As is always the case for me, April went by in a flash. The A-Z Challenge was extra-special
this year as I had the honour of joining the team of hosts. Arlee Bird has
created something that has given me the opportunity to connect with many more
people that I'd ever have access to and it's something I've come to look
forward to each year
Again, I didn't pre-write all my posts, which didn't make
more room for visits, so I was up late most nights scribbling away. I found the
most interesting blogs that covered a range of topics from craft, donating to
worthy causes, memoirs, mish-mashes, monsters, parks and vampires.
Other than returning visits, I didn't drop in with my
usual suspects. I found new blogs, where my comment was often the only one, or
one of a few. I'm not sure what
expectations people have, but if we don't leave footprints (by way of comments
when you make return visits), other bloggers won't be enthusiastic about coming
back to our blogs. I say this because each day, I had hundreds more hits than
comments. Not to say all those people participated in the Challenge, but still
the ratio of those leaving comments was very low in comparison to visits.
One thing I am determined to do in the next 12 months is
to compile the posts I've written over years into a book to help new writers.
Keeping everything crossed that I'll make the time to do it.
All in all, the Challenge was great. Make sure you grab an
A-Z survivor t-shirt, courtesy of the
wildly-creative Jeremy
Hawkins, at the Neatoshop. Jeremy
also made my friendly minion. Thanks, Jeremy! Kudos to Arlee Bird and
his awesome co-hosts, Nicole
Ayers, Lisa
Buie-Collard, Alex Cavanaugh,
Heather M. Gardner,
S. L. Hennessy, John
Holton, Susan
Gourley, A.J.
Lauer, Jeremy
Hawkins, Pam
Margolis, Matthew
MacNish, C. Lee
McKenzie, Stephen
Tremp, and Zalka Csenge Virág.
Heartfelt thanks too, to my wonderful helpers, Sheena-Kay Graham, Michele Kimbrough, Susan Oloier, Michelle Wallace and P.V. Ariel.
Heartfelt thanks too, to my wonderful helpers, Sheena-Kay Graham, Michele Kimbrough, Susan Oloier, Michelle Wallace and P.V. Ariel.
See you at the starting post
next year!
Odd you had so many hits but so few comments in comparison. I did notice a lot of people never returned comments, which was sad.
ReplyDeleteDid you enjoy your first year as a co-host?
Absolutely, Alex. It was wonderful being a co-host. It's good to have people visiting those bloggers who had only 1 or 2 comments.
DeleteI wonder how many times I asked any questions that people could respond to. That might have been my error. :(
I've see similar observations to yours on a number of post today. Visits without comments. Not sure what to make of that. How did you keep up without having those posts ahead of time.
ReplyDeleteI wrote a few of them early, but for the most part, I know what my subject would b so the posts didn't take me long to write once I got started. I really must try and get ahead in 2016.
DeleteHello there.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on completing the challenge and for making it as co-host too! This was my second year taking part and I knew it would be tough going after a couple of days. Like you, I seemed to get lots of hits, but not enough comments to show for it. I really made an effort to spend time visiting and commenting, but I just never got the same kind of response back...makes me wonder why I bothered. I do want to thank you though for visiting me along the way and to thank you for your hard work as co-host. As participants, we have no idea of the scope of the work involved "behind the scenes" so to speak.
Entrepreneurial Goddess
I had the same issue with lots of hits but no comments. I would get 60 views in a day but 0-1 comments. And it is disheartening when you leave comments but no one ever responds. I'm keeping at it though and I can't wait for next years challenge!
ReplyDeleteI think the "like" button has created a monster for bloggers.
ReplyDeleteAs you stated its really comments that generate followers and more than that relationships.
Yes it takes more time to comment but in the end it is worth it.
I was grateful that this year there were not all the people flagrantly selling something.
I originally met you during the A to Z challenge - had we done the "like" we might not remember each other. All the best with the book :)
My hits to comment ratio was pretty skewed too. I'm curious to know what the reasons are that people didn't comment.
ReplyDeleteJust now getting around to visiting the blogs in the challenge. April was a busy month for me. Congrats on completing the A to Z Challenge! Looking forward to next year! See you on the Road Trip!
ReplyDeleteMary www.JingleJangleJungle.net
You are my current stop on my Road Trip. I didn't have time to read blogs during the challenge. It was first challenge and I barely had my head out of the water. Great site. Thanks for being a host!
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