Master List Sign Ups

Your choice of badges for showing off your A to Z pride!

Click here to sign up for the A to Z Challenge! Sign ups are open until April 1. Check out our instructional video below or our written instructions. 

The best part about our new list is that you can SORT and FILTER it! (So there's no need to worry if you're not at the top of the list). 

The Master List sign up is how participants officially register to join the A to Z challenge 2018.

Daily lists, Theme Reveal, and social media comment link-ups are encouraged but not required.
The daily list sign ups will be made available early for those who are confident in their ability to pre-determine their posts' direct links.

The Master List sign up is now:

CLOSED

Categories -- check out that post for information on categories. The MASTER LIST category question is the category of your blog itself. (For whichever category you'd like your blog to be known.)
What the A to Z Challenge Means by THEME

Click here to see the list of all participants! For information on how to use the Google Sheet list, see our instructional video below or our written instructions.

And don't forget to check out the Theme Reveal on Monday the 19 of March.

Plus, there's Idea Donations day on March 13.

Robots Have Not Won Yet

Thank you to everyone who took part in the pre-challenge survey! While the results are being tabulated, please enjoy this comic. Consider it your yearly reminder request to deactivate CAPTCHA for the duration of the challenge.

SIGN-UPS WILL BEGIN TOMORROW!

Categories #AtoZChallenge

On MONDAY you'll be able to sign up for the A to Z Challenge 2018.

You have your choice of the newer, friendlier logo badge, or the traditional logo badge for showing your challenge pride on your blog. (Or you can use both!)



The sign up form is easy to use. (It's much the same as the pre-challenge survey.) There will also be daily letter forms, which will be OPTIONAL, that will look like the master list form (except with less information). The daily forms will produce a list for each letter that won't have broken links or blogs of people who stopped participating. The REQUIRED Master List Sign Up Form will produce a Master List of all participants. However, that list will NOT be edited, so some participants may drop out, but will remain on the list. Details on how you can access this information will be coming soon!

THE MASTER LIST SIGN UP IS A REQUIREMENT.

That's how we'll know who is participating.

On the MASTER LIST, you indicate the category of your BLOG.

The optional Daily Letter forms will allow you to choose the category of your individual posts.
The optional Theme Reveal will let you pick the category of your theme.

So what are the categories?

Categories:

• Animals
• Art (reviews, creations, painting, sculpture, print, drawings)
• Author/Writing (craft of writing, stories, memoirs, publishing, literature, poetry) -- MASTER LIST
• Author/Writing (craft of writing, publishing) --Daily/ Theme
• Author/Writing (fanfiction) --Daily/ Theme
• Author/Writing (fiction including short stories and flash fiction)--Daily/ Theme
• Author/Writing (literature discussion/critique)--Daily/ Theme
• Author/Writing (non-fiction including memoirs)--Daily/ Theme
• Author/Writing (poetry)--Daily/ Theme
• Author/Writing (other)--Daily/ Theme
• Automotive and Transportation
• Books (reviews, recommendations)
• Crafts (DIY, ceramics, textile, flowers, leatherwork, needlework, paperwork, jewelry, etc.)
• Culinary (food, drink)
• Education
• Entertainment (reviews and critiques on performing arts: film, TV, theater, dance, music)
• Gaming (video, RPG, tabletop, board, etc.)
• Genealogy
• Health
• History
• Home Decor/Decorating
• Humor (jokes, comics, etc.)
• Lifestyle and Social
• Motivational
• Mythology and Folklore
• Nature/Outdoors
• Parenting/Family
• Personal (journal, diary, musings)
• Photography and Videography
• Political and News
• Sciences
• Spirituality and Religion
• Sports/Fitness
• Travel
• Other and Miscellaneous
• Prefer not to say/Don’t know

Did you look at the last one? That's right! If you don't want to reveal which category you're using, YOU DON'T HAVE TO! "Prefer not to say/Don’t know" exists so that categories are still optional, not mandatory. We want the challenge to be FUN for everyone.

Please spread the word about the #AtoZchallenge!

What the A to Z Challenge Means by THEME

Sign-ups open on MONDAY. (Check when GMT midnight is for you.)

Jayden has been collecting data from the survey. Overwhelming numbers of you agree that having a master list (with all the blogs and lots of information) is imperative, and a fair majority of you are looking forward to also having daily letter lists. We're working hard to make sure 2018 is the best A to Z Challenge yet! 

The questions most asked are "What do you mean by theme?" and "Do I have to have a theme?"

1)     THEMES ARE NOT MANDATORY.

Themes are really fun. They sometimes make the challenge easier. They intrigue audiences. But it's YOUR blog and YOU can do what YOU want. 😊

2)     The difference between a THEME and a CATEGORY:

A category is the TYPE of blog you have (master list), or the type of post you've made (daily letter lists).

A theme is what ties your A to Z 2018 posts together, other than the alphabet.

THEMES ARE NOT MANDATORY. (Wait, really? Yes. Really. 😆😊 ) You could have A for animals and B for baseball and C for coffee -- no theme at all, no ties between your posts except for the alphabet. People have done it. You could cover one category for each letter if that makes you happy.

OR, if you want to have a theme:

"Automotive and Transportation" might be your category. Ford models might be your theme.

"Animals" might be your category. Dogs might be your theme.

You could have a "Personal" blog where you journal (master list category), but use the mythology category for your daily letter lists, with a theme of the mythology of the Hittite. 

(Guess what? You're not required to use the daily letter lists! That's optional too, just like themes.)

3)     A THEME is what the author of the blog hopes the reader will learn about or become interested in.

I know this will shock you, but themes aren't required! (Louder, for the people in the back.) They are, however, really fun. 😸😵

4)     The OPTIONAL theme entry on the master list form is a short description of the theme of your blog's 26 posts.

The THEME REVEAL is a longer post on your blog detailing what your theme is about. It gets the audience excited about your April posts. It's your chance to draw people to your blog sooner.

PARTICIPATING IN THE THEME REVEAL IS OPTIONAL BECAUSE THEMES ARE NOT MANDATORY. (Promise. 😇😘😁)

We hope that clears this up for you.

#AtoZchallenge rocks!

Are you no longer seeing our Facebook posts

Missing posts from the Blogging from A to Z challenge in your Facebook newsfeed? Due to a recent update, you may need to adjust your settings.



On DESKTOP:
Click on FOLLOWING, in your newsfeed should be marked as SEE FIRST. Notifications ON. If you click the "pencil" icon, you can check that it's set to "STANDARD" (up to 5 posts a day).

On MOBILE:
Hold click on FOLLOWING. In your newsfeed should have SEE FIRST highlighted. Get notifications should be slid ON. If you click the > arrow, you can check that it's set to "STANDARD" (up to 5 posts a day).

The good news is that Facebook will remember your choice across devices, so you need only to do this once this year.

2018 Pre-Challenge Blogging from A to Z Survey #AtoZchallenge

Jayden, our new co-host, has crafted this poll to help our 2018 challenge be a huge success. It can't happen without you.

Please take a minute to fill this out. (It doesn't matter if you've been with us since 2010 or if 2018 will be your first time-- we want YOUR ANSWERS!)

As a bonus, there's a special prize pack for one lucky random winner!
Any A to Z participant who completes the survey and publically shares this post is eligible to win.
Closes March 3, 2018.

Disney's "Frozen" executive trio stationery set (leather journal, writing utensils, light keychain), Thor: Ragnarok coin, keychain (nail clipper, bottle opener, logo of 2018 Superbowl champions-- the Philadelphia Eagles), Minion Dave sticker, "Party Rd" Pennsylvania Amish country novelty road sign, 5 postcards (Pennsylvania state images, Pennsylvania Dutch direction sign, Pennsylvania Amish horse and buggy Intercourse picture, Whoopie Pie recipe, Shoofly Pie recipe), and "Be Insta Famous" social media journal.

(Estimated value= $50 US)

Important Upcoming Dates:

• Pre-Challenge Survey Closes   ---  March 3, 2018
• A to Z Challenge Sign Up   ---  March 5, 2018 
• Theme Reveal   ---  March 19, 2018
• "A" post   ---  April 1, 2018 (No fooling! 😁 )
•  After Challenge Survey  ---  May 3, 2018
• Reflections  ---  May 7, 2018

Mark your calendars. 📅 

Survey link: https://goo.gl/forms/jXMnJKkwrdUt3y0o1

Don't forget to SHARE THIS POST!

Tick, Tick, Tick...

Did you know that this year's April Challenge will be the 9th annual go at this thing?

The A to Z Team is getting ready and so are a lot of you.

New posts on this site are coming your way.   

What do you want to know?  Tell us in the comment section below...

The A to Z Blog Is Stirring!

It looks like we've gotten our blog domain issues fixed and previously existing links should be working fine.

Things are happening!

April is coming!

Get ready for the 9th annual April Challenge!

Watch for more information in an upcoming post as well as updates to the blog for 2018.

SEE YOU SOON!!!!!