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| Artwork by Ada Z from collagepodge.com |
I'll mention some of the obvious positives in passing. Many of you cited the benefits of improving your blogging or writing skills by posting something everyday. There were the elements of self-discipline and creative thinking. Sense of community and opportunity to meet new bloggers was often mentioned. The diversity of participants and the high quality of the writing on many of the blogs were other positives that were pointed out.
Several people told how they broke in new blog or revived on old blog with the Challenge. For these bloggers it was a trial by fire experience that helped instill good blogging habits and add followers. The learning experience that A to Z offers is something veterans can use to encourage new entrants in the future.
One thing that I had neglected to mention in my previous thank yous, but was brought up in many of the Reflections posts is the addition of the Navigation Buttons offered by Marcus Clearspring. These were tremendously popular last year and we had many requests for their return this year. Fortunately Marcus came through again and once again the Navigation Buttons were a hit. Thank you Marcus.
We received a number of kudos for the responsiveness, presence, and helpfulness of this year's A to Z Team. We thank you for your kind words and I for one will concur on this. Thank you Team--great job!
Hopefully, you can give us some numbers, but I've heard of a number of the April A to Z series that will be getting published in one form or another. That A to Z is becoming a springboard for published works is great news. Last year I heard about at least three books that came out of the Challenge. I know of a few from this year's Challenge, but I think there will be more. If you have a book or some published material that was born from A to Z, let us know in the comments and keep in mind that since we are accepting guest posts at the A to Z Blog we would like to hear from you if you would like to do a post about your book.
One other thing that many of you saw as a big positive and I heartily agree is this A to Z Blog. This has been a great forum--or as one of you said "water cooler site". Being able to have a site devoted to A to Z news and tips leading up to and during the Challenge was a huge benefit in many ways. There is a lot more that we can do with this site. What are some of your suggestions about this?
A couple of excellent Reflections posts that you might like to check out are those of Elise Fallson and Susan Kane's thecontemplativecat-- very different in presentation, but both capturing the essence of the spirit of the April Challenge and what it represents. But by all means don't stop there. If you haven't read any of the Reflections posts yet, you should read at least a sampling. Over four hundred of you have left your A to Z Reflections, which is a pretty impressive statement in itself.
Next Monday I'll be discussing some of the negative aspects that we heard from the Reflections posts and elsewhere. Then on the following Monday I'll bring it all together with your comments from these two posts and some additional ideas I have about this year and next year.
That's what I've got for now. What positives can you think of that I've left out? Do you agree with the ones I've mentioned? What was the biggest A to Z plus in your mind?
