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So, how did it go?
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Commenting is a good habit to get into
it reminds me that I am not the only one who like[s] comments.
-Alex
I found some great new blogs and connected/reconnected
with some amazing people. I even joined a conversation on another person's blog
that continued back and forth there before it moved over to my blog as we
shared similar interests. What fun!
-Michelle
My goal was to change my thinking about comments…
one of the things this challenge reminded me is that
one of the best things about blogging is the dialogue.
-Debra
I visited everyone who
signed up.
I've got some new boo[k]s to read and found some wonderful posts. A
very enjoyable journey.
-Susan
it was a lot easier
this year than last year, because after last year, I kept commenting regularly!
-Mrs. Silverstein
It was my first year in the comment challenge, and I
had a great time! I loved having new visitors to my blog, and I stretched
myself to leave thoughtful, reflective comments on as many blogs as I could
visit. (Even when captcha attempted to thwart me!)
Definitely a win - win
experience!
-Cathy
While I was nowhere close to 100, I definitely
commented more than I ever have and I loved it!
-Stacey
This was my first time participating in the challenge.
It led me to some wonderful posts and I discovered blogs that were new to me.
Thanks for hosting.
-Jeanette
This was my first time doing some like this and I
really enjoyed it! I found so many wonderful blogs and added a lot of books to
my reading list. …It's helped get me into the habit of commenting (and not
overthinking the comments)!
-Katrina
at
it's core the Comment Challenge is a reminder that we're all connected by a
love of kid lit that we share across the kidlitosphere, and that's a beautiful
thing.
-Lee
***
It's been 21 days, and the goal was to leave 5 comments a day on kid lit blogs. We gave you one day off, so the numerical goal was 100 comments. But there were other goals, hidden inside (and besides) those numbers. Tell us about those, too!
Leave us your responses in comments here (you're so good at that by now!) and I'll update the body of this post with some choice quotes throughout the day and weekend ahead.
Winners will be randomly selected for prizes (kid lit and teen books, naturally) and MotherReader and I will announce those next week.
I'm off to New York for the Winter SCBWI Conference, so the comments will be approved in bunches - please be patient with me (and with my internet connectivity on a travel day!)
I'm still (somewhat unrealistically) aiming for 100 comments, but I figure I have until the end of the last day... today! So I'll chime in a little later on with how I ultimately did... stay tuned.
***
Lee's final update, at 11:43pm Thursday January 31, 2013: This year was really challenging. I got nowhere near 100 comments, clocking in at 35 total. I know, I know. But I'm determined to keep going and visit EVERYONE's blog who signed up. Participating did make me realize that I miss the interactions and discussions and engagement, as I've become so busy that my blog-hopping and commenting has really slowed down... and I did enjoy the blog reading and commenting I managed to do! I learned something else, too: It's okay to not be perfect. Sure, I wanted to get to 100 to be a good example, but perhaps this year I'm an example that there's a lot to be gained from the comment challenge even if you just put more intention into the blog reading you do! Even if you leave a handful, or even one, comment more than you might usually do. Because while it's great to cultivate a new habit like 5 comments a day, at it's core the Comment Challenge is a reminder that we're all connected by a love of kid lit that we share across the kidlitosphere, and that's a beautiful thing.
***
I'm grateful to all 73 people who signed up for participating, and to everyone reading this for being part of our wonderful kidlitosphere community!
I hope the Comment Challenge fired you up about commenting on blogs and participating in the online discussions more throughout the year ahead. We'll be back in 2014, and until then...
Comment On!
Lee
