A Virtual Cup of Coffee #IWSG #Writing

Hello Everyone,

Welcome back to the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, which has a monthly blog hop on everything related to writing.   This month I’m participating in the A to Z Challenge. The question for this month revolves around this event.

Have you taken advantage of the annual A to Z Challenge in terms of marketing, networking, publicity for your book? What were the results?

For me, the answer is kinda sorta.  As I confessed in the last IWSG post, I published five books under another pen name with the now closed Ellora’s Cave Publishing.  I did the challenge twice with that pen name.

When I did it the first time, I can’t honestly say I sold more books, but I shared more virtual coffee moments than I ever had before.  I made more blogging peeps, got more blog followers, and gained confidence in my blogging abilities. From the blogging friends I made, I participated in an anthology and made ever more on-line connections.  So overall it was a great experience.

So great, I did it again a couple of years later. With less spectacular results.  The list had grown by double, maybe more. Fewer people visited, and even those I visited multiple times did not always return the courtesy.  I stopped participating.

Having said that, since I’m launching a new pen name, a new website and a new blog, my experience the first time was so positive, I decided to try it again this year.  In fact, I’m glad they are not doing the list.  I had found the length and scope my second participation to be overwhelming and am excited about trying out this new method.

What about you?  How has the A to Z challenge benefitted you perhaps differently than the question above asks?  Why do you keep coming back.

Visit the other bloggers, and see how they answered the question or just what they have to say about this crazy journey we call writing.