4.01.2013

#AtoZChallenge Kicks Off TODAY! AND Happy Birthday .@ArleeBird !!

It's April, and that means ... A to Z Challenge month in the blogosphere! Don't know what the A to Z Challenge is? It is an opportunity to network with fellow bloggers and populate your blog with amazing content during a marathon (26 posts) through the alphabet during the month of April. Check it out here. If you read this before 10 p.m. EST on April 1, 2013, you can even sign up to join me! If you miss 2013,keep tabs on the sign-up sheet for next year!

And ... even if you don't sign up, there is one way for you to participate on my blog. I am recruiting for a G guest post. Topic can be on anything writing prompt related - you don't even need to focus it on G. The post will go live on April 8, so if you are interested, get in touch with me ASAP at alanagwrites(at)gmail(dot)com.

This is the 4th (or was it 5th by now??) year of the challenge, and my 3rd year participating. (Hence 3.1) The first year I slid through the finish line blogging, exhausted but very excited about the connections I made. However, I probably only visited about 150 blogs on the list. The second year I was smarter about posts - I prescheduled several - but I was waylaid midway with my own posts thanks to a few ill-timed vacations. But, I made it through closer to 700 blogs for a visit! This year, I'm hoping to meet that magical place where I make it through the month and do a great job at supporting the other blogs, while still performing well at my "day jobs" of parenting and journalism. 

I am honored to be a part of Arlee Bird's A to Z Challenge Ambassadors, so about 150-200 of you (depending on the final number of sign-ups) can consider me your personal cheerleader, as I visit and comment and cheer you on at least a couple of times this month. The rest of you may receive sporadic visits from me during the month (more if you comment on my posts!!) but I will try to make it through the entire list for at least one hello before 2013 is behind us.

Arlee Bird is the founder of A to Z Challenge, and a blog marketing guru. He handles 4 blogs of his own, and still makes it a point to visit several blogs a day and assemble a massive team of co-hosts and ambassadors for A to Z. He is particularly wonderful when it comes to encouraging new bloggers, so if you're new to the world of blogging, I highly recommend you pay Lee a visit at Tossing It Out. Comment on his page and let him know you are new, and I can almost guarantee he will reciprocate with a thoughtful visit within a couple of days!

Rumor has it, today is Lee's birthday! 

So, before we get on with today's writercize, would you join me in singing Happy Birthday to Lee, loud and clear?

Ahem .....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ARLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

Thank you for offering support and inspiration 
to so many bloggers around the world!!

Now, you can check out my A post on the Author Bio separately.

11 comments:

  1. And ... it was just a rumor! Ah well, I've been April fooled. Lee, still the same sentiment - come pick it up whenever it truly is your birthday. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've gotten up through 1000 on the blog list before the challenge started and bookmarked the ones I was definitely interested in coming back to. I'd like to visit all and will probably end up added another 25 or so my reading list but I'm selective. I think we have to be because otherwise it can get fairly overwhelming.

    Looking forward to seeing the rest of your posts.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great "A" post ......and it wasn't even Arlee's birthday but I'm sure he appreciated the thought.

    Yvonne.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks, Alana, and all of the Ambassadors who do so much to make this happen. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lee has started off something truly special.

    Damyanti @Daily(w)rite
    Co-host, A to Z Challenge 2013

    Twitter: @AprilA2Z
    #atozchallenge

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hahahahaha! Glad I didn't come here yesterday or I might have fallen for it.

    There are so many bloggers participating! I want to visit them all but I'm afraid I wouldn't get any actual blogging done. Good luck ambassadoring!

    ReplyDelete
  7. The birthday rumor was quite the April Fool's joke. A lot of people fell for it. Maybe I'll need to change my birthday now!

    Thanks for all your help, Alana.

    Lee
    Wrote By Rote
    An A to Z Co-host blog

    ReplyDelete
  8. Good to see 3.1 idea. This is my second year in the blogging challenge. Good to see this blog also which promises help to writers.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wowsers - I'm so impressed you're going to get through all the blogs at least once! I did A-Z last year (but on a private blog) and did as you have suggested pre-scheduling some, which definitely helps!

    I wish it was Z-A though...Z, X, V, especially were all hard and creativity seems harder later in the month. Ha! Q I actually have too many ideas for...and U I think I've got a few ideas for, but darn if V, X, and Z aren't already stressing me out!

    I'm visiting blogs, but I'm not sure I can get anywhere near through all of them, but we'll see how my health does and if I can even get through my own all month!

    But really, I wanted to say I look forward to reading your blog and your various ideas/exercises during your 'normal' blogging, too! Your blog title alone captured my interest from the A-Z list!

    ReplyDelete
  10. happy belated b'day to Arlee! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Breezing thru on the A-Z, stopping by to say hi!

    ReplyDelete

I love reading your feedback and your writercize results! Please feel free to leave your website address at the end of your comment. I will delete spam, but welcome writers and bloggers to share their sites with the writercize community.