How Blog Hops Keep the A-Z Spirit Alive Year-Round

 How Blog Hops Keep the A-Z Spirit Alive Year-Round

    Participants of the annual Blogging from A to Z Challenge are well aware of the April Rush, followed by the post-April Sigh of Relief. Along with that relief though, how many of us hear that little voice in the back of our minds, asking, “OK, now what?”

    For me, the answer is blog hops, those online networking events where bloggers collaborate to promote each other’s blogs through shared themes or topics. The A to Z, according to the organizers, is “first and foremost a blog hop” itself.

    Many blogs go quiet after April. Blog hops are just what we need to keep our blog alive between Aprils. These small weekly, or monthly, sparks are like small creative appointments, giving structure, a reason to show up. You keep your writing muscles warm and your blog remains visible year-round. When April rolls around again it feels less overwhelming! In addition, blog hops can be a great starting point to help new bloggers find their footing.

    Participating in blog hops keeps the momentum going. They keep us motivated to continue writing beyond April, and keep us connected to other bloggers, bringing us a sense of community. You may even make friends! Some will remain online friends, others may become pen pals (or email pals), or even real-life friends.

    There is bound to be a blog hop, or several, to interest you. A short list of the basic types are:

• themed hops
• niche hops
• photography hops
• writing prompts, prose and poetry
• open-topic hops
• community-building hops

    I enjoy the weekly niche hops of Sunday Stamps and Thursday Postcard Hunt, which align to my collecting and bring me hours of engagement through research.

    Photographers may enjoy sharing photos of the sky on Fridays at Skywatch Friday, where dozens of sky shots are shared from around the world, or a photo in black and white for The Weekend in Black and White. Writers get inspiration from word prompts for prose or poetry. You’ll never be at a loss for words to write with blog hops, even 13 words is enough for Thursday Thirteen! Weekly too often? Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day is a monthly hop to share what’s in your garden mid-month.

    You may find yourself so caught up in blog hopping you want to host your own. I do! I inherited Shadow Shot Sunday (simply a photo of a shadow) from the previous host.

    There’s a hop for every interest, so joining one might be the thing that keeps your blog alive between Aprils.

- Lisa https://thisandthatablog.blogspot.com

Time For The #atozchallenge Road Trip!

First of all, thank you to everyone who joined us in our annual trip through the alphabet, namely the A to Z challenge. Looking at the master list, we had 144 participants this year, which is a nice number. The first couple of years we did this, we had over 2000 participants...

The A to Z Challenge being first and foremost a blog hop, participants are encouraged to visit as many of the participating blogs as possible. When there were over a thousand, it was practically impossible to visit all of the participating blogs in one month on any kind of a regular basis. So we had an idea: take time after April and visit as many participating blogs as possible. And it's still a good idea to take the time and visit the other blogs, especially the ones you didn't visit during the month, because you might find some real gems and some really nice people besides.

That's why we came up with the A to Z Road Trip.

Sound like something you want to do? Great! Here's what you do:

1. Grab a copy of the A to Z Road Trip badge. You can grab the one from above, or get this one from the graphics page. Add it to your home page and wear it with pride!

2. Sign up for the A to Z Road Trip by going here and filling in the form.

3. Make a copy of the Road Trip List. This is the list of bloggers who definitely want you to check out their blog while on the Rad Trip.

4. Once you've finished with that list, it's tim to show the other bloggers some love as well. Grab a copy of the Master List and read their entries as well.

5. Have fun!

#AtoZChallenge 2026 Reflections

Reflections

Sign up from May 4-9    https://forms.gle/x723Xn3Qmb4z9UxM7

Visit others:  https://tinyurl.com/bddtt45b

REFLECTIONS

We look back at our achievements, the blogging challenge we faced, and every comment made and left for us.  We can return to the blogging aspirations that may have gotten away from us—or create entirely new ones! Hopefully, the challenge has given you motivation to keep blogging and to support others in our blogging community. 


Our team theme this year was: A is for Aspirations: Blogging hopes, dreams, and goals

Do you feel like our team's posts from this month met your expectations for that theme?

While you reflect on your blog's April Challenge posts, please consider this:

• How do you feel about the Theme Reveal? (Especially if this is not your first year doing the Challenge.)
• In what ways does the reflection post help you?
• What experiences have you had in the past, or hope to have this year, with the Road Trip?
• Does the HTML on the badges/ graphics page help you?
• Did you meet your blogging goals in April? 
• What were your top five favorite blogs from the challenge to visit in April this year?
• Did a co-host (J Lenni Dorner, Arlee Bird, Zalka Csenge Virág, John Holton, Jayden R Vincente, or Ronel Janse van Vuuren) comment on your blog during the challenge? 
• Is there a comment you received on your blog in April that is your favorite?
• Who were your top comment-leavers this challenge, and did they do the challenge?
• Is your blog open to comments from everyone, or only comments from those who "sign in" to the platform? 
• Do you feel this helps or hurts your blogging comment goals? 
• Are there any other blog hops you regularly take part in?
• Did you discover anything interesting because of the Challenge? 
• Will you plan to do the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge in 2027, and why (or why not)?
• Will you recommend this blog hop to others?
• If RoadTrippers only visit one of your Challenge posts, which would you suggest and why? (This question is also the prompt if you create a RoadTrip post.)
• Do you plan to visit the A to Z site every month? 
• The site gets many hits, even in the off-season!
• Did you refer someone to hope to win a guest post spot?
• What else could the team offer you to persuade you to encourage others to join the challenge?
• The following WINNERS - please reach out atozteam@googlegroups.com (alternative: atozteam2018@gmail.com) : Lisa (ThisAndThat),Joyce (From This Side of the Pond), Timothy Stone (Coffee, Code, and Chronicles),Balaka Basu (Trina Looks Back), Josana (Tell Me Another)





2025 June to 2026 February view stats for the A to Z blog

April Blogging from A to Z Challenge 2027 SIGN-UP information:
March 29 - April 10

<a href="http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="#AtoZChallenge 2027" border="0" height="200" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvMeKIXWkTyYcDXnrrrCoN9Ryefb2isghp_sYanU0DoYK2DnGu9LDXsH8BbOlc1XxVU6n5e0HzDyOFft8WeiOei7ZYbbT2qbdobGSiTW_oMCUeygc8_ux5QHmLvYUC94_1VENVuRG53a1T0qyCm05pmHhGUAumbuQsgXib4WNqlCVccBS4Af-SpLdT604A/s320/1.jpg"/></a><br>April Blogging from A to Z Challenge 2027 SIGN-UP March 29 -April 10 <a href="http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/" target="_blank">a-to-zchallenge.com</a>
April Blogging from A to Z Challenge 2027 SIGN-UP March 29 -April 10 a-to-zchallenge.com

2027 Theme Reveal: March 15-20
2027 Reflections: May 3-8
2027 RoadTrip: Opens May 10

Winner Badge

<a href="http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/" Target="_blank"><img alt="WINNER badge #AtoZChallenge 2026" border="0" width="192" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTzN0SJhpLKNmwjbGQJ5Ytwr8IOUSK_AE6zXN8cubyqeRs2WXyPCCoO2BoLvKP-O1KlotcC9miDyb6B0uUXiK0H9b9842FoZYgJFn9L7b4X_ErI61wl-ySdC7ZX0-JrCRvvFGkWadKaakiW91YKNXniFW8tmxCIIUhyphenhyphenpUauIoX4PwfbEwFGwhO5ZRdXy2O/s320/atoz%202026%20winner%20badge.png"/></a>

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Roadtrip 2026

Opens May 11

Z is for Zeitgeber #AtoZChallenge

MASTER LIST

Z is for Zeitgeber

Our team theme this month is “Aspirations: Blogging hopes, dreams, and goals”.

Okay, so maybe I should have saved my "learning new words" post for Z (as opposed to V when I used it prior), but while I could have fumbled through a definition for Vivacious, I would not have been able to fumble through for zeitgeber, but I love what it represents:

zeitgeber (noun): an environmental agent or event (such as the occurrence of light or dark) that provides the stimulus setting or resetting a biological clock of an organism

When it comes to blogging, the A to Z Blog Challenge is my zeitgeber. It means it's time to dust off my blogging keys and get to work. It was the challenge that brought my blog into existence! It has been the one (and only) constant in my blogging world. I have posted over 1000 posts, and many of them have been A to Z related. But only about 1/4.

As we wrap up our A to Z Challenge month, think about what you want your blog to be like for the next 11 months? Are there other challenges you want to join? How often do you want to post? What will you post about? If you're a new blogger, these questions are critical to continuing your blog between now and the next time the zeitgeber of A to Z indicates that it's time to blog again. 

I was going to say new blogger, but you might notice that I crossed it out. I am not a new blogger. I've been at it for a literal decade. And yet... I find myself needing a reset from time to time. 

So new or experienced, remember to set your hopes, dreams, and goals for your blog, and thank you for joining the A to Z Challenge!

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Yearning #AtoZchallenge

MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/mu5vjy48

Our team theme this month is “Aspirations: Blogging hopes, dreams, and goals”.

Does your blog create a yearning for readers to return, hoping for more posts from you?

If not, do something about it! Share something to compel readers to return.

Are you yearning for the next A to Z Challenge? Did you do well this year? 

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X is for Xenodochial #AtoZChallenge2026

MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/mu5vjy48

Our team theme this month is “Aspirations: Blogging hopes, dreams, and goals”.

What does this word even mean?

It means "friendly to strangers". It is sort of an archaic word, of Greek origin, but in this case it fits the letter X, and our theme, very well. It refers to being welcoming to new arrivals, strangers, and visitors, and extending courtesy and trust to them. Which is essential in any community, online or offline. In the A to Z Challenge context, it can mean commenting on new blogs, encouraging new bloggers to join, sharing, commenting, helping others with practical advice. We might not know each other yet, online or offline, but welcoming new people into the community means that the blogosphere can not only survive, but thrive.

Find new bloggers in the challenge! Read Theme Reveal and A posts to see if they mention joining for the first time, or returning after a hiatus. Make sure you comment on their posts and support them. This challenge has been much larger in past years, and it is still a thriving community. Let's welcome everyone! :)

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W is for Wishes

MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/mu5vjy48

Our team theme this month is “Aspirations: Blogging hopes, dreams, and goals”.

I have a dream: No AI scraping my hard work to create AI generated generic slop that fills up the internet.

But we’ve moved past the moment where we could kill the Terminator to stop Skynet from taking over. Now we must adjust. Or stop.

My wish for blogging is that people will stop using AI to write their content for them. This isn’t a race. Blog because it’s fun; because it fills you with a sense of accomplishment; because you want to share your views with the world.

If you’re a slow writer, plan your content ahead. You can schedule your posts once you’ve written them. No need to rush.

What are your blogging wishes? Do you have dreams for your blog?

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Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge

V is for Vivacious #AtoZChallenge

MASTER LIST

V is for Vivacious

Our team theme this month is “Aspirations: Blogging hopes, dreams, and goals”.

One of the things I love about the A to Z Challenge is learning new words that start with some less common letters, like V or Z. I have certainly heard and probably used the word vivacious before, both in my writing and blogging life. But I never thought about exactly what the definition was, and indeed, if you asked me to define it, I would struggle. So I checked:

vivacious (adjective): lively in temper, conduct, or spirit: sprightly

I certainly know many people in my life who are vivacious, and I might even have been accused of being vivacious at points in my life. I think I'll try to use this particular word more in describing the characters I write about.

What has been the most fun word you've learned in your A to Z journey?

~Jayden

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Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge

Uplifting Blogging #AtoZChallenge

MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/mu5vjy48- There's still time to HOP to every blog! 📣

Our team theme this month is “Aspirations: Blogging hopes, dreams, and goals”.

Uplift yourself, your blog, and the blogging community! 

Empower your readers. Share how you have triumphed over challenges. Reflect on how a difficult situation became an opportunity for personal growth. 

When we achieve our goals, we transform our dreams into purpose and direction. This gives us a more satisfying life, increases self-esteem, and boosts confidence. It sets us up to conquer future challenges.

Spend time engaging with your fellow bloggers. (That's what blog hops like this are for!) Support your fellow bloggers by sharing links to their work with your followers. Strengthen the community by being welcoming and inclusive. Ensure bloggers feel emotionally safe in our community. Collaborate with fellow bloggers to bring readers together. 

What about blogging brings you the most joy? 

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Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge

Tomorrow! #atozchallenge

MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/mu5vjy48

Our team theme this month is “Aspirations: Blogging hopes, dreams, and goals”.

Tomorrow! When it comes to blogging, it always seems that we focus on what we'll be doing for tomorrow. As soon as we've put the finishing touches on today's post, it's time to start thinking about what tomorrow's post is about. No rest for the wicked, as they say.

At the same time, you really owe it to yourself to take the time to appreciate what you did for today. So, take a moment for that.

See you tomorrow...?

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Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge