I am very excited to participate in my third A to Z Challenge! Julie
DG -- Not sure which "Guidelines" you're referring to, but there is not a hard set rule about word length. I doubt that I'll be doing many 100 WC posts either. Really, me? Posts that short? It's not a rule, but merely a suggestion for those who are looking for more whiz by readers.
I certainly don't recommend any posts over 1000 words, but even that's okay if that's what you're into.
I guess the point is that if you're looking for more readers then succinct posts are what one's goal should be for the obvious reasons of readers rushing through.
The Challenge has different purposes for different participants. For those looking to accrue numbers of followers they might want to go with the short posts---it's a good idea to make sure they are short posts with good content though.
Others my want to stick with their normal blogging style and that may be long posts. There can be excellent content in those posts and those will find their own readership.
No rules in the A to Z except A to Z. Length is the option of the blogger. Look at my comment. It's already past the 100 word limit.
We look forward to whatever creative approach you have to the letters of the alphabet.
Oh, and now that I think of it, you may have misread my suggestion that posts should be at least 100 words. And that is only if the posts are in essay format. Something like a Haiku or 40 word flash fiction or whatever is just fine. When I was stating the "at least 100 word guideline" when I first set up this Challenge in 2010 I didn't take into account the great amount of creativity that would step out of the boundaries of word limits.
Hope this answers the concern adequately and thanks for bringing this up.
Lee
A Faraway View
An A to Z Co-host blog
@Arlee - I won't read a 1,000 words or more blog post unless it's REALLY, REALLY GOOD. "Ain't nobody got time for that."
@Lisa - Love the idea of a spreadsheet!
Lee, I think you hit the button right when you said:
"now that I think of it, you may have misread my suggestion that posts should be at least 100 words. . . .AND When I was stating the "at least 100 word guideline" when I first set up this Challenge"
If I read that post quickly, I might have confused your meaning. 100 was imprinted in my mind, no doubt. Thanks very much for your response, I'll know if I will have time by mid Feb.
The Challenge is the greatest blogging event ever!
I signed up last year for the first time and enjoyed finding recipes beginning with the letter of the day.
My followers increased quite a bit last year too because of the A to Z
Howdy! I participated in the 2010 A-Z challenge with you guys. Even though it took me longer than April to complete it, I made it to the end. Woo hoo! I'm signing up again and hopefully will do a better job of planning ahead this time around. We shall see!
-Carmen
keepingupklapper.com
Howdy! I participated in the 2010 A-Z challenge with you guys. Even though it took me longer than April to complete it, I made it to the end. Woo hoo! I'm signing up again and hopefully will do a better job of planning ahead this time around. We shall see!
-Carmen
keepingupklapper.com
I participated in the 2010 A-Z and truly experienced what it meant to wing it! No pre-posts, no theme, no real ideas. I just heard about it from Alex and figured what the hell...nothing better to do in April. Then Alex pulled a sneaky one ;) he mentioned MY site on the first day - letter A - I was flooded with commenters and new followers!! It was great so many people found me but I was writing every post when I got home from work each night AND trying to reply to comments AND trying to read all the new blogs. Oh, and that April was only my third month blogging!!!
Changed blogger??? Oh yeah.
Last year I at least had the first two weeks done ahead of time and then finished the last two weeks as the month went along. Still no real theme but less stress and more time to read other sites.
It is a lot of fun. Forces me to be creative for 30 days and we can all use that. So two thumbs up for the A-Z...can't wait.
AtoZ was how I truly found my blogging "voice" so I will always have a soft spot for this fun challenge. I am hoping that if I sign up early and start chatting with other participants, I'll get an idea for my theme. Since it's kind of my blogging anniversary, I really want it to be something special. Thanks for putting all this together! :)
I will be signing in again this year with the same plan as last year. Typing and thinking on a wing and prayer on the day (the evening of the day) using as many A then B then C words etc as possible same as last year. I have this cunning plan to write 28-30 new fairy tales, I know that is more than the alphabet but I did not take Sundays off last year just repeated the Saturday letter. . . . . .YES MAD INDEED..... I think I may just blow up mid alphabet this year. I did it twice last year and have no plans to do that again, I am not that mad.
I participated for the first time last year, and loved it! It was great for exposure - I gained 64 followers in April 2011, which was amazing! I did find it a bit overwhelming at times because my posts are time-consuming and not of the new-post-every-day variety. Half of my posts from 2011 were put up in April, so that says something. This year, I'd like to plan ahead a bit, and have at least 10 posts ready to go before the first of April. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen...I'm not really the plan ahead type.
The only thing that I don't like about the challenge is how difficult it is to keep on top of visiting new blogs and reciprocating visits from new readers. I generally respond personally to every comment I get, and visit every commenter's blog. That's not so hard to do when I only post once every week or two. But when it's every day, it gets really overwhelming. So I definitely have to modify my style of interaction during the challenge.
My second year on AtoZ Challenge, so I think I'll deliberately have some 'fluff' posts in April this time.
Last year, I had 100% content (BooksYALove is a book recommendation blog); this year I may tip in some flashbacks & thematic posts. If I'm lucky, I can snag a publisher giveaway or two, as well!
Since I'll be going directly into WordCount Blogathon for all of May, I think this strategy might keep me sane for both months.
Delighted that y'all are trying to categorize participating blogs this year. I do hate to visit a blog that's totally "not for me" and try to leave a comment that's more than "From A to Z Challenge" knowing that I would never follow that blog.
I already commented once, but I have to agree with Katy - I'm going to enjoy the categorizing, too! I used the "surprise me" button a lot and sometimes I was O_o . It'll be easier to find blogs that are more along my interests.
This will be my first A to Z challenge. I think it's time for me to learn discipline in work and force myself to tap into my creative side instead of waiting for it to find me. I'm really glad I've found your site!
Post a Comment