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

Meet Your Co-Hosts – Mini-Alex Introduces Ninja Captain Alex #atozchallenge

Mini-Alex here!

I’m to give you the inside scoop on A to Z Challenge Co-Host, Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh.

Why me? Because I’m not afraid of the spotlight. Alex likes his privacy and stays in the shadows. I guess Ninjas aren’t supposed to be seen, right?

So it’s up to me to tell you about him!

Alex started blogging over four years ago when his publisher told him to get his butt online. He participated in the very first Challenge in 2010 and has been a co-host ever since. Says that first Challenge changing his blog forever.

Alex is also the founder of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. IWSG for short. Writers with blogs post the first Wednesday of every month. They can also join the Facebook IWSG. There’s also a IWSG Website - a database of sites and information for insecure writers. About a thousand people participate one way or another. (Writers are an insecure, squirrely bunch, aren’t they?)

I mentioned his publisher earlier. Yeah, Alex is an author. He has a space opera trilogy - CassaStar, CassaFire, and CassaStorm. They’re all Amazon Best Sellers. (Not sure how when I’m not in any of the stories, but we’ll let that slide.) He’s working on another book now. And to think he didn’t even want to be an author!

That’s probably because he’s also a musician. Alex plays guitar in a Christian rock band. He has a lot of guitars, but none are as cool as mine.

If you visit his blog, you’ll discover he likes to talk about movies, music, games, and other geek stuff. Alex also has a feature called the Ninja News where he highlights the achievements of his blogger buddies. He’d rather put the spotlight on others than himself.

And sorry Ninja SAM, he’s also married.



There you have it!

Now, where’s that Mini-Kate you promised?



You can find Alex: Blog, Twitter, Goodreads, Google+, and at the Insecure Writer’s Support Group.

Want to Grow your #Blog via the #AtoZChallenge ?

Today we have Mary Wallace talking to us about how A to Z April Blogging Challenge helped her blog, and what an  A to Z  first timer can do to reap benefits from the challenge!
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When I first started blogging, I did so with a very specific purpose in mind, which lasted about five minutes. I started blogging, because at the time, I was homeless and thought that I had GREAT and IMPORTANT things to say about that. It turns out I didn’t; or at least not in any way that was interesting. So, I told stories and the stories turned out to be pretty damned amusing at times. Last year, in 2013, I found the A-to-Z Challenge and really enjoyed it—it helped me focus on my blog.

There are a few things about the A to Z Challenge that sets it apart from others, and I believe they help immensely in “growing” your audience, or at least offering the opportunity to do so:

• The challenge is a month long and requires precisely 28 posts. The posts should be short and punchy (Or not, if your niche audience is happy with long posts). They can be funny, lyrical, whatever.
• You can pick a “theme” (Join the A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal if you do), or not.   
•  By participating, you’ll meet people from all over the world with so many different interests and varied cultures and it will give you a chance to learn and share with your new friends!
• By meeting new people and interacting, they will be sure to spread the word about your blog: Don’t forget to use Twitter, G + and Facebook!
• If you are new to blogging, this is THE PERFECT CHALLENGE because the rules are short and sweet and there are scads and scads of people to help you along the way!
• Here are a few posts that will make it easy for you to do the challenge once you sign up:

1. Reading the A to Z Challenge FAQ post by Nicole Ayers
2.  Oodles of Ideas for Finding Your AZwords by Tina Downey
3.  Make Commenting Easy by Alex J Cavanaugh
4. Pre-schedule Your Posts by Damyanti Biswas
5.  Ace the Challenge through Social Media by Vidya Sury
6. How to get more Followers for your blog by Arlee Bird 
7. Get your Google Profile Right by MJ Joachim 
8. Make Lasting Blog Relationships through A to Z Challenge by Guilie Castillo Oriard 
9.  Don't get busted by the Photo police by Pam Margolis
10. The Dreaded conversation about CAPTCHA by MJ Joachim
11.  10 Tips to Ace the A to Z Challenge by Damyanti Biswas
12. How to Hyper Blog like a Pro by Nicole Ayers

So, there you have it! There is no reason NOT to sign up for this challenge. I had so much fun last year and made many new friends. I am a bit different in that I am “retired” which is a polite word for disabled and I do not blog to make money, but I associate myself with the very best in the business, as I did when I worked.

The co-hosts set high standards and this is a chance to prove to yourself that yes, you can blog from A to Z and write wonderful posts and have fun doing so!
 
Have you joined the A to Z April Blogging Challenge yet?

Have questions? The first ever Twitter chat for Blogging from A to Z April Challenge will happen today, 28 February, at 6PM EST on the hashtag #AZchat. Come chat with us, exchange A to Z challenge tips and tricks, ask questions of A to Z challenge veterans and co-hosts. See you on Twitter this evening!