I'd like feedback on my Hub: How to Write a Book in 12 Weeks

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   JacquelineJMooreposted 9 years ago

   Hi Hubbers,
   
   I'd like some help with passing the Quality Assessment Process. Will you please give feedback on my Hub How to Write a Book in 12 Weeks (must be signed in to view). What can I do to improve? Thanks!
   
   It's very much appreciated!
   
   Jacqueline

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      theraggededgeposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Pretty good!
      
      To get it past QAP you'll need to remove the self-promotional bits and images. Once it's been approved, you might try adding them back in.
      
      I don't think it is too self-promotional by any means as the article is choc-a-block with useful information. The cover image at the top of the page looks a little like a cheap affiliate marketing image, no offence meant - have you got something that looks more real?

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         JacquelineJMooreposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks very much for the encouraging feedback. I suspected it was the links, so I'll remove them. And I'll take out the book image, as you suggest.

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      gerimcclymposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      First of all, your article has further encouraged me to write a book.... so thank you for your article
      Suggestion:  "Lastly is lack of knowledge". Do you mean, "Lastly is knowledge"?
      Best to you!

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         Sue Adamsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I struggled with that one as well.

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            JacquelineJMooreposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            It obviously needs rephrasing. Thanks!

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         JacquelineJMooreposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         That's encouraging - thank you!
         
         I meant lastly, lack of knowledge holds you back. I shall rephrase it.

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   Sue Adamsposted 9 years ago

   One possible issue is unrelated self promotion. Right from the start, you are using HubPages as a platform to promote your (totally unrelated to the title) book "The seven Failings of Really Useless Leaders".
   
   To comply with mobile formating, only use full-width capsules for text, images, polls and adverts.
   
   The Title is misleading. When I read "How to Write a Book in 12 Weeks" I expect week by week instructions on what to do to finish my book in those 12 weeks.
   
   "Whatever your reason, the tips and hints in the articles in this hub will help you get the job done."
   A hub is just another word for "article". So the above sentence doesn't make sense. Change it to: "Whatever your reason, the tips and hints in this article will help you get the job done."
   
   The hub is too long. I wouldn't exceed 2000 words. Especially the first text capsule is huge. Split it up into smaller sections (several separate text capsules), each with a separate capsule heading. Actually, to meet the Title, I would have an intro, 12 separate text capsules, one for each week, and a conclusion.
   
   You could write 1 hub on how to write a book in 12 weeks, and a second hub on how to get your book published with more detailed explanations on the technicalities of e-publishing.
   
   Overall, I found that a lot of the info was too general, not really helpful enough in a practical way.

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      JacquelineJMooreposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks very much for the detailed feedback. It's all very useful - and I'll give the hub another go.
      
      It's interesting that it came across as promotion for 'Seven Failings', as it really wasn't meant to be. I'll delete those parts.
      
      Thanks again for taking such time.

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      gerimcclymposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      As a fairly new hub writer, Sue's feedback was helpful to me as well..thanks, Sue!

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   Marisa Wrightposted 9 years ago

   I agree with Sue in many respects.
   
   HubPages is not a platform for self-promotion.  In practice, you can use it as such - but you must be subtle!   Writing a Hub that reads like a press release is not regarded as acceptable - so you need to delete the long introduction, which is all about you and your husband.   
   
   Save the explanation of your expertise for your profile, and for the Bio section (which you create in your Account section - click on "About the Author" in the nav bar - and choose under "Display Options" on the Hub itself). 
   
   Long Hubs are good - but we've had some very experienced Hubbers do experiments, and they've found that the optimum length is around 1,500 words.   If it's longer than that, readers' eyes tend to glaze over!   Better to look at the Hub, identify where it shifts to another topic, and move that section to a new Hub instead.
   
   Having said that, I felt that in this case, readers' eyes would glaze over long before that.   I suspect very few people think, "I'd like to write a book" with NO idea of what kind of book they want to write!   Most of them will already have ambitions to be a novelist, or to share their expertise on a hobby or profession, so the whole section on possible topics seems superfluous and I'd be worried that readers would abandon the Hub at that point, because the advice seems too general. 
   
   You are a journalist so you know how to write, however writing online is a slightly different style - it's not so easy for readers to skim, so you need to convince them in the first couple of paragraphs that you have solid, valuable advice to offer.

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      JacquelineJMooreposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for your advice. It's extremely helpful.
      
      It's interesting what you say about the number of words. The guidance in the Help section is that it should be at least 1,500, but clearly I took the 'at least' too far. I'll have another go, probably splitting it into at a couple of hubs.
      
      Thanks again.

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         Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         You will sometimes find that what HubPages advises, and what experienced Hubbers recommend, differs somewhat!   I believe 1,500 words was chosen because longer Hubs give you more chance to use more keywords in a natural manner, which can raise your Hub's ranking in the search results.   However based on the advice of members whose opinion I trust,  there's very little benefit in going much beyond 1,500 words - whereas there can be a benefit in having a completely separate Hub with a more concentrated focus on a particular aspect of the topic. 
         
         Don't forget to interlink the two (or three or four) Hubs (either by referring to them in the text or by adding links to the other Hubs in the series at the end).   You can also put them in Groups.

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      gerimcclymposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for your insights Marisa, as they are helpful to me as well!

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