First things first. I'd like to begin by thanking those individuals who made it happen.
That would be:
Arlee Bird's Tossing It Out
Jeffrey Beesler's World of the Scribe
Alex J. Cavanaugh Alex J. Cavanaugh
Jen Daiker's Unedited
Candace Ganger's The Misadventures in Candyland
Karen J Gowen at Coming Down the Mountain
Talli Roland
Stephen Tremp's Breakthrough Blogs
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
This challenge gave me an opportunity to meet many talented, wonderful, unique, and perhaps just a little crazy, authors, bloggers, writers, but all PEOPLE. (I think!)
Fairly new to the blogging world, I was amazed and delighted to find an entirely new world community...one I am still exploring.
Another round of applause goes to Elizabeth Mueller for designing the I Survived the 2011 A-Z Blogging Challenge award proudly displayed above. Lovely, isn't it?! And that zebra's laugh sort of sums up the fun of this challenge.
So. What did I learn? Lots. I learned to plan ahead, organize, be concise, focus. I also learned to play nice. Be social. PARTICIPATE more. Observing others is a natural for most authors, but taking part in an activity is not always a given. This challenge taught me to be more engaged. And engaging!
What was my favorite thing about the challenge? Meeting and interacting with strangers who quickly became friends. I also enjoyed getting a tiny glimpse into their little corners of the world, while they visited mine.
The cons?
Lack of time. There was just not enough hours in the day (or month) to make the rounds, read all the diverse posts, plus leave a comment. I was unable to visit every blog during the challenge. But I will. Eventually. I promise. Even if it takes me the entire summer...fall...and/or winter...I WILL!
What's your take on the challenge? Did it fulfill your expectations? Will you take part in the 2012 version? What was the best part about the challenge? What was your least favorite thing?
Click here for the complete list of A-Z Blogging Challenge Reflections.
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Are you an author? Do you have a recent release?
I'd love to interview you and talk about your book(s).
Email me: annekalbert AT gmail DOT com
& mention “AKA blog feature” in the heading.
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Pros: Met new blogger friends.
ReplyDeleteCons: Exhausted. Need a week off now.
I loved the challenge. I found it hard work, but really loved meeting fellow bloggers. Now following :)
ReplyDeletePros: great fun and fast paced
ReplyDeleteCon: lack of time (life happens)
congrats on making it through!!
Oh, Clarissa, thank you for saying the E word aloud! I'm done, too. I'm actually thinking of taking more than a week, but hey, more committments, more challenges, more blog tours and hops...WHAT was I thinking?! :-0
ReplyDeleteI agree, Rebecca, meeting fellow bloggers made it all worthwhile. (Btw, I'm following you!)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Baygirl. It's an absolute pleasure to read your posts. SO much better than the morning newspaper because you always bring a smile to my face. See?! :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on completing the challenge. I managed it too, but didn't get around to as many blogs as I would have liked, so I'm catching up now.
ReplyDeleteI have a book (contemporary romance)coming out in June, so would love an interview with you!
Congratulations on making it through and finishing the challenge.
ReplyDeleteWhat is my take on the challenge you ask? Well, it's all in my reflections post, of course! LOL
Yes, the challenge fulfilled my expectations, given that I did not have much of any when I started because it was my first time doing something like this. I expected that it would be a challenge and I expected that it would be fun. That was all and it met both expectations.
Yes, I will take part in the 2012 version if I am able unless I'm somewhere making a movie or at an event or if I'm still alive.
The best part about the challenge was meeting other bloggers who left comments on my blog.
My least favorite thing about the challenge was coming across blogs on the list that were not participating and had old posts up from like earlier this year.
The Madlab Post
Congrats on finishing!
ReplyDeleteIt was a great experience, my biggest challenge was sticking to my goal of contributing posts on two blogs for the month. At times I didn't think I'd make it, but I did - never again though! I'll go along with the least favourite aspect from Nicole above, finding business sites that used it as I guess free promotion, I'd like to black ban them. It's mean and detracts from others who put in a lot of work. Sue
ReplyDeleteHi, Anne,
ReplyDeleteWell at least I got to meet you know.... Yes, this was quite the challenge and you are correct in the cons... Just not enough time. I met wonderful bloggers too and I also wrote so great pieces of flash fiction. So it was an great experience overall.
Time was my enemy througout this challenge. Tiring, demanding and yet fun. Meet so many wonderful bloggers along the way. :)
ReplyDeletePro-See what words you were going to come up with each day. Meeting new bloggers and visiting some of their blogs.
ReplyDeleteCon-not being as creative as you were Anne.
Congratulations on completing the challenge. I too, didn't visit all 1200+ blogs, but am still working on that. Glad to finally meet you!
ReplyDeleteI made many new friends and stuck to my theme of featuring fellow bloggers. As a co-host, I really tried to visit all of the blogs on the list, but it just didn't happen. Glad you had a good time!
ReplyDeleteLovely reflections and so nice to meet you :) I am determined to make it through the entire reflections list and am noodling an idea about how to feature favs.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your A to Z and for your FAB blog :)
Cheers :)
Congrats on making it through the challenge. I Like the look of your blog and look forward to following:)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on finishing the A-Z Challenge!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you with the lack of time--that was basically my only problem with the challenge. There were just so many people to visit and I had to write many of my posts the day they were set to go up.
+1 follower from blog hop, cool blog
ReplyDeleteHi all, just wanted to pop in and say I have not abandoned anyone, but LIFE just sort of got in the way this past week.
ReplyDeleteI'm taking off a minimum of a few days to try to sort it out. (Fingers crossed.)
HOWEVER, as May and the summer progresses, I'll return to continue making the rounds in the A-Z Challenge, read the posts I missed, as well as congratulate you on your achievements! So bear with me...I WILL return!
Meeting new friends was the best part. Sadly, I felt like you that time was not there to visit everyone especially since I am a harried rare blood courier. Have a great end of week, Roland
ReplyDeleteIf I had to make a decision right now to participate again, it would be no, even though I was enormously successful in terms of followers and commenters. I am just exhausted. But ask me next year, and it will be a resounding yes. I loved meeting so many lovely, creative, wonderful bloggers, like you.
ReplyDeleteKaren
I think that if I was going to do the A-Z next year I'd start now with getting the blogs together. Then as I go along put a polish to them.
ReplyDeleteThat way it would be much less time consuming and maybe more fun.
It certainly was amazing to me to read and learn about so many things I never knew I was interested in before.
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to meet you even if it is a bit late I am enjoying reading through all of you post. It is actually nice to be reading at a relaxed pace:)
And I'd say you reaped ALL of the benefits of participating in the Challenge! Glad to hear you enjoyed it so much.
ReplyDeleteYour Reflections post is a joy to hear! You found all the good things that we hoped participants would gain from this. I think it's primarily a matter of attitude. You went in positive and pushed through with a good attitude.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations for finishing and thanks for being a part of the Challenge.
Lee
Tossing It Out
Anne, may be on your return you'll read this comment. I didn't meet you during the Challenge but am able to blog-hop now, so here I am to say "Hi" and read some of your posts.
ReplyDeleteCongrats for finishing!
Grandpa
Life on The Farm
Good for you! This can't be easy to do...but it does sound fun.
ReplyDeleteI didn't get around to all of them either. Darn near impossible, if you ask me. But as I participate in the post-challenge-challenge, I'm making good progress. What am I talking about? Shannon @ The Warrior Muse and I are joining forces in another challenge. We're going to visit and comment at each of the participants, starting with the reflections post. We hope you'll join us!
ReplyDeleteTina @ Life is Good
P.S We've got Alex J. on board, and possibly Arlee. Hoping to advertise at Tossing it Out.