A to Z Team 2013

Another Challenge, Another A to Z Team! 

        Well, folks, it's official!  The 2013 A to Z Team is in place and we have another great line-up for you this year.   Our Team is here to help you with the Challenge and inspire you along the way.  We will be having some extremely helpful posts from the A to Z Co-hosts in the months to come.  You will want to be sure to check in daily to see what's new as well as reminders about things you may have forgotten.

         Since this 4th annual Challenge is occurring in lucky year number '13, we have thirteen A to Z Team members to help make the Challenge a success.  Most of the team are members from last year who have returned with a lot of experience behind them, while there are three new ones coming on board to take the place of those who couldn't make it for this year's Challenge.

        So without further ado, say hello to The 2013 A to Z Team:

The A to Z Team 2013!

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

Who Are the New Team Members?

         Livia Peterson started her blog Leave It To Livia last May, heading full force into the blogging world to make her presence known in many ways including landing a place on the A to Z Team.  Her blogging niche includes movies, entertainment, and, of course, writing.  She's ready to take the blog world by storm so be sure to head on over to her blog and become friends with her now.  We think you'll like Livia.

         L. Diane Wolfe was already in the blogging circle that I fell into nearly four years ago and I feel honored to be a part of her blog circle of friends.  Diane is an expert on writing, public speaking, marketing, and promotion.  In other words, she's a valuable contact to have.  You can find her at Spunk on a Stick.  If you're not following her blog, then now's the time to head on over and do so.

        Nicole Ayers from The Madlab Post is probably a very familiar name to A to Z'ers by now.  In fact you may be wondering, "Isn't she already on the A to Z Team?"   Nicole has been responsible for our Friday posts over the past several months as she sat in as an unofficial Team Member.  Now it's official--Nicole is part of the Team.  If you are looking for some inspiration about A to Z themes you may want to check out some her previous Friday posts on that topic.  And be sure to follow her blog if you aren't doing so already.

Follow The Leaders

      The links to all of the Team blogs can be found in the list above.  If there are any that you are not yet following then hop on over to their blogs and click the "Follow" button.   You will want to check in with all of these bloggers on a regular basis for the latest A to Z Challenge news and for helpful tips about the Challenge and blogging in general.

      The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge Blog is another must for all Challenge participants.  Up until April we will be presenting plenty of information about the Challenge, the participants, and the Team members.  You don't want to miss any of the posts here, especially between now and April.

       If you haven't done so yet, explore the tabbed pages above.  Some are still being updated and revised.  If you need to contact the Challenge administrators or individual Team members go to the "Contact Us" tab.   If you have questions about the Challenge then first read "What Is the A to Z Blogging Challenge?" and if your questions aren't answered there then look at "FAQ" to see if your questions are answered there.  If not, just ask us and we'll find you an answer.

        The sign up list will start on Wednesday January 30th.   We're ready.  Are you?

     

Related articles

• Help With our 2013 Co-Host Questionnaire!
• Getting To Know Me
• Beginnings, Ninja News, The Hobbit Blogfest, Movie Trivia Answers, and the "Cheers Blogfest" Winners and Special Mentions

The #atozchallenge on Twitter: Are You Following @AprilA2Z

Last year one of my duties as a co-host was to support those who're tweeting their A to Z Challenge posts on Twitter.

With its limitation of 140 characters, Twitter can be a great medium to share links: it takes very little time, and reaches a wide audience.

So if you're on Twitter, and are thinking of signing up for the A to Z Challenge this 30th January, here's what you can do:

1. Follow the official A to Z Challenge id of twitter : @AprilA2Z

2. Tweet anything you want to say about A to Z Blogging challenge using the hashtag #atozchallenge

3. Considering retweeting posts by @AprilA2Z which are relevant to the challenge. After all, the more people who take part in the challenge, the better it is for all the participants!

4. If you make a blog post about the A to Z Challenge (I'm hoping some of you will, won't you?) make sure to tweet it with the #atozchallenge hashtag

5. Connecting with other A to Z Challenge participants on twitter will ensure that your posts have lots of visitors : so consider following not only the hosts (once they're announced coming Monday!), but also other blog-friends who say they'll participate.

If you have questions regarding A to Z challenge on Twitter, fire away in the comments.

And if you haven't joined Twitter yet, I can point you to Arlee Bird, the founder member of this A to Z Blogging Challenge, who joined last year (after a fair amount of poking), and now has more than 2000 followers!

Post A-to-Z Road Trip Check-In

Well, hello there!  It's been awhile since we did a check-in on the Post A-to-Z Road Trip, but now that the holidays are past us (well, as much as holidays can be past us since we like to throw out holidays every month or so) this is as good a time as any to see how everyone's doing.

We're officially gearing up for the 2013 A-to-Z Challenge, so time is running out to catch up with all of last year's participants.  How far have you gotten?  Are you able to make any monthly progress?  Weekly?  Daily (you visiting fiend, you!)?

What's your plan of attack as you go through the list?  Do you find that you go in order, or do you randomly choose someone to visit?  Did you go through the Post A-to-Z Road Trip sign-up list first?

What I've found works best for me is to go down the list and open a series of blogs at once (usually ten at a time).  I visit those blogs, then if I find I have some more time I open ten more.  This helps me take little chunks at a time, and to feel like I've made progress.

Let us know how you're doing, whether you're still at it or have given up.  This isn't a competition, so don't feel pressured to have made progress.  Do you intend to keep going?  Were you able to visit everyone already?  If so, what was your secret, and what tips might you like to pass along?

Click here to access the 2012 A-to-Z sign-up list.

Cheers!

Shannon (The Warrior Muse) and Tina (Life is Good)