Ada Z's A to Z Video

               What can you come up with?   Enlighten us.  Entertain us.  I think I see some cool ideas coming.

Thanks to Ada Z as in Zdanowicz.  That was excellent.  And if you didn't see Ron Easton's videos you can find them here or here.  Now we're looking for your video.

We're going to be having an A to Z Video Challenge.   For more info, please read Wednesday's post.





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Blogging A to Z?: A Word from the Other Side

         On January 6, 2012 Timothy Brannan from the blog The Other Side put forth a challenge to OSR/RPG bloggers (that's " Old-school Renascence /Role playing gamers) to consider doing the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge.   He presents valid reasons for doing the Challenge that would apply to all other bloggers as well.  This post is reprinted with Tim's permission.


Blogging A to Z?


Last year I proudly participated in the Blogging A to Z challenge in April.

I felt it was not only a good way to stretch my creative abilities but work on my writing and do a bit a cross blog-genre promotion.  My hits went up, and stayed up, drastically during and after April and I got my greatest surge of followers.

Well they are doing it again this year.

Artwork by Ada Zdanowicz

Though I am not sure I am going to do it this year yet or not.

Last year it worked out on many levels for me.  I recall thinking about the posts I had queued up and how they would fit the challenge.  When "Z" fell on a Saturday it clinched it for me.

Part of the purpose of the blogfest is to post every day.  I do that now anyway.

Keep in mind I am NOT saying participation is a bad idea, far from it in fact.

I actually suggest that we get MORE OSR/RPG bloggers participating to get our message out there.

The one thing we all talk about is getting more people involved in our hobby, we can't do that if the only people we talk to are already in our hobby.

Plus if you are selling a product you should participate just to attract more attention to you and your book or product.

If I do it this year then I need to do a theme or something, make it more challenging than last year.

Are you going to participate?  Why or why not?

Who's ready to accept Timothy Brannan's challenge?

Related articles

• Awesome Stuff and the Big Announcement! (alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com)
• Blogging from A to Z April Challenge-- 2012 Edition (tossingitout.blogspot.com)
• Blogging A to Z? from The Other Side blog (timbrannan.blogspot.com)
• Jeffrey Beesler Tells You What You Oughta Know About the A-Z Challenge (a-to-zchallenge.com)

video Challenge

         Once again we have a video contribution from Ron Easton who used to be Inside Out but now he's Dads UnLimited.   But what's this?   An advertisement promotion for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  How cool!

       After the first video, Ron and I started corresponding about this and started thinking about how we should put together some kind of video contest to see what you all could come up with video-wise.  Starting next Wednesday you can enter your 2 minute or less video We'll feature each one as they come in.  Come back next Wednesday for more details.

        Give us a visual surprise.  The video can be funny, dramatic, or instructive.  It can be a music video or something arty.   You could go for animation or special effects.  Your imagination's the limit.

        Contest will end in the middle of March.  More next Wednesday.

       So what do you think?  I've seen some pretty cool videos on some of your sites.  Any bloggers out there enjoy film making or visual arts?

 I asked our A to Z artist Ada Z to put together another sample promotional video.   Come back on Friday to see what Ada came up with.



 

Related articles

• A Unique Reflections Post from Ron Easton (a-to-zchallenge.com)
• Meet the A to Z Team for 2012 (a-to-zchallenge.com)

A Word from the Bird

          Whew!  Thought we'd take a breather today.   Have we been having great guests on the Challenge Blog or what?   We're going to try to keep daily posts on this site through the end of April.  If you'd like to submit something about the Challenge or writing or whatever else you think might be interesting, let me know.  There are still a lot of vacant days ahead and I don't want to write everything.

            I've got some great guest posts coming in the next couple of months.   Things are always being tossed about here so be sure to check this site for any new Challenge updates.

            Like another big debut on Friday if things go as planned.  But first we've got a big debut tomorrow.  If you saw the post this past Saturday on Inside Out which has just changed its blog name to Dads UnLimited, you might start to guess what's coming up.   We've got another A to Z video.  And we've got another announcement.   It's coming and you don't want to miss this.

             See you tomorrow.

Challenge update!!!  (see here's one already)

Our A to Z Team has been joined by Karen Jones Gowan of Coming Down the Mountain.  Karen was one of our co-hosts last year and has decided to join us for the 2012 event.  Be sure to stop by to visit Karen and join her blog if you are not already a follower.   We welcome Karen!

alexandra heep

        Alexandra Heep may be new to the A to Z Challenge in 2012, but she's got the right idea.  Here are some of her thoughts on Blogging from A to Z.




My experience has shown me that many people were bloggers first before becoming writers. With me, it was the opposite. Even then, I was only a sporadic blogger, until I participated in my first blogging challenge last October.

At first, I was hesitant because many people seemed like blogging pros with hundreds of followers, and they were authors, whereas I am a copywriter with a blog that is somewhere lost in space. I was not sure if I would fit in, but I was soon hooked. It was through that experience that I found out about the A - Z Blogging Challenge coming up in April 2012.

What appeals to me about a blogging challenge with a theme, like A - Z, is that it provides a framework for a mind that spills over with ideas. Since I have to write content for a living with sometimes ridiculous guidelines, I like that it provides just enough structure for self discipline, but otherwise encourages creativity.

Yes, I have my theme already picked out. It took me only a few minutes because the idea had already been in my head, but I had no idea how to make it work. The A - Z concept however makes perfect sense. What will the theme be? Oh, I won't kiss and tell - just yet.

Something else I have learned about blogging in general: I used to be afraid of becoming too personal and turning off readers. But, I achieved a lot of good feedback and some new followers. Also, the fun part about writing is that you get to read a lot of stuff too. I am amazed at the inner lives people lead and I feel less like an abnormality when I find my thought processes and daily struggles reflected in other people's words.

Alexandra Heep
from
www.aheepofeverything.blogspot.com

      Thanks Alexandra for this guest post.  You should have no problem with the Challenge and if people take your advice they should do fine as well.

Related articles

• Meet the A to Z Team for 2012 (a-to-zchallenge.com)
• Blogging from A to Z April Challenge-- 2012 Edition (tossingitout.blogspot.com)
• Awesome Stuff and the Big Announcement! (alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com)
• The Fantastic A to Z Ride: Observations by Shannon the Warrior Muse (a-to-zchallenge.com)
• We Interrupt This Program For A Very Special Announcement! (breakthroughblogs.blogspot.com)