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?

AJ's "About Me"

Scene: A coffee shop back room, patrons buzzing with excitement and caffeine. Non-descript indie rock music is heard coming through the door to the front of the shop. A microphone in front of a slightly ratty armchair on a small 'stage' and an author/blogger stands to the side, wringing her hands with discomfort at the thought of 'introducing herself' to a room full of people. The coffee shop manager welcomes everyone and the author sinks down into the chair...

"Hi everyone! Thanks so much for coming today! I've never thought it was fair that the intro person just has to say your name and then leaves you all alone on the stage. I mean, us writing types like the written word, which generally means long hours alone tip-tapping at a laptop, and does not mean standing on stage in front of a room full of people who expect us to say brilliant things because they like what we wrote, which really is an unfair expectation because written words can be crafted and fixed after they come out of your brain and spoken ones cannot.

...But anyway.. I'm here and have already started rambling, so I should probably get to it. My name is AJ Lauer. I blog at Naturally Sweet and am very excited to be a co-host for this year's A-Z Challenge! I'm so happy I stumbled upon the Challenge in 2012 as it's been one of the most fun writing-related things that I do every year. Welcome to the Challenge, everyone :)

Me and Dan at a book signing.
Dan's the one with the beard :)

Last spring I published my first book, Armageddon: Pick Your Plot with my good friend Dan. Pick Your Plot books are interactive fiction, which means that you, the reader, get to decide where the story goes. Fun, huh? Armageddon explores end-world prophecies and has 42 story endings - you die in 33 of them. Hey, it says Armageddon! What did you expect? For a taste of it, try out this blog post from last year's Challenge. We are currently finishing a second book called Sky Pirates: Pick Your Plot which will come out this year.

If I'm not writing (or at my "real job") I'm usually outside gardening, hiking or running. I have the great fortune of living in a beautiful state where it's not too hard to get to scenery like this:

Near Lake Bierstadt, while snowshoeing this weekend.

You guys asked some great questions, so I'm going to answer a couple of them and then leave you to your caffeinated beverages!

"What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Cone or cup? Sprinkles or hot fudge sauce?" from Tracy Bermeo, A2Z Mommy

I pretty much love all kinds of icecream. I grew up in Wisconsin, so am partial to frozen custard but really it can be any flavor, in a cup. Definitely hot fudge rather than sprinkles though. And yes I'd like whipped cream and a maraschino cherry, please!

"Would you EVER tell anyone your darkest secret?" from Susan Scott

Yes, absolutely. But not here ;) Our secrets are part of what makes us who we are, so if you really want someone to understand you, eventually you have to share even the deepest and darkest.

"What brought you to blogging and how did you find yourself doing the A-Z?" from Hilary Melton-Butcher
I started blogging in college as a way to keep in touch with my friends from home, and also as a catch-all for random bits of story and poetry that came to mind. A lot of crazy stuff happened in those first couple years so it was an important outlet and place to process. So far as the Challenge goes... In the spring of 2012 I had a terrible cold and after a couple days of lazing on the couch was bored out of my mind, so I challenged an English Professor friend to a writing duel that involved writing every day for a month. That was a great experience so I looked for a way to do something similar with my blog and found A-Z! And the rest, as they say, is history.

And I think that's enough from me. Thanks so much for coming by today! It was lovely to meet you all and if you have more questions feel free to ask them in the comments section or stop by for a visit!"

Polite applause. Blogger scoops herself carefully up out of the armchair, turns off the microphone and walks off stage. Coffee shop manager beams and offers water. Patrons go back to their reading, work and friends. End scene.

A to Z Tips – Making Friends and Building Relationships #atozchallenge

The first A to Z was a challenge to post the alphabet every day for a month with Sundays off for good behavior.

Yet by the end of April, it had become so much more.

It was becoming a part of a larger community. It was about connecting and making new friends. And it was keeping those friends long after the Challenge ended.

How do you make new friends through the Challenge?

Visit new blogs. Start with the one on the list after yours and move toward the end.

Comment on other blogs. Let them know you read and enjoyed what they posted. These small exchanges build friendships.

Follow new blogs. Following a blog shows commitment. If possible, do more than add the link to your Feedly or Bloglovin’. Follow in ways the blog owner can see, such as Google Friends Connect, Linky Followers, Google+, etc.

Make it easy for people to comment on your blog. Dump the word verification! (You can set to no anonymous comments or even blog owner approval if necessary.) Most people won’t bother to comment if they see word verification, especially during the Challenge. And be aware that if you’re using Google+ comments or are part of a network like Tumblr, you will get fewer comments.

Make it easy for people to follow your blog. Have the follow widgets up high so people can find them.

Return comments and follows. Nothing is more discouraging than a one-sided relationship. (Yes, it does get crazy during the Challenge, but do your best to visit those who visit you.)

Be open to blogs outside of your ‘genre.’ Variety is the spice of life and you’ll learn by exposing yourself to new things.

When the Challenge ends, you’ll discover you’ve really connected with some new bloggers. Continue to visit them and build friendships.

Some of my best blogger buddies have come from the past four Challenges. I hope you find some really great friends as well!


Co-host Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh is the author of Amazon Best Sellers CassaStar, CassaFire, and CassaStorm. He is the founder of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group and his blog can be found HERE