Author Submit Feature and Curator Requests
Hi Hubbers,
Check out the HubPages Blog when you get a chance to read about our two new features. Feel free to post here if you have any questions or if anything isn't clear.
Does this mean that you are finished choosing articles that have already been written but have not been chosen for the niche sites? I thought you were going to make a "second pass" at some point to catch those you missed. You've taken 40 of mine, but that leaves 55. AT one submission per 60 days, I'll be so old to submit that it won't matter anymore!
We are still working our way through the backlog, which is the main task of the Curators right now. But traffic is part of what we're considering when we order the Hubs to be looked at, so this is a way for Hubbers to get a couple of their excellent-quality Hubs that may have less traffic looked at sooner, essentially.
Maybe you need to post on another site as well.
These are great features and thank you.
Question: After we click the “submit to a HubPages Network Site” button, should we see a message along the lines of "your article has been submitted to a HubPages Network Site for review"?Yep, you will get a confirmation message.
hmmm... should that message remain at the top of the hub after it's been submitted or is it just a quick, temporary message that appears after submission?
It appears in the submission window when you finish, not on the Hub itself.
These are really nice updates
Glad to see that HubPages marching for bettermentI have spent about 10 minutes to find out what the heck Hubpages Network Sites are and what they are for and have come up empty. I have seen notices about this on some of my hubs and don't have a clue. This forum already presumes one knows what everybody is talking about.
HelpAre you reading your weekly newsletters from HubPages? If not you are missing out on everything. The first announcement of the network niche sites was six months ago. Here it is...
http://hubpages.com/community/forum/135 … ching-soonNo, unfortunately I don't. My work inundates me with about 150 emails a day, so when I get home, I rarely look at emails. Thanks for the link.
Thank you so much HP for introducing this feature. I have already submitted a hub, and to my delight, it has been approved. I have been wishing for something like this.
This is very nice... I looked at the niche's that are running now. Am I to understand that you are continuing to create niche's in other areas?
Hi Leslie,
While it's possible that we may create new sites in the future, we have completed all the sites we intend to create for now. We are working on selecting content for these sites.Congratulations on giving HP a solid base for the future. I think we were all worried for a while.
Now, if you will excuse me, I will go back to complaining about something or other, lol.That's good to know. Is there any plan to revitalize HubPages proper or is it now officially just the slushpile for the "niche" sites?
Oh, no more niche sites?
That's too bad, but that does not make me sad.
That leaves us the creative writer
Which most of us write nail-biters
Or poets who are inspirational Inciters
Until you have a site for "CreativeMusings"
We will remain HP insider delighters.Why is HP "snipping" out all of my Amazon capsules? I try to keep the number of them down to one relevant one at the end, but snip, snip.
Are you using the items you show in the Amazon capsules? Do you clearly show that you are a user and do you discuss the item in your hub? Does it relate 100% to what your title of your hub refers to? If not, then it needs to be snipped.
No, I don't use what I show in an Amazon capsule. Instead, I post a book that relates to the topic. Say I am writing about gun rights, so I put the words "gun rights" as key words and let Amazon pick a title. I know that HP doesn't want more than one Amazon capsule, so I limit it to that; but even those get snipped away leaving none.
Choose books you've read so you can briefly explain why you've included them on a hub and they'll likely stay.
You can kill two birds with one stone if you read books as part of your pre-writing process and get research done while selecting a book to sell on the page. I've had great luck finding suitable books in digital format on my local library's website. I also feature some of the same books on multiple hubs when they directly relate to the content, to get more mileage out of my research.
Pick some of the books you've read about gun rights instead of doing the Amazon auto-pick thing, both because it will make your hubs network site compatible and because some of the things Amazon picks may not be the best choices and may not even reflect what your hubs are about. Gun rights is a topic that's controversial so the variety of books with 'gun rights' in their titles or descriptions is immense. You can end up with anything from reasonable people on either side, to unbiased evaluations, to totally wacked out conspiracy theory craptasticness from either side if you don't check them out yourself.
I'm also not sure if this is the case, but aren't Amazon capsule auto-picks subject to change? If that's the case, you could use the auto-pick function and have a great book for sale on your hub today and a crappy one tomorrow.Your topic is an important issue, but your need to be serious about it if you want to make an impression.
Auto picking an Amazon product will definitely get snipped because you never know what will show up and it may not be 100% related to your subject.
If you hadn't read the book you are selling, then you don't show any authority on the subject. And you prove that all you want to do is spam the reader into buying something that you yourself don't even endorse! That's why they got snipped.
Google is very tough on spamming type articles now that look like bait and switch.
You're baiting the reader into coming to your hub for one reason and then you switch and try to sell a book that you didn't even use yourself for doing your research for the article. Google is good at recognizing these type of authors now and that's why HubPages needs to be careful.
Do you really want to be that kind of author? Take the time to study and actually read anything you want to sell if you are serious about writing for the public. If you're not serious, get out of the business.First, I am not baiting anybody! It is obvious I don't understand what HP had in mind with Amazon capsules. I am NOT a book critique or reviewer; I don't write about such things. Instead, I offer the reader of my Hubs additional information via Amazon, on the topic I am writing about.
Back to my Hubs on gun rights. I discuss that topic then, and this is what I thought the point of HP's Amazon policy was ... to help readers obtain additional information about, in this case, gun rights. If HupPages is against such a thing then I will resist offering readers opportunities to expand their knowledge in this manner.HP will not know if you read the book or not. The way you placed it in your hub would have been the problem. You should incorporate it by saying something about why you are putting the book there, it doesn't have to necessarily be one you read. Just make sure the capsule goes with the flow of the hub. But I would suggest at least reading reviews of other buyers before you suggest something. Simply searching via the amazon capsule isn't the best thing to do.
You have a point Lobobrandon. I always knew HP wanted books that were related to the topic, which is what I chose (well, I made sure the title didn't stray) but I didn't think they had narrowed their focus so much as to make putting Amazon capsules in hubs pointless.
Why don't they just simply forbid it entirely and let Amazon advertise on their own, like Google does.You keep talking about what HubPages wants. But it's Google that HubPages is trying to satisfy in order to stay in business.
Of course books are fine to place in Amazon capsules. But Google wants authority. You have to demonstrate authority on the item you are showing. In the case of books, that means that you actually read the book and can articulate why the book is important for the reader.
The same goes for any product. You actually had to have purchased it yourself and have used it, so you can talk about it in the Amazon capsule or a nearby text capsule.Then how does that square with non-content related Google ads appearing in various places of my (and everybody else's) hubs? Is Google, and by logical extension Hub Pages, being monopolistic and anti-competitive? Shouldn't all writers check the "do not post ads" box in Display Options unless they meet the criteria you laid out above?
Google ads are different. They are based on the interest of the viewer. You will never see the same ads that I see or that anyone else sees. They are solely based on your own interests. Did you ever notice that if you've been searching for some item that you were interested in buying, that that item kept appearing in Google ads? You see, they are based on your own interests.
So, is this one submission every six months per author, or per account. If I have two accounts, can I submit one from each account?
Not sure about muliple accounts, but I read it as every 60 days, not 6 months.
I'm guessing it's per account and not per author. Either way you won't be allowed to submit once you cross your limit. So go ahead and give it a shot on both accounts or all the accounts you have. Just to be safe first do the one you would pick if you had just one opportunity. I doubt it's one per author anyway.
It's good that HP has added this feature. And it's good in some ways that it seems to be entirely human driven, with editors making individual decisions on individual pages.
On the downside, one page every 60 days is not great.
I would have had an automated filter. Don't take up an editors time with pages that get low QAP scores, for example.
The strength of the approach you have settled on, is that you will be giving individual feedback to every hubber 6 times a year, since every hubber will submit. That is quite an investment.
For my purposes, it means I can point out the half dozen pages that are important to me but have been overlooked in the niche site selection process so far.It's a great feature that I do hope gets better over time. I'd be comfortable once it goes down to 1 submission per month versus two months, but understandably that takes a lot of time and effort.
Are people too scared to speak up for some reason?
We seem to be down to the absolute newbies in these forums plus the regular contributers who have benefitted from the niche sites.
Getting a bit dull.I agree that it's a nice feature but I'd be concerned that editors' time is wasted by people submitting Hubs that aren't up to standard.
I just submitted one of my hubs using this new tool. I like how it asks the ten questions to be sure our hubs are up to the standard and that we followed all the rules with writing, layout, ad usage, etc. It makes me feel confidant that I did all this properly.
If I understand correctly, even though we can only submit one in 60 days, there is still a chance that other hubs will continue to be selected by staff.
Almost 1/3 of all my hubs are already on the network niche sites. But if moving the rest is limited to 1 every 60 days, that's going to take some patience. Nevertheless, I fully understand why you need to impose this limitation. I realize there is only so much the editors can do in a given time frame.
So having said that, I'm really glad to see that this mechanism for recommending hubs has been implemented.I can't imagine they will stop looking at new pages and trawling through the old pages for good niche canditates, just because this feature has come along. That would be the kiss of death.
Thanks, Glenn! We will be looking at tens of thousands of Hubs in the backlog over the upcoming months, but we wanted to give Hubbers another option to fast track some of their articles. We know one every two months isn't a lot, but we hope this will encourage Hubbers to submit only Hubs they have improved and know are great. In the blog post we suggested you submit your highest-quality, lowest-traffic articles because these are lower down in our queue. We are also prioritizing new Hubs!
Thanks Robin. And in addition, I just received good news in an email saying that the hub I just submitted last night was accepted and moved to HealDove. That was fast!
As suggested in the blog, I submitted my highest-quality, lowest-traffic article. I realized that it was missed because of the low traffic. So this helped.
I actually edited it to meet the standard required a week ego in anticipation of getting it moved because I had two other hubs that were already moved to HealDove. So I was actually ready to submit it. The submission tool helped quicken the process. Please pass my thanks to all involved.I'm hoping that most of my hubs are in the tens of thousands of hubs that are still in the backlog, and will catch the attention of an editor over the next few months. So far, only five of mine were selected for the niche sites. Not all of my hubs will make the cut or fit into the niche site categories (and I need to cull some on my own), but the hubs selected so far are not my best or most popular.
On the plus side, views are getting stronger.
After affirming the Ten Questions and submitting my hub, I'm thinking it might not be a bad idea to ask those questions for every hub that's published. Although it might be a bit of a pain for experienced writers to have to go through them every time we publish, I think being reminded of those standards might raise the quality level of all new hubs, and most especially those from new hubbers.
They are getting there.
When they take onboard that it is what readers think that matters most, they will have cracked it.
I note that they demand our anchor text indicates the nature of any link that we provide. That is wonderful, but the editors deliberately use anchor texts for amazon links which are meaningless at best and deceptive at worst.
I totally agree with what Will has pointed out. Even in my case with just 7 hubs that are not on the niche sites it's going to take forever for me to submit them all. Right now I wouldn't submit even one since I need to work on them a bit, but just saying that it would take forever.
On the other hand, I see why the team is doing this. They did specify that the time period will reduce if the load is taken care of quickly.
If I could suggest a better way, I would say reducing the time between submissions the way the team has decided to proceed is a really good way to go. But, there are a lot of great hubbers here with amazing hubs. They also know exactly what's needed to get onto the niche sites. Since they have a few on them already and well, they have great hubs - nothing more to be said here.
So, WHY NOT reset the Hubbers submission limitation when the hub they submitted has been selected? This way hubbers will make sure to put their best work forward in order to get more of their best hubs selected for the niches. You already have a system in place where the curators send an email to you and the hub in consideration will not count towards your 1 in 60 day limit.
So say I have submitted hub A and the curator sees it fit. Then why can't the curator simply mark this hub as one they have requested changes for and then immediately move it to a niche site? This way you do not need to make any code changes or create a new feature since everything is already in place. Once Hub A is selected and I think I have another good one I could submit Hub B rather than wait 60 days before I can do so.
Hope I explained myself clearly enough, super late at night and I'm typing on my phone.Sounds like a reasonable refinement to the 60 day rule.
Don't suppose you could look at the affilate text link scandal in the other thread. Not that I am trying to raise the temperature by immoderate use of language, lol.I'm not sure which affiliate link one you're referring to sorry
The only one I see is about a user asking for help setting some stuff up.That's the one. See Will's post
http://hubpages.com/community/forum/137 … ost2831574
It will be near impossible for people to nominate the most appropriate niche site when submitting articles. There's no comprehensive list explaining the obscure site names. The announcement blog gives a list of niche sites, but I don't have a clue what many of them are supposed to offer (or target).
How are we supposed to know which topics go where?You can click on any of the site names in that list and the homepage of each has a tagline that explains what the site is about.
Another thing to note, if you choose the wrong site, our curators have a way to "bounce" the article over to the correct site before it's accepted. We know that there is some overlap and that it can be hard to pick the perfect site sometimes—just make your best guess. You can also go to the site and see if there are similar articles.
Thanks HP! What an excellent new feature. I submitted a hub this morning and this evening it is already approved and moved to a niche site. (It is a health hub so does not get great traffic but contains vital information for dog owners and I really appreciate it being on a site where it can be more visible to those pet owners who need it!)
Thank you again, HP.Thanks for giving us an opportunity to submit articles we think could be in niches while you continue sifting through tens of thousands of existing articles. I was truly impressed with the speed of the process.
I am impressed too. I submitted an article this morning and it was on healdove tonight. Thanks! This new feature works well and should speed up transfers to niche sites.
I agree with Ron Elfran's suggestion that it would be a good idea to extend the 10 questions feature to every new hub that is submitted for publication to the mother site.One of mine was switched to a site within a couple of hours, which is great, but the green editing pencil has a little red dot on it with an exclamation point in the account list-- and I can't find a reference to that symbol.
Rochelle, The green pencil means that it was edited and you can click on the pencil to review the edits.
The exclamation point simply means that you never reviewed it yet. That disappears once you look it over.Thank you, Glen-- you know this stuff inside out. Best to you!
Does editing mean a hub was moved to a networking site?
HubPro editing means it has been edited by a person (not a machine). It may also have been moved to a niche site. If it has been moved, you will be notified.
( I don't know what a 'networking site' is.)The pencil icon simply means it was edited. It may have been edited as a precursor to being moved to a niche site. But it does not mean that it was moved. Only that it was edited.
I didn't say networking site. I said network site, and that is what HubPages calls the niche sites. Same thing.
This is a great idea, but I don't quite understand why Hubbers have to wait 60 days to submit again. If a Hub is accepted, why wouldn't we be able to submit another one immediately? It wouldn't make the queue any longer, because no account would ever have more than one Hub up for consideration at a time.
The way this is going to be implemented just seems like it is going to slow down good Hubbers while the curators wade through mountains of sub-par content.
I'm also concerned that HP appears to have become less discriminating about what they are willing to move to a niche site. I see a lot of weak Hubs going to some of them (one in particular, many of the Hubs written by the same Hubber), and if that continues we'll be right back where we were a year ago.Exactly what I suggested earlier. One hub per account at a time. And if you noticed a weak hub going through that's just bad! I don't want to see the niche sites going down to the same standards as old HP.
How are you determining a weak hub? Too short? Some of the short ones have great traffic. Not enough photos? Not enough polls?
If the person is following HP´s guidelines, is it still a weak hub?A Hub can tick off all of HP's guidelines and still be a bad Hub. A Hub can hit few of the guidelines and be a great Hub.
I'm talking about Hubs that:
- Are poorly written
- Contain incorrect or obviously non-expert information
- Blatantly use images illegally
- Have titles packed with keywords, possibly to game the "related hubs" algorithm
- Many very similar titles with slight keyword variations all written by the same Hubber
It seems the curators and moderators should be able to sniff these things out. If not, as I said, we'll be back where we were a year ago soon enough.
What defines a weak hub though because there are a lot of amazing, well written hubs that get little traffic and there are lesser produced hubs that get a lot of traffic.
So what hubs would you put on those niche sites?The original criteria was traffic. The whole purpose of the niche sites is to please Google, and the only way to know what pleases Google is to look at which Hubs Google is sending traffic to.
I think he is referring to my comment, and the weak Hubs I was talking about are newly published Hubs that haven't proven themselves either way yet. So, HubPages can't go by traffic in those cases, but the curators really should be savvy enough to notice and avoid certain red flags.
If you're talking about new hubs that are moved then yes I agree with you. How they choose those does worry me because you don't know how it's going to do, and I'd rather see strong, detailed hubs than weak fodder that belongs on a personal blog.
Are we to keep track of the 60 days. I still see he option to submit hubs even though I submitted one. What happens if I submit another one? Does a hand come out of my computer screen and slap me on the hand?
Stand away from your computer. That hand can only come out so far!
But seriously, I put a reminder into my computer to let me know on the 60th day. And I already edited the next hub based on the ten rules in anticipation of submitting it at that time.
As for what happens if you try sooner, I was wondering that too. It might stop you right away, or by the time you get past the ten steps, but I never tried it.
Am I the only brave one here (to have tried to submit another hub as soon as the first was accepted)? Here's the answer for those too scared to try. (Spoiler alert! Stop reading now if you don't want to know!)
A message appears which says "Sorry, but you can't submit this article right now. You have already submitted 1 article in the last 60 days. Please try again on XX." (Where XX is the date 60 days from your first submission.)You're right. I was afraid. I was very afraid. Lol. I'm glad you tried so now we have the answer.
Too bad we can't at least go through the ten steps again. I wish I had made copies of them so I'd have it for a reference. Most of them were routine things that were mentioned in HubPages' blog and newsletters. Things that I had been doing already. But a few were new ideas I never saw elsewhere. I did keep the link they had in one of the steps about over-optimization. It's worthwhile reading...
https://blog.kissmetrics.com/avoid-over-optimizing/Here are the steps Glenn:
Step 1 of 11: Amazon Products
Only add products that are specifically discussed in the article and that you (or someone close to you) have personal experience with. Just listing a product's main features or specifications does not meet the bar. Instead, tell us why you (or someone close to you) like and use the product.
Step 2 of 11: Links
All links in the article should go to high-quality sites, directly support the content and be useful to readers. Self-serving links (links to your business, blog, or website) are not permitted on Network Sites unless they are absolutely necessary to the reading experience. It is best to leave these links out and/or put them on your Profile. Lastly, a link's anchor text should give readers a clear idea of where the link goes.
Link Capsules are for showcasing a group of relevant and high-quality links to your readers, not for self-promoting other articles you may have written on HubPages Network Sites. Link Capsules should rarely contain more than 3 or 4 total links. If you choose to include more, we strongly suggest adding a custom description for each link. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchor_text)
Step 3 of 11: Keyword Use
Article titles, subtitles, and text should read naturally. Keywords in subtitles should be used only when necessary (e.g., to convey the meaning of a section). Make sure the words in your article are varied and that no words or phrases are excessively repeated throughout the article. Avoid over-optimization! (https://blog.kissmetrics.com/avoid-over-optimizing/)
Step 4 of 11: Title/Subtitle Capitalization and Sizing
The title and subtitle of your Hub help your reader to navigate your article and get an idea of whether they trust or distrust your content. Proper capitalization goes a long way towards making your article reader-friendly. We recommend using standard titlecase when formatting your titles and subtitles. See the APA guidelines for guidance. Additionally, using standard font sizing (the provided title and subtitle fields as well as Heading 2s) allows your reader to follow the structure of your article more easily. (http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2012/ … style.html)
Step 5 of 11: Layout
Text should be broken up into multiple capsules with clear subtitles. Think about ways you can condense the information in the article so that it is more readable and scannable (especially on mobile). Bulleted lists and table capsules are both great ways to summarize information into a more digestible format.
Step 6 of 11: Photos
Every article on Network Sites should have at least one high-quality photo. If there are multiple photos in the article, they should all be relevant to the content and visually appealing. Original photos are always preferable to stock photos. If you must use stock photos, please choose them carefully and tastefully.
Step 7 of 11: Text Formatting
Only bold words and phrases that are essential to emphasize. Italics should be used for the titles of books, computer and video games, movies, and television shows but not to provide emphasis. Lastly, always avoid large blocks of text that are excessively stylized (bold, italic, underline) as they impede readability.
Step 8 of 11: Spelling/Grammar
All articles on Network Sites should demonstrate a good command of the English language with appropriately chosen words and readable sentences. It always helps to get an extra pair of eyes on our writing to spot those pesky, missed errors. Perhaps you can ask a couple of friends or colleagues to proofread your article!
Step 9 : Author Bio
Step 10 of 11: Copyright Notice
Copyright notices should not be entered in Text Capsules. Please use the HubPages provided copyright notice, available in the right sidebar of the HubTool under “Display Options.”Thanks Brandon. That's helpful to everyone. I was kicking myself for not saving it too when I went through it.
You're welcome. I guess I'm one of the few who hasn't submitted one yet
Oh, but you have the ten steps! You obviously went through it but canceled before submitting. Why? I guess you needed some work to do?
I went through the steps after seeing your comment about saving them so thought I'd get them here. A few of mine can easily go through, but I want to work on them a bit first.
I don't plan on submitting because it seems they are taking many of mine anyhow, a bit at a time. I'm spending more time upgrading so that my work will automatically be chosen. I'm also trying to add new articles as I go from time to time because they get picked up quickly. I also have found that when I have an article that is not doing well, if I can find another into which I can incorporate it, I end up with a better article aka one that will be added to the niche sites. Just playin' the game!
That works. Maybe when you work on a hub that you like but it has really bad traffic at the moment, you could submit it since they would get to that one towards the end and it may take some months.
I have grown tired of arguing with moderators. If they want to change /edit my hubs and remove photographs (from a photo hub) so be it!
OK I had two hubs moved to niches sites; One to HobbyLark (even though it's a photo hub) and another to the FeltMagnet (God I @#*&% that name). Let's see how it goes on Flipboard but I have to say they were immediately underlined (featured) since it seems that articles on HP are not featured.
Right. Flipboard only features Hubs that are on niche sites. I noticed that too.
What should HP do to change this? Any suggestions?
I wish I knew. Some people think Flipboard is blocking HubPages. Pinterest blocked HubPages once in the past for too much self-promotion. And they did something about that to make Pinterest happy. There was a forum thread on that. But it can't be the same reason because Flipboard's terms of service allows us to flip our own content.
Well it is definitely worth it to submit to Flipboard. The two hubs that I included in my magazines and which are not on HP directly but on niche sites gathered about 2,400 views yesterday alone.
Hope that lasts for you. The first hub (also a niche hub) that I flipped got over 3000 views the first day. But that didn't last. Nevertheless, I continue to see about 40 views a day on that one. And the other hubs get some traffic from Flipboard too. So it's worth continuing with it.
I've had about 1/3 of my hubs moved to niche sites. I am revising a group of them before I want them to be moved (even if the administration wanted to move them) because I'm not happy with them myself.
I've found the team to be a lot more responsive than usual throughout this change, so that's been helpful.
I submitted a hub on Friday, and answered the 10 questions; following the directions of what changes they thought would benefit the hub. I haven't heard back yet. I notice some of my hubs have sub titles surrounded with gray, but I don't know how to do that. The team usually does it.
It could also be because it's the weekend. I had trouble deciding which hub to choose, one with a lot of views (I still have a large selection) or one with fewer views. Both have merit, and a lot of my hubs with lower views are in series forms and it's been confusing as the team has put them in different categories, where it needs to be the same. They are working with me though.
I think on the whole this change is very beneficial.Jean, That's the "callout capsule" you are seeing that has gray around the subtitle. I use it too in many of my hubs.
Choose the hubs with fewer views that has high quality. That is what they were recommending. Hubs with high views may very well be selected by them anyway, so your wasting your 1 per 60 day limit if you submit one with a high view count.Thanks Glenn,
You are always so kind and helpful.
The problem is that only being able to submit one every two months makes failure too much of punishment.
Are you saying that we don't have to wait 60 days if our hub IS selected? That would be great!
I really like this new feature. It saves a lot of time. I submitted, was asked to make some edits, resubmitted, got a minor snipping and now on a niche site. Quick and efficient process. I hope it pays off. I only wish I could submit another before October.
Just went through the process and it took about two days for them to place it on a niche site, and everything went smoothly. All they need to do is shorten the time frame and it would be perfect.
The ten steps is also a good idea because it allows editors to sift through the lower quality articles and make hubbers work for it.Is there a list of the "clean-up" steps posted -- before accessing the hub and the submission button in the article?
It's not posted anywhere, but if you go through this forum topic on the previous page I pasted all the 10 steps.
It used to be enough to study the ways of the reader but now we must also study the ways of the editors.
Thank you so much for the new feature.
I am trying to rework on my Hub the way you want. All your suggestions are very good.My hub was snipped/edited like 4 months ago, but remains unmoved up to now. Why?
Often Hubs are snipped in preparation for a move to sites, but not always. Sometimes Hubs are snipped to allow them to remain featured rather than being moderated for spammy elements.
Thanks, but if it's preparation, that queue must be too LONG!
Hope it's nearing a move.The problem I have experienced is receiving an email saying one of my hubs is exceptional and on the verge of being selected for a niche site. The curator only gives the generic list of possible changes but nothing specific to my hub and it isn't snipped. I guess the changes required and make the few alterations then submit it as suggested.. Only to receive an email saying it is unsuitable for the said niche site without an explanation why, and I can't submit another hub for 60 days when it wasn' my idea to submit this one in the first place. Unfair!
When a curator has requested that you make changes, you can submit it after making those changes and it will not count towards your 1 per 60 days.
Trust me, I just had that happen the other day. I made the changes as requested (although generic as you said) and then I submitted it via the link on top of the hub. It clearly indicated that it will not affect my 60 day limit for other hubs I submit on my own.
They moved it to the niche site within an hour after submitting it, as if they were waiting for me to finish my changes. I'm a happy camper. Don't be afraid to follow up on that email you got.Well Glenn, I did the same..made changes and resubmitted it, but I got the message that I wasn't allowed to submit another hub for 60 days. Even though their email told me to resubmit it. Do you know who I email to question this?
That is very strange. Are you sure you submitted ONLY the hub that was selected by a curator? Any other hub will fall into the 1 in 60 day rule.
I am definitely within my 60 day waiting period since my last submission, but I was still able to submit my hub that they asked me to prepare for a niche site.
I would reply to that curator email and tell them the submit button did not allow you to do it. Maybe they didn't trigger it to allow that hub permission. Refer them to my comments if you have any trouble. I just had success with it yesterday.Yes, Glenn, it is the only one. I did try to submit it a second time however because after I made the first changes they suggested it was denied and the email said make further changes and resubmit. But I will try replying to that email and see what happens. Why didn't they just snip it as they have done with others?
I couldn't reply to the curator's email...it was marked "no-reply." I sent an email to HubPages through the help pages and just received another exact copy of the previous generic email that told me why hub was not suitable for the niche site.
Silly question John, but are you sure those emails are from HubPages? I was always able to reply to curator's emails, thanking them for their work.
Maybe someone is fooling around with you. That would explain why the submit button does not allow that hub to be resubmitted.
As I mentioned before, when a curator asks you to make changes for submission to a niche site, it does to count towards the 60 day limit. Therefore, I'm guessing those emails are fake. It will be interesting to hear the final conclusion to this mystery.Glenn,
Here is the last of the emails:
"HubPages via amazonses.com
Sep 28 (1 day ago)
to me
Hi Jodah,
Thank you for submitting your article, Learning to Draw by Using the Right Side of Your Brain, for consideration on FeltMagnet. Unfortunately, your article was not selected. Since you already confirmed that your article is free from content and structural issues, it is possible that it was not selected due to the nature of its topic. Perhaps your article:
is about a current event and written in a way that won't be relevant to readers in the future. Perhaps you can expand on your topic and offer historical analysis or additional insight beyond covering the facts of the story.
is about a very general topic that is already extensively covered on FeltMagnet or elsewhere online. Perhaps you can add a new spin on the topic to make it your own. If your article is a popular (e.g., chocolate chip cookies) recipe, adding gorgeous, original, step-by-step photos is a great way to make it stand out from the rest.
is unlikely to satisfy readers for some other reason. Your article might be deeply valuable to you, your friends, or your family, but not be written in a way that is useful or accessible to a wider audience. Or perhaps your article could be useful to readers, but it doesn't convey your experience or involvement with the topic.
is about a YMYL (your money, your life) topic. Articles on these topics need About the Author biographies to showcase expertise. If your article already had a bio, then it probably doesn't sufficiently demonstrate the level of expertise we are looking for.
You are welcome to rework this article and submit it for re-review, but please keep in mind that the topical issues above can be difficult to fix. Your effort may be better spent publishing a new article, or submitting a different one for FeltMagnet.
If you need more help, or would just like to get some additional opinions and perspectives, we invite you to post in the Improving Your Hub Forum.
Happy Hubbing!
Team HubPages
HubPages"Here is the original one:
HubPages via amazonses.com
Sep 27 (2 days ago)
to me
Hi Jodah,
Congrats! Your awesome article, Learning to Draw by Using the Right Side of Your Brain., is eligible to be moved to FeltMagnet, a HubPages Network Site. If you are unfamiliar with our strategy to move high-quality articles to vertical domains, please see our announcement blog post and update blog post.
We have identified a few issues that should be addressed before your article can officially be moved. We suggest that you address the issues below and then submit your article for reconsideration. If you have questions about what we are looking for on our network of sites, we welcome you to visit our Editorial Policy. Please keep in mind, we have a very high bar for articles to be moved to our vertical domains. If you are unable to make the changes requested or if your article doesn't meet our standard, we will not be able to move your article to FeltMagnet.
If you need more help, or would just like to get some additional opinions and perspectives, we invite you to post in the Improving Your Hub Forum.
The Curator who reviewed your article suggests that you address the following issues:
Amazon Products:
Only add products that are specifically discussed in the article and that you (or someone close to you) have personal experience with. Just listing a product's main features or specifications does not meet the bar. Instead, tell us why you (or someone close to you) like and use the product.
Title/Subtitle Capitalization And Sizing:
The title and subtitle of your article help your reader to navigate your article and get an idea of whether they trust or distrust your content. Proper capitalization goes a long way towards making your article reader-friendly. We recommend using standard titlecase when formatting your titles and subtitles. See the APA guidelines for guidance. Additionally, using standard font sizing (the provided title and subtitle fields as well as Heading 2s) allows your reader to follow the structure of your article more easily.
Layout:
Text should be broken up into multiple capsules with clear subtitles. Think about ways you can condense the information in the article so that it is more readable and scannable (especially on mobile). Bulleted lists and table capsules are both great ways to summarize information into a more digestible format.
Photos:
Every article on Network Sites should have at least one high-quality photo. If there are multiple photos in the article, they should all be relevant to the content and visually appealing. Original photos are always preferable to stock photos. If you must use stock photos, please choose them carefully and tastefully. We recommend making all photos full-width, with the exception of photos that degrade in quality at that size.
Text Formatting:
Only bold words and phrases that are essential to emphasize. Italics should be used for the titles of books, computer and video games, movies, and television shows but not to provide emphasis. Lastly, always avoid large blocks of text that are excessively stylized (bold, italic, underline) as they impede readability.
Spelling/Grammar:
All articles on Network Sites should demonstrate a good command of the English language with appropriately chosen words and readable sentences. It always helps to get an extra pair of eyes on our writing to spot those pesky, missed errors. Perhaps you can ask a couple of friends or colleagues to proofread your article!
Thanks, and happy Hubbing to you!
HubPages
Please do not reply to this message, it was sent from an unmonitored address.
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HubPages Inc., 2120 University Ave, Berkeley CA 94704John, You had a similar experience with your scrambled egg recipe hub a few weeks ago, where they selected it for a niche site, asked you to make changes, and then changed their mind and told you it no longer qualifies for one reason or another.
This seems to be a pattern. I have no idea what is transpiring between you and staff, so I'm sorry that I can't help any further. Only you know what went on.
The only thing I do know is how you had your own ideas with that previous hub and you chose not to do what they asked. Did you do that again with this one?
Just trying to help, in case there is something you're doing that you might not be aware of. Hope you take what I'm saying with the positive intention that is meant.I do appreciate your attempt to help, Glenn. Yes, it was similar to the Scrambled Egg hub situation, except in this case I thought I did everything they asked (except split up the text into additional capsules.) It already was split into a number of capsules without any large passages of text. Take a look at the hub and see what you think. If I didn't know better I'd say the staff had an issue with me, but they selected and moved one of my poetry hubs to LetterPile a few days ago with no issues.
It's not just a matter of breaking up text into multiple capsules, but you need to do it with clear subtitles on each one.
I already had used many individual text capsules. When they sent me that same email, I put a lot of attention to each section of my hub. The effort actually helped me determine useful subtitles for each section.
In the process, I made sure I was doing what was needed to make my hub more readable and scannable, as indicated in their email. Then I also previewed my hub in mobile view to be sure everything made sense on mobile devices. As you may know, using the right column messes up on mobile if not done right. (I wrote a hub about that). This is why they asked you to make it readable for mobile.
The curator moved my hub to the niche site within an hour after I was finished.
Having said all that, did you do all the same things?Just like to say that my hub has now been snipped and moved to FeltMagnet, thanks to Christy's help in referring it back to the editing team.
That was fast . I added one of my hubs to the queue yesterday, and it was moved to a niche site today. I hope you are finding the queue of hub to be looked at to be small, so we can submit more hubs sooner. Thanks HP for the opportunity!!
Another Hubber has said this feature is about to be withdrawn. Is that the case?
If true then that's not a good sign, is it simply too much work to handle that extra payload or are there even bigger problems.
Kristy cleared that up. They are still allowing submissions, but only via the use of the submit buttons. They won't accept random submissions.
I just read that this feature is as of now being retired ( http://hubpages.com/community/forum/138 … ost2841653 ). Is this true?
Yes, before posting I also went to see if the button was still there. Since then I've searched for more information regarding the imminent retirement of the feature, but there isn't any. I guess it's a misunderstanding.
Yes it is a misunderstanding. Christy posted to say the feature is staying. What they won't allow any longer is email requests to move Hubs.
I must say I was a bit surprised that they allowed Hubbers to send in random email requests in the first place, considering how busy they are.Yes. This explains why they decided to implement the button.
Well, at least they are still selecting yours. Ever since I asked them not to move hubs with Amazon ads, they haven't moved any at all. Blanket ban? Nothing useful left? Who knows...
It sure makes one wonder, doesn't it Will? I think it's only a matter of time Amazon ads go the way of eBay.
No chance. I'm sure Amazon is one of the biggest sources of Income for HP. Ebay on the other hand was bad.
Well, you wouldn't know it the way they are treating hubs with Amazon capsules.
Amazon ads do very well when used properly. Remember that you must make it clear in you hub that you actually use the product yourself, and you need to talk about it as a user. Otherwise it's considered spamming, and those are the ones that get snipped.
HubPages moved several of my hubs with Amazon ads to niche sites. I found that Amazon ads do even better there. I have Amazon sales almost every day from one hub alone. This is definitely a money maker for both Hubbers and HubPages. As long that that remains the case, they will not terminate the Amazon program.
As for eBay, that is a totally different story. Their affiliate program was complicated and poorly designed. They had too many rules to avoid paying revenue. I gave up with eBay as an affiliate a long time before HubPages gave up on them.
Amazon ads are strong earners on the right kinds of page. Misused, they are spammy.
When this feature was first introduced, I submitted an article. In less than 24 hours it was moved.
On the 12th is had been 60 days, so I submitted another article. I have had no response. I don't know if the staff is just overwhelmed, or the author-submitted hubs are less of a priority.
Has anyone else experienced this?I recently submitted one and it took several days for them to respond so I think they're just busy.
Yes, the same with mine. It took a few days.
Thanks for the response Marisa and Rochelle. It is reassuring to hear that they eventually got around to it.
They are just extremely busy right now. Having hired a team of new curators/editors, they are working on moving forward with selections of hubs for niche sites. In addition to my submission, I had a few others randomly selected for niche sites this month.
I noticed my last submission took extra time, but in the end it was because the curator took the time to edit my hub. We were in communication about the changes and in the end it turned out better. The curators are free to be creative (within limits off course), which helps tremendously with improving our hubs. I am pleased with the process.I'm glad to hear that something is happening. I haven't had any more of mine chosen this month.
The last one I submitted was immediately moved, and its traffic has risen substantially. I have several more that I am certain would do well on a niche site, even though their traffic is unimpressive on HP.
I recently mentioned that I had submitted a hub, and I had no response. Just to let anyone know who has a similar issue, I submitted my hub on Oct 12, and it was moved on Oct 21. So, that is 9 days it took. Don't get discouraged.
