If you like #blogging , join the #AtoZchallenge and #AZchat !

 Today, we have Jemima Pett from #TeamDamyanti tells us about how to make the most of the A to Z Challenge.

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So, you’re still wondering whether you can do the A to Z Challenge.  What on earth are you going to write about?  Will anybody read it?

Yes, loads of people will read it.  We pick out interesting-sounding names on the list, or work through the numbers, hoping to find things they wouldn’t normally read.  I find amazing crafts, weird games and fascinating journeys. 

In 2012 I was fairly new to blogging. I stepped right into the Challenge and loved it. So A to Z challenge is a great way to jump-start your blog if you're new to the blogging world.

I’d not long published my first two books and I thought an A to Z of my books’ world would be great.  It was... for me and a handful of people who were up with my stories.  I realised this last year, when I visited people doing character interviews: if your visitors are new, they don’t know your stories, they don’t enjoy the wonderful extra information and insights you’re giving them.  Making an A to Z of my world was good for me, but not my visitors. 

I also did an A to Z of food on my guinea pigs’ blog, George’s Guinea Pig World.  This was more successful, once visitors had got over the shock of having my guinea pig Victor talking to them.  Food is a universal subject. Victor made lots of friends, too, and I think he enjoyed it. Try to choose topics that will have an appeal wider than your niche. If you have a theme, sign up for the A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal.
 

In 2013, I participated with just one blog; I did all the posts in advance and gave myself time to tour round other people’s blogs.  If you have superfast broadband you won’t realise that some blogs can take ages to load for slower systems.  Getting round 20 blogs could easily take me an hour and a half, without the time needed to leave comments and dealing with CAPTCHA.  That’s where I realised the value of keeping posts short, and also having identities on Blogger and WordPress so I was always logged in for comments. 

TURN CAPTCHA OFF. Go and check now on your blog if you have it on-- some bloggers have CAPTCHA and don't realize it. It turns off vistors like nothing else.

During the Challenge people like to visit, wave (i.e. comment or like) and move on.  In 2013 my short stories ranged from 50 words to 2000.  It’s good for regular posting but too much for the Challenge. Keep AZ posts short. Respond to comments you receive, and go and comment back. 

There will be two Challenge chats at #AZchat on Twitter today-- one at 1-3 PM hosted by AZ co-hots Pam Margolis and her team, and another at 8-9 PM, hosted by Guilie Castillo Oriard with support from #teamdamyanti, discussing Commenting during the A to Z Challenge. Join in!

This year, I’ll be blogging on a special theme, to be revealed for the A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal.  I’ll also be revealing the cover of my new book, Bravo Victor, on April 2^nd.  Come and check it out at and enter the Giveaway, too! If you have a book or any cause to promote, do it during the A to Z Challenge in order to get a good response.
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Are you pre-scheduling your AZ posts? Do you have a theme? Are you already visiting other bloggers from the A to Z Challenge signup list?

Get More Visits by Hyperlinking Your Signature During #atozchallenge

One of the suggestions you may have come across in the informational posts, tabs, info@ email answers, FAQ, etc., is the advantage of having a having a hyperlink signature.

I'm just going to go Blogging 101 on you here since I know that we have a lot new bloggers joining the the A-Z Challenge.  Besides, I was a math and English teacher and review never hurts.  A hyperlink signature gives readers a "wormhole" directly to your blog.  (I write sci-fi...it's like a Transporter...um Tardis...magic tunnel?  Oh, I got it: apparating.  You read Harry Potter, right?)

So since one of our wonderful co-hosts from last year already explained it so well, I'm just going to say...Take it away, Shannon!  (We miss you...)

When you comment on other people's blogs, you want them to be able to track you down to return the favor.  This can be tricky or time consuming sometimes, so the easier you make it for them to find you, the more likely you are to get a return visit.

Some people have multiple blogs, which makes it hard to know which one you need to visit.  Clicking on each blog to find half of them empty or not having been updated can be frustrating.  The same goes for trying to track down someone's blog when you get bounced all over the place.  When their profile connects with Google+, for instance, you often have to go to the "About" page to track down their blog, though if they update their daily posts there you can click through there instead.

In order to make it easier for people to track you down, follow this method of hyperlinking:

1. Choose your link.  Do you want them to go to your main page, a specific page or a specific post?

2. Choose your signature.  What do you want it to say?  Only a portion of it will be visible.  I'll give an example below.

3. Make your hyperlink.  This is what it looks like:

Notes: You will insert your own URL between the quotes ("http://yourwebsitehere") and your blog or destination in place of "The Warrior Muse" (>Your Website<)

4. Add your signature.  Note that the only things that will be visible after you post are where it says "Shannon at" and "The Warrior Muse."  Anything within the carrots (<,>) is invisible once you hit post.

Note: Make it say whatever you want.  My signature isn't gospel, just an example.  I will often change it for something specific, like a blogfest, so that it says something about the blogfest and directs them to the related post, rather than my overall blog.  (Ex. Shannon, visiting from the A-to-Z Challenge)

5. Post it following your comment!  That simple.

I've become accustomed to typing it out as I go along, but when I first started I used someone's example, made my own, then emailed it to myself so I could always copy it from my email and post it wherever I was commenting.  Figure out what works best for you, and go from there.  People will appreciate you providing them a hyperlink, and you'll appreciate them visiting you. 

May you find your Muse.
Shannon
The Warrior Muse

Hi, Tina again.  I have mine saved in a word processing document that I always open when visiting blogs so it's handy to copy and paste.  I could never remember all those symbols to just type it out...

Meet Kate! Member of Tina's Terrific Team for #atozchallenge

Today we're taking a bit of a break from the advice and the introductions and all the "pre-season training" for something a bit different.  When our wonderful assistants stepped up to the plate to be our "beck-and-call minions" we each offered them a chance to use this blog as a platform to say what they wanted.  Possibly introduce a book they were releasing, write a story, or as in Kate @ Another Clean Slate, talk about what they wanted.  Kate is sharing about challenges and causes near and dear to her heart.  Please welcome Kate of Tina's Terrific Team!


I'm Kate and I blog at Another Clean Slate. This is my second year doing the A to Z Challenge, but my first year being on a crew. More specifically, I'm on Tina from Life is Good's minion crew which I'm told is a challenge in and of itself. 

Challenges must be my thing this year because on top of writing alphabetically for an entire month, I've also signed up to walk 50 miles. In three days. And I have to raise $1,500. Yah, I told you I'm crazy. 

Both the walk and the A to Z Challenge are good exercise- one physically and one for my writing muscles. But the walk is also being done to raise awareness for Multiple Sclerosis (MS). 

One of my blogging buddies has MS and recruited me to walk on her team. For those of you who don't know, Multiple Sclerosis is disease of the central nervous system that interrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body. 

Advances are being made every day to prevent this disease and keep it in check once it's been diagnosed. But that takes money. I'm pretty sure I can tackle this year's A to Z Challenge. I'm sort of sure I can stumble through a 50-mile walk. But I need your help in raising the $1,500 for my part of the team's fundraising efforts. 

Every little bit helps and is appreciated. I'm looking forward to getting to know a lot of new bloggers this April and know we can kick butt from A to Z with a focus on MS!   

You can find me in quite a few places:
Kate @ Another Clean Slate 
Walking the MS Challenge and need your help!
Blogging from A to Z Challenge Team: Life is Good (April 2014) 
Twitter 
Facebook 
Bloglovin

As you can see, Kate is the social one on my team. Thanks, Kate.  MS is near and dear to me, too.  A close friend struggles with this disease daily.  

I encourage all of you visiting today to become involved in something that stirs your heart.  As a blogging community, we can make a difference, because we are connected, there is strength in numbers, and because we care about people.  It's why we do what we do.

Thanks, Kate, for so willingly sharing what's important to you.

~Tina, with Kate