Friday, May 3, 2013

A to Z-view


If anyone ever tries to convince you I'm clever, you just point them at this title and nod—you know better.

First off, I want to throw out a HUGE thanks to

Gratuitous Llama Picture
Lee (Arlee Bird at Tossing it Out)
Alex Cavanaugh
Damyanti
Tina Downey
DL Hammons
Jeremy Hawkins
Shannon Lawrence
Matthew MacNish
Konstanz Silverbow
Stephen Tremp
Livia Peterson
L. Diane Wolfe
and Nicole

These guys did a GREAT job! Compared to past years I ran across far fewer spammish, outdated or non-participating blog. I only hit a couple where people hadn't jumped in and then a couple more where people got a few days behind. Compared to past years, it was REALLY minimal, so I know these guys were working HARD! THANK YOU!!!

I think, too, the labels worked where they were there—I was one of the guilty folks who signed up without reading the instructions, but it was helpful to know what I was in for. I didn't use it to screen per se, though I DID use it in conjunction with blog length—if it was LONG and on a subject I don't have much interest in (gaming... and I think I did it once for a crafty thing) then I screened just a little. I like to get to know a variety of people.

So overall, I think it was run REALLY WELL this year.


As for MY Report Card...

That is more a mixed bag. I had a couple successes:

I FINISHED
I have several new followers (not quite 20, but close)
I made a pretty good effort at visiting everyone who visited me
I made some new friends I plan to visit regularly

Where I fell down though, is where life got busy... book promo prep, the SWAMPED day job, family crises... I started strong on the visiting, but by the end, I was barely keeping up with visitors, let alone getting to others on the list. I think I got through 300 from the list, but probably 2/3 of that was in the first week, then I trickled.

Overall it was a good experience though.

So how was YOUR A to Z?


12 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Good to know the labels worked. And yes, we tried extra hard to clean the list this year - and most of that work was done by the minions. They were out there in the trenches, reading blogs and reporting back to us.

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Sounds like it really went smoothly this year! Know that takes a lot of work in the background. And we all understand when life gets crazy!

Madeline Mora-Summonte said...

I enjoyed this year's A-Z! And I agree with you about the cleaned-up list. :)

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I didn't get to take advantage of the codes. Maybe now that it's over I'll go back through and hit ones that interest me.

Diana Wilder said...

Yikes! Thanks for the reminder - I must do my report. And go back and read the various posts.

Yolanda Renée said...

Yes, so good of you to remember all the minions in the background, they did do a wonderful job!

I know my posts were way too long, and when I started I thought I could do 100 words, but found the info so interesting I got wordy. Maybe if I'd stuck to the Fact I posted at the end it would have worked better. Oh well, my first year, it's supposed to be the learning year, right?

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Hart .. couldn't agree more and everyone on the hosting side did wonders .. I really don't know how they coped - but am so grateful I could add my sixpence as a minion .. but in the scheme of things it was a pittance ...

Cheers and see you soon .. Hilary

Lexie Rising said...

Yay for finishing- especially with all those other big things thrown in!

I got overwhelmed and commenting dropped off but I loved visiting your blog- it was a guaranteed fun and interesting read every day! Contratulations!

Jai said...

Congrats on the finish!
I enjoyed your blog very much and I shall return.

Helena said...

Being a mere blogfest groupie myself and not a participant, I was in awe of you and all the people who kept up daily postings. And BTW, yours was always fun.

T. Powell Coltrin said...

It went well for me. Of course, some of it is a struggle, but we get through it somehow. I didn't visit certain groups, instead visited various peeps.

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy said...

Wow! Congrats on finishing, Hart, and for visiting 300. This year, I was only about to return visits; I was just too wiped out with my new job.

Kathy M.