Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Sign-Up For the Blogging From A-Z Challenge, April 2013


READ ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE SIGNING UP.  THERE HAVE BEEN CHANGES MADE DUE TO YOUR FEEDBACK FROM LAST YEAR AND YOU HAVE ONE SHOT TO FOLLOW THE NEW DIRECTIONS.  THE LIST WILL SIMPLY BE TOO LONG FOR US TO FIX THE MISTAKES THAT WILL HAPPEN IF YOU DON'T READ ABOUT THE CODES.  DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION?  SORRY FOR SHOUTING, JUST IT'S BEEN A ZOO...AND I DON'T WANT YOU TO MISS OUT.

Are you a blogger? Do you want to build your blog audience, find new blogs to follow? This opportunity is your best chance!

Today we begin the sign-ups for the Blogging From A-Z  Challenge April 2013!

As a quick summary in case you've been offline for four years... this challenge was started by Arlee Bird of Tossing it Out. He was celebrating a milestone on his blog, and thought that this challenge might be a fun way to do so. This is the fourth year, and the hundred or so participant list from 2010 grows by leaps and bound each year. Last year over 1700 participated!


Rules are simple. On April 1st, post about something that starts with the letter A. On the 2nd, something on B, and so on. You get Sundays offt. Whatever style blog you have, this is a challenge you can do! Some freestyle it (like I did my first year) some go with a theme (a lot of folks did that, and I tried that last year - much easier, so I'm theme-ing it again this year). Whatever your style, you'll fit in fine. So sign-up on the linky below, grab the badge from my side-bar, check out the other co-hosts and follow them (also in sidebar) and start planning! April will be here before you know it!

One more thing, don't freak out about having to visit everyone. All we ask is that you visit five new blogs a day, starting with the one after yours on the list. Five! That's totally doable, and by the end of the month, you'll have met at least 150 new blogs!  Of course, the more you visit, the more traffic you'll get, so challenge yourself.  Set a goal of what you can reasonably do and then go for it!

I'm not going to go into more details here, because The Challenge has its own blog chock-full of info. Lots of tabs. Answers to all your questions. It's HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you follow Blogging From A-Z Challenge April 2013and read all the posts. Following by email is a sure way not to miss a thing!

Between now and April we will have tips and hints, introductions to your co-hosts, and lots of other good stuff to get you ready for the marathon in April! 

Due to feed back from previous years' participants, this year you have the OPTION of adding a category to your blog from the following list.  LET ME STRESS OPTION.  For example, I'm a writer, but I don't write about writing, I just write.  At Life is Good you'll find poems, embarrassing stories, Swedish lessons (that was last year's challenge), memoirs, fiction, fictional poetry..it's me practicing writing.  You never know what you're going to get...

That's also how I like to approach visiting new blogs.  Where in the world will I land?  However, that's me, not you.  This challenge is all about you doing your thing on your blog.  we offer guidelines.  The only hard and fast rule is that if your blog contains adult content code (AC) then you are REQUIRED to categorize yourself as such.

IF you're going to pick a category, choose wisely.  Once it's up there, there's no changing it.  Put it in CAPITAL LETTERS, IN PARENTHESES just like in this list. Or go nude, like a good Swede.  No category.  See who shows up...



1. WRITING :(WR)
2. BOOKS:(BO)
3. FILM :(FM)
4. PHOTOGRAPHY:(PH)
5. GARDENING:(GR)
6. CRAFT:(CR)
7. ART:(AR)
8. MUSIC:(MU)
9. CULINARY :(CU)
10. LIFESTYLE:(LI)
11. FASHION:(FA)
12. PERSONAL:(PR)
13. SOCIAL MEDIA:(SO)
14. GAMING:(GA)
15. EDUCATION :(ED)
16. POLITICS:(PO)
17. HISTORY:(HI)
18. SCIENCE :(SC)
19. HUMOR:(HU)
20. TRAVEL:(TR)
21. MISCELLANEOUS: (MI)
22. ADULT CONTENT:(AC)

So without further ado, I give you the sign-up list!  wHICH IS NOW FOUND UNDER THE TAB ABOVE LABELED AS SUCH.

25 comments:

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Tina .. good post and I'm sort of glad there are categories - though my blog really falls out of any niche .. but the categories might save me a bit of time with some of the blogs - that I'm not interested in.

I'm going to wait a few days and sign up anon ... so I'm somewhere down the line - rather than at the beginning of the list .. mind you the list is 148 already!

Have a good week - and thanks so much for helping organise .. Hilary

Linda King said...

Ooh, tossing up - do I have the time this year or not? I keep saying I'm going to write my novel and the more blogging I do when I get home from work, the less likely that becomes! Will think about it! I like the idea of the categories, but I think I might go nude if I join!

Tina said...

Practicing hyperlink signature

Tina @ Life is Good

Tina said...

Tina @ Life is Good
Co-host, April 2013 A-Z Challenge
@TinaLifeisGood, #atozchallenge

Jeremy [Retro] said...

All smiles...

Jeremy [Retro]
AtoZ Challenge Co-Host
Oh No, Let's Go... Crazy

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

And we are off to a great start!!

Brian Miller said...

seems pretty straight forward....and looks like a healthy group already lining up at the door as well....good stuff tina

Jolie du Pre said...

Thanks for the explanation. I've always been an A to Z cheerleader. Also, I'm an optimist and not a whiner. However, I believe the categories are too broad. Therefore, I've chosen the option of not giving my blog a category, because there is no category that fits it.

Timothy S. Brannan said...

I think the categories are a great idea too.

There were so many last year but I visited every single blog.

I have one blog signed up and ready to go, I might sign up one of my others. I did two blogs last year and it was great!

Tim
The Other Side

JoJo said...

Can we add to more than one category? As you know my blog is really eclectic and fits into a couple of categories. :)

Anonymous said...

Looking forward to it :)

Tyrean Martinson said...

Signed up and ready to go! Thanks or hosting!

shelly said...

I'll be visiting but not posting. Not this year.

Hugs and chocolate,
Shelly

Chancelet said...

This just sounds like so much fun. I trolling to thank all of you co-hosts for taking control of this mighty blog hop.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Haha, I like it; I'm going nude.

Shannon at The Warrior Muse

Deanna said...

This is my first time here. What a nice blog! I'm looking forward to the challenge. Thank you for hosting!

Arlee Bird said...

Yay, Tina!

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

Laura Clipson said...

I'm all signed up, can't wait :)

LuAnn @ BackPorchervations said...

Wow...numbers are up to 400 as of 11:55 am ET 1/31!

Empty Nest Insider said...

Glad you're co-hosting again this year Tina! I can't believe the list is already up to 434!
Julie

J.L. Campbell said...

All signed up and getting ready to go!

Bill Somogyi said...

This looks like a lot of fun, I'm already thinking about some of the letters. Hmm! Need to come up with a story about umbrellas.

Images by Bil of the 60's and 70's

Marcie said...

I just signed up, though I have not yet decided if I go with a theme this year...we'll see :)

Judy Bengal said...

This is my first time doing the challenge - looking forward to it!

http://judybengal.blogspot.com/

Philip Verghese 'Ariel' said...

Hi Tina,
Somehow I missed this informative page, the intro to the blog challenge page. i want to link this page from my blog, so that my visitors too get a little more exposure. Keep inform
Best
Phil