April Blogging from A to Z Challenge

Thursday, August 20, 2026

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

Monday, May 11, 2026

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:

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

Monday, May 4, 2026

#AtoZChallenge 2026 Reflections

Reflections

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

Reflecions 2026 #AtoZChallenge

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

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