10 Reasons to Join the A – Z Challenge

Here are 10 solid reasons for any and every blogger to join the A – Z Challenge.

Fun Factor: It’s a whole lot of fun. That’s right! It’s like going to a carnival in Blog Land. All you have to do is what you already do so well…blog. Okay, so you have to blog everyday, but what would a true challenge be, if you never had to see what you were made of?

Exploration: You get to explore all the wonderful topics you might think about sharing on your blog. Then you get to see how lots of visitors respond to them. Use the data to help you determine how to maximize your page views and comments. With so many visitors dropping by, you simply don’t want to pass up this opportunity.

Discover: There’s no time like the present to get out of your comfort zone and discover new and exciting blogs. Bloggers work hard to share valuable and important information with their audience. You get to discover who they are, what they share and how their work might benefit you with your own goals and hobbies.

Promotion: Joining the A – Z Challenge is automatic promotion! With so many participants, your blog gets a whole lot of attention from all sorts of people. Take it a step further and make your blog the best it can be, because the sky is the limit with potential like this.

Marketing: Joining the A – Z Challenge is an easy marketing strategy. You can share your skills, let people know what you do besides blogging and network like crazy.

Make Friends: Blogging revolves around building positive relationships with other bloggers. Joining the A – Z Challenge is a perfect opportunity to make new blogging friends, people who will be your friends long after the Challenge is over, if you take this opportunity.

Learn: There’s so much information out there, things that truly help us. The A – Z Challenge is a one size fits all grand learning opportunity. If you’re interested in writing, photography, how to become a better blogger, cooking, gardening etc., you need only check the categories and pursue your learning desires.

Increase Page Views: Sign up and watch the traffic come your way, especially in April when all the participants start hopping and commenting. Become a valued blog hopper yourself, and they’ll increase even more.

Get Noticed: You never know who might discover your blog through the A – Z Challenge. It could be your future boss, or someone who could introduce you to your next big adventure in life. Blogging in the A – Z Challenge gets you noticed, because our team isn’t just blogging. We’re tweeting, facebooking and doing all sorts of sharing to exercise our bragging rights. Just look at some of the post about other bloggers on our own blog, or browse the <100 Followers page. We put our best foot forward, making this one of the best and largest blog hops on the web.

We’d Love to Meet You: That’s right! We want to know who you are and what you blog about. We want to visit your posts, get to know you better and include you in our vast circle of friends. C’mon now! Who could pass up an invitation like that?

Thanks for stopping by and joining the Challenge! It’s a whole lot of fun, and we’re so glad you’re as excited as we are for the festivities to begin!

M. J.

©2014 All Rights Reserved
Photo credit: Mila Ranta, Parrot Stamp, CCA-Share Alike 2.5

The A-to-Z Challenge Handbook of Defining Adult Content #atozchallenge #faq

Since 2013, the Blogging from A-to-Z Challenge Co-Hosts have hammered out the system of categorizing Adult Content (AC) and how we are going to consistently police it so everyone knows where they stand. Blogs that contain adult content -- including but not limited to harsh language, are REQUIRED to identify themselves as such by adding the (AC) category next to their blog name on the sign-up list. Ideally, this must be done when you first sign up for the challenge. 

Unlike the other categories, the (AC) label is NOT optional; if you find that you are indeed among the adult content blogs, this category must be present with your blog on the signup list.

We know that there are some A-to-Z Challenge participants who are not sure if their blog’s content falls within the (AC) territory and they may be wondering if their blog is considered as such. For those of you who are in this boat, look no further – here is an easy way to figure out the answer:

Let’s imagine for a moment that Steven Spielberg called you this morning and said he wants to make a movie based on your blog. Upon his film’s completion, what rating would this movie receive from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) – keeping in mind that the film is inspired by your blog and its content? Your answer to this question will give you a good idea of where your blog stands in terms of the Adult Content (AC) category with regards to the Blogging from A-to-Z Challenge.

Our policies and administration practices in the matter of Adult Content blogs are put in place to address concerns about there being no age limit on who can sign-up for the A-to-Z Challenge. Considering that just having a blog meets the precondition of participating in the challenge, we define “Adult Content” as material that would be unsuitable for teenagers.

Adult Content – An A-to-Z Challenge Co-Host Encyclopedia Reference

We define Adult Content as any material that may be something a teen should not be viewing. By “Adult,” this means sexual content, frequent use of harsh language, nudity, gore, and overtly violent content. By “Content,” this includes blog posts, images, graphics and any other related material on display at your blog.

Below is an ADULT CONTENT CHECKLIST for the A-to-Z Challenge. If your blog contains any of the following material, then it should be marked with the (AC) category code:

• Nudity
• Frequent use of harsh language
• Gore
• Sexually oriented language
• Explicit Violence

Again, if your Blog contains any of material listed above in this checklist, then it should be marked as such with the (AC) category code! 

Our guidelines are reasonably simple to follow; this is not rocket science. It is easy to figure out whether or not your blog belongs in the Adult Content category. If you have any of the aforementioned material on our checklist, you MUST have your blog labeled with (AC) on the signup list. Otherwise, your blog will be flagged and removed from the A-to-Z Challenge signup list.

At this time, we don’t consider a few profane words scattered in some blog posts here and there to be listed in the (AC) category. That said, if you might be among these particular Non-AC blogs, you are not out of the woods, where the nature of the content you publish is concerned. 

Those of you who are one of the Non-AC bloggers who do happen to have some harsh language sometimes, we strongly urge you to at least put a Disclaimer or Warning Notice at the top of your posts containing questionable content. These warning notices can help protect you if a teen participant happens to come across your blog during the A-to-Z Challenge.

Now that we’ve made this clear, if you do happen to have a run-in with Steven Spielberg, get him to reach out to me at The Madlab Post so he can check out one of my screenplays, will ya?!!

Get to Know Me, An Unconventional Librarian #atozchallenge

You're probably wondering what a librarian has to do with the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, right? It's simple; librarians like information and the Blogging Challenge is a giant repository of information! One thing you learn in library school is that information wants to be free, which I thoroughly agree with.  Blog hopping is full of free resources that help enrich my life. I'm a student of life and am always wanting to learn something from someone, ANYWHERE.

And speaking of learning, can I tell ya a bit about myself? A very long time ago in a galaxy far far away, I earned a BS in English writing, technical writing to be exact. Don't know what that is? Sure you do, read the how-to manual of any gadget you buy.  A technical writer wrote that.  I took that degree and quickly moved to Texas from PA to work for the US government. While in Texas

• I learned how to shoot a gun
• I drove a flight simulator
• I fingerprinted people
• I worked on a NASA project that invented voice activated technology
• Met an astronaut 
• Worked with a governor
• Got stopped at the Texas/Mexico border
• Became a mother 
• Learned to drive

What have I learned from all of these experiences? I've learned that life is too short not to try everything at least once and that Texas really is a whole 'nother country. Once back up North with my Yankee family, I:

• Became a certified teacher
• Became a certified librarian
• Learned Czech
• Traveled to Prague
• Taught preschool
• Wear a tiara to work
• Sang in French at a French monastery
• Read over 100 books last year

Have you learned enough about me yet? My love of learning keeps me motivated every day. That's why I love blogging and the A to Z Challenge; it's like Texas, it's a whole 'nother country blog hop! 

What do you love about the A to Z Challenge?