Getting to Know Your Fellow #Bloggers #atozchallenge

Featuring New Blogs and Blogs with

 <100 Followers

One of the things we like to do here at the A – Z Challenge is help new bloggers, and bloggers who don’t have a lot of followers, get more followers here in Blog Land. It’s one of those little things we do, to promote community and encourage people with their blogs. We even started a page at the top of this blog titled, Blogs with <100 Followers, because every blogger deserves to be cheered on with their blogging.

Here are a few blogs we know you’ll enjoy visiting that we’ve found.

My Daily Disaster: Matthew is a soldier sharing his unique perspective on how he sees the world. His blog is brand new, and his posts will definitely give you food for thought.

Fanny Barnes Thornton: Fanny participates in a lot of blogfests, so you never know what she might be writing about next. She’s an exciting writer, who shares all sorts of neat things about her world on her blog.

Runner 5: Runner 5 is currently in the midst of a 6-month total overhaul challenge. She’s taking one day at a time, to make herself into the best person she can be.

Yeakley/Jones Family History: Ann Hinds explores her family history on her blog. She’s a strong writer, with some wonderful stories to tell.

Midlist Writer: Sean McLachlan is a freelance writer specializing in history and travel. His blog includes satisfying book reviews and an eclectic variety of information bloggers, writers and readers will be sure to find exciting.

Of course, this brief list is far from exhaustive, as is the page of <100 followers we’ve added to this blog. Be sure and take a browse through all the links there, and if you know of someone not listed, please don’t hesitate to share a link to their blog in the comments.

Thanks for being such a great part of our community here.

M. J.

©2014 All Rights Reserved
Photo credit: Blogfrog, Blogfrog Logo, CCA-Share Alike 3.0

Calling all #atozchallenge participants to #SocialMedia !

A to Z April Blogging challenge is all about networking, connecting with interesting bloggers and making blog friends. 

To that end we usually recommend following other blogs, commenting on their posts.

Another way to cement these relationships is to follow each other on social media.

One of the things I want to encourage this year for AZers is cross connection-- follow as many AZ bloggers as possible on the following social networks:

Facebook

Twitter

G+ page

Start with following Blogging from A to Z April Challenge :

Facebook page

Twitter id and hashtag: @AprilA2Z and #atozchallenge

G+ page: +April Hosteam 

I'll also share my details here:
My co-host blog: Amlokiblogs
My participant blog: Daily (w)rite

My Facebook 

My Twitter: @damyantig

My G+: +D Biswas 

If you're on any of these networks, leave me the details in the comments below-- I'll follow you, and encourage others to do the same. While adding your social media details, make sure to mention the name and number of your blog in the sign up list. 

Use this format for your details:

My Blog Name and Number on the list
My Facebook
My Twitter
My G+

Follow each other as more AZ participants drop in their social media deets in the comments below.

Following other AZ participants on social media would create a buzzing network. And who doesn't want more followers, right?

 It would deepen a sense of community come April and the Blogging from A to Z Challenge! So what are you waiting for? Sign up for the challenge if you haven't already, and leave us your details in the comments.

Copyright and Copy Wrong

By M. J. Joachim

Copyright Defined

Copyright is the exclusive right given to an originator or an assignee to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic or musical material, and to authorize others to do the same. Without copyright, anyone can use and copy your work.

By law, intellectual property is owned by the individual who created it, and is therefore inherently protected by copyright. This applies to creative works including writing, photos, artwork, digital work and more. If you made it, you own it, and it is protected by copyright, unless you give it away.

In other words, no one can reproduce, alter, distribute or display your work, without your permission first. You also have the right to determine how your work is used, changed, distributed or displayed. You even have the right to sell your work, trade your work and donate your work. No one else has these rights for your personal intellectual property, or the work produced from its creativity.

Including the © symbol at the end of your posts (and in the sidebar of your blog), along with All Rights Reserved is a valid way of protecting your work with copyright. It is also a good idea to include the year. “As a general rule, for works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author, plus an additional 70 years,” according to the U. S. Copyright Office.

By adding your copyright notice to your work, you automatically have a time and date stamp on it, something necessary to prove the work was yours to begin with, should you have a dispute with someone unauthorized who uses your work. It is not enough to simply put your work out there, in hopes that no one takes it. You have little recourse if they do, especially if you can’t prove it’s been copyrighted, and the date your work was originally published.

Crediting Others for Intellectual Property

Photos and artwork, often used to enhance written articles, belong to the person who created them. Many of them are free for the taking, provided some fundamental rules are followed, mainly that of crediting the author and acknowledging the provided copyright agreement.

Pictures on the web provide information about whether or not anyone can use them, as well as how they can be used. They also provide the terms for people to use them. Many are for sale, some offer minimal rights for a one-time fee, others are free to use, providing you credit the author, per the specified instructions listed where the picture can be found.

It is not enough to post a picture stating it came from Wikipedia or someone’s website or blog. It is not enough to link to the picture, without giving credit as specified by the author.

To find out the copyright information for a picture you want to use, click on the picture and read the listed copyright information. Then follow it to the letter, before using the picture for your own purposes. If you can’t find copyright information, it is advisable to contact the owner of the work and ask if you can use it. By doing so, you ensure that you are protected from actions of piracy being filed against you.

Thank you for visiting and commenting on the A – Z Challenge Blog today.

M. J.

©2014 All Rights Reserved

Photo credit: Copyright (Simple English) Wikibook Header, Public Domain; Copyright Machine, *doctormo, Creative Commons Attribution – Share Alike 3.0