Debut Author Spotlight

J here of #TeamArlee (the BEST team in the A to Z Challenge— woot woot!).
I've taken over the Debut Author Spotlight at Operation Awesome on Wednesdays.
Here's an A to Z list making this news relevant to YOU!

• Authors who take part in the A to Z challenge know it's best to support one another
• Blogging has never been more vital for debut authors
• Connecting and commenting is the bread& butter of successful debut authors
• Debut authors are AWESOME and brave
• Entertainment is easily found in the pages of a new book
• Friends and family alone are not enough— debut authors need support and reviews from other people
• Genres from every shelf are eligible for representation
• Heartthrobs, hardships, humanitarian missions... it's hard not to find a good book
• Intellectual discussions about books are the cornerstone of culture
• Just leaving a nice comment on these posts could encourage the next Agatha Christie, Danielle Steel, J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, John Grisham...
• Kindred book spirits are easier to find thanks to my short interviews
• Love 'em or leave 'em, you'll learn about the debut authors in just a few short minutes
• Maybe you'd find something you never expected
• New authors become favorite authors
• Only debut once!
• Publishing traditionally, small press, or self— all are welcome to be interviewed
• Quality or quantitiy— which increases sales more? Come discuss!
• Reviews are powerful! Determine if these debut authors will be graced by you giving them such a wonderous gift. A new author EVERY WEDNESDAY!
• Social Media and debut authors... The "We live by the sword, we die by the sword" idiom means, basically, what you use shall come around and be used equally on or to you. So when it comes to debut authors, "We live by the Tweet, we die by the Tweet." These are people longing to connect with their audience. Come make a new friend!
• Television and movies based on the works of debut authors have made billions. (Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind, Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, Nicholas Sparks's The Notebook, Ed Conlons's Blue Blood, etc)
• Utopia is a place where we never run out of new books to read
• Variety is the spice of life. Check out a debut author today!
• Whatever A to Z category you most love, there's a book on the subject
• X-treme book reading challenge: Read one book by a debut author every week!
• Years ahead of other shippers if you fall in love with the book first!
• Zip over to say hello and wish me luck on my new position interviewing debut authors at Operation Awesome.

Interested in being interviewed? Contact @JLenniDorner on Twitter!     
      If you're interested in submitting a guest post for the A to Z Challenge blog, please contact me at ArleeBird@gmail.com.

#atozchallenge News Round-up

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     Have you signed up for the A to Z Challenge yet?   If not, the list can be found by clicking the tab at the top of this page.  Now's the time to get on the list.  You still have time to at least get started on preparing posts.  And even if you write as you go you'll still have fun.

       Many of you have been helping to promote the Challenge on your own sites.  Here are a few that we've run across:

Co-host Tina had a new commenter on her blog.  First challenge, 9 followers. Tina was the first to comment on her A-Z promo post.  If you have a chance, show her some love at Tales of the Reborn Crafter. 

M. J. Joachim has become a ubiquitous presence in the 2013 A to Z Challenge.   You can find one of her guest posts at the equally ubiquitous P. V. Ariel's Philips.com.

When readers run across an A to Z promo post they will sometimes let us know about what they find(since we often don't see all of them on our own).  That's how we found the post from Wayne at Random Stream of Consciousness.  Thanks Wayne!

Ambassador Tim Brannon from The Other Side made a post to try to get more people from his corner of the internet involved.

Beth Lapin talks about her A to Z theme on her special blog set up for the Challenge.  Check it out at Beth Lapin's A to Z Blog.

With her third A to Z Challenge ahead, Michelle tells her A to Z story at Writer-in-Transit.


Here's a good A to Z post from M.M. Pollard at MM's Fundamentals of English.    You may learn a few things from her during April.  

Maria at First Draft Cafe is working away at her posts for April.  

At first she wasn't go to do it, but now Nel Ashley has decided she should.  Read more at Nel Ashley.

Sharon Bayliss did a great interview with co-hosts Tina and Nicole at her blog Write for Your Life.

Julie did a lovely tribute to the Challenge at Empty Nest Insider.  

At her  blog Being Catholic, M.J. Joachim added the A to Z Challenge to the current events of the day.  We are newsworthy!

Be sure to stop by ...The Slightly Eccentric Diary of Rob Z Tobor for a lesson on A to Z blogging.  

JoJo at Tahoma Beadworks & Photography is part of Tina Downey's Terrific Team and started her duties with a Challenge announcement.

Challenge veteran Dale from Smurfin' the Web gave a good word for the Challenge--yes, he's ready to go.

If you're a U2 fan you will definitely want to check out On The Road With U2.  Deena's back for a second go around with the alphabet.

Rosie Amber is looking for you!  Stop by to read about her A to Z intentions at Rosie Amber. 

And to close this edition out with a bang, take a look at Andi-Roo's epic A to Z promo post at The World 4 Realz.  Yes, Andi-Roo is back for another year and that's for realz. 

         There you have it!  This will probably be the closing edition of  the A to Z Promo news, but don't let that stop you from adding your own promos to your blogs.   Tell everyone you know.  Tweet it.  Announce it on FaceBook.  Let's get some more sign ups.  Can we break last year's record?

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