What you can do RIGHT NOW to Ensure a #atozchallenge WIN??

You're all signed up for the A to Z Challenge. (If you aren't, go on, run and do it, I'll wait.) Now you must be thrilled you've done your bit for your blog by entering it on the list. You can relax till April. 

NOT. I have news for you.

To get the best out of a bloghop the size of a T-Rex on steroids (just go look at the sign-up list now to see what I mean), you need to put yourself and your blog on steroids, right away. 

Here are 5 ways to do it:

 1. There are no rules stating you should start blog visiting in April. Start with the list now, and if you visit and Comment on 5 new blogs a day, you would have covered at least 250 by the time the challenge comes around. This challenge is all about building a community, and schmoozing with other participants will guarantee your AZ posts hordes of comments come April. 

2. Preschedule your posts now, so you can focus on comment love in April. Even if you can't be online during some of April, that's no reason to be discouraged. Point 1 above will ensure your blog remains active with comments even on the days you're away.

2. If you're on twitter, tweet your posts using the #atozchallenge hashtag  and comment on other posts that use the same tag. 

3. Follow @AprilA2Z and better still, follow other participants on twitter. It's easy to do if you start following the peeps on this twitter list. 

If you're not on this list, tell us on twitter, and we'll add you. Discuss the #atozchallenge themes, compare how many posts you already have scheduled, cheer on other participants. Mingle.

4. Talk about the challenge on your blog, on Facebook and Google+ and any other social media you're part of. The higher the buzz about the challenge on your blog and on these media, the more visitors you can potentially attract. Tag friends, start a discussion.

5. Check your blog. Is it easy for a visitor to comment or do they have to sign up on some vague machinery to do it? Have you turned off CAPTCHA ?

If you are a challenge veteran, and have something to add to the above list,   fire away in the comments!

Do You Luv the #atozchallenge?

Words from the Bird: 

      We will soon be announcing our individual co-host subordinate administrative assistant teams.  Alex has already announced his.  I will be doing so on my Friday post at Tossing It Out.  Soon we will also be adding a special tab at the top of the A to Z Blog page with our helpers listed.  Be sure to stop in to get to know all of these fine bloggers and follow their blogs along with those of the co-hosts.  We are all here to make the Challenge more fun and more efficient for everyone.  We appreciate the support you give us.

      The A to Z Team will be trying to address as many of the concerns some of you have been asking about here on this blog in the weeks to come.   If there are any topics that you would especially like to see us discuss here please let us know.   Watch this blog for important A to Z updates.

A to Z Luvs U:

     Tomorrow is Valentines Day so don't forget the one you love.  Over the past  couple of weeks many of you have been showing some A to Z Challenge love with some truly endearing promo posts.  It's so nice to see so many love letters in honor of the letters of the alphabet and the Challenge that goes hand in hand with those letters.

Here are a few bloggers who luv the A to Z Challenge enough to have included a post on their blog about it:

Thank you Belinda Nicoll at My Rite of Passage for telling your readers about what you're planning for April.   Sounds like a great idea to me!

Don't worry, Deena at e-bookbuilders.   You sound like a natural for the Challenge and I think you'll do a great job if your A to Z promo post is any indication.

Danielle Zecher has decided to take on another Challenge after enjoying last year's A to Z.  She talks about it in her post on the blog Sweet Tea Reads.

Sunni at Surviving Life announced the Challenge and at the same time did her bit of public service with instructions on how to remove the Captcha word verification from Blogger blogs.   If you're still wondering about this process, check out Sunni's post.

Rebekah Loper says she's not going to do this year's Challenge, but she gave us a very nice promo post.  Maybe she'll talk herself into participating after she reads her own post.

Teresa at Journaling Woman added her own bit of Challenge news with a reminder for others to sign up.  Good to hear from you, Teresa!

Carol Kilgore tossed her blog into the A to Z fray.  Stop by Under the Tiki Hut to wish her well.

A challenge enthusiast from India, Phil of Philipscom posted a big announcement about Blogging from A to Z on his blog.

Keep Spreading the Word:

       Thanks to all of you who have been telling others about the April Challenge.  I know that there are many more than I have listed here.  Feel free to promote each other's A to Z posts with your own posts.  A big part of the A to Z Challenge is about networking and building community.   Be sure to keep on visiting the list and making new friends.

        The A to Z Challenge is all about the participants!  And we luv all of you!

Related articles

• Why YOU should consider doing the #atozchallenge, but why I'm not . . .
• Building Your Blog Readership Through the #AtoZChallenge
• This Is the Place for #atozchallenge News!

Meet Author AJ Lauer: Author of Armageddon: Pick Your Plot

Please join me in welcoming today's guest, AJ Lauer, an A-Z participant and author. The book you're about to hear about is so unique I think we'll be burning of some fiber optic/cable/whispernet or other magical stuff that makes books go from Amazon to my beloved Kindle in about...oh there it is. I've interviewed AJ so you can get to know her a bit better.

A-Z Participant Profile: AJ Lauer, author of Armageddon: Pick Your Plot

Hi, AJ! Welcome to the Blogging from A-Z blog! Why don't you start by telling us about your blog?

Naturally Sweet started as a place to put my early-college angst. It was a way for me to keep in touch with friends from high school and my first boyfriend, a daily journal of writing snippets and figuring out how I fit into the college scene. Over the years it has become a bit more intentional. I use it now still to keep in touch with friends, but also to reflect on my profession and our adventures here in Colorado. And of course to share my writing efforts.


 How did you find Blogging from A-Z? 
Last February, I caught a horrible, awful cold. After about 2 days of whining and moaning and TV, I got bored and challenged a fellow writer friend to a duel. We spent the next four weeks duking it out creative-writing style in a shared Google doc. It was so much fun to push myself to write every single day. When we finished I knew I needed another challenge, and knew as soon as I saw it, that A-Z was the perfect next thing!

You've already signed up for this spring's challenge. What brought you back?
I had so much fun last year! I met several of my favorite blogging buddies, and truly enjoy the challenge of coming up with things to write about every day for a month. A-Z is also part of the reason that my co-author Dan approached me to write Armageddon. He is a talented graphic artist and does something super-cool every year for his birthday. Last year he decided to have an armageddon themed birthday party in honor of the Mayan calendar myth, so decided to make a Pick Your Plot book that explores apocalypses. He'd seen that I had been doing a lot of writing, so asked if I would like to co-author the project. Of course I said yes - how could I resist such an offer? So I'm back this year for the challenge of the writing, and also just to see what neat things come out of it.

Wait, a Pick Your Plot book?  Yup - kind-of like a Choose Your Own Adventure (TM) book. The endings range in topic from Ragnarok to nanobots to (of course) zombies. Since it's about apocalypses which are by nature somewhat unavoidable, you die in 33 of the 42 endings. The odds are definitely not in your favor, but each one is written to be entertaining. Our friends who attended Dan's party loved the book and immediately asked about 'real' publishing, so we decided to go for it. Feedback so far has been very positive - you should check it out! ;)

That sounds awesome! What are you writing about for A-Z this year? Well, last year I did the theme of "things I like" because it was general and easy to come up with topics. This year I've decided to write a scene or character description for each letter. It will be a bit more challenging, but should lead to some fun stuff. I'll start pre-scheduling posts in March, to make sure I've got enough time to do each one well.

Thanks for stopping by! We look forward to seeing what you write this spring. 

Thanks! I'm definitely looking forward to it

AJ's blog: Naturally Sweet 

The Book! Armageddon: Pick Your Plot 

Other places to find AJ: Facebook (public), Facebook (book fanpage)