My article is no longer my writing!

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   Nell Roseposted 5 years ago

   I am pretty insulted. Sorry, but it had to be said. I had written an article on here that had done really well. In fact, it was one of my top earners.
   I went to answer a comment on it, and I stared at it for at least five minutes. I no longer recognised it! The photos had been changed, the writing was definitely not me, and when I eventually got over the shock took a look at the bit that says 'check out what we have changed' and virtually nearly all the writing, photos and more to the point my 'voice' had gone.
   
   What is the point of us writing if we are are going to be wiped out?
   Disappointed, disgusted and fed up.

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      sallybeaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      That is pretty shocking!  I wonder how that affects one's copyright?

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      bravewarriorposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Nell, firstly, you should have gotten an email from HP that they had edited your article. They give you a link to see what was eliminated, added, and changed. You do have the option to revert the article to the way you first posted it, although I would imagine that takes some effort).
      
      I've had articles edited and have been happy with the result, because they were minimal and valid. However, they have never been totally altered (re-written). I would definitely question the editor.

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         Nell Roseposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         Hi Shauna, yes they always say, but most of the time they changed something its not too bad, and fair enough. but for some reason whoever did this one went to town on it! she may as well have written it herself! the hub was about bald guys, and are women attracted to them?
         the first photo shows a boiled egg?! or maybe a funny crooked head, with the caption, Are bald heads in???? in what for goodness sake? yeah I know what it means but it sounds so damn childish!!

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      lctodd1947posted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Nell, remember me. You and I used to visit each other here. I will give you a solution.
      
      You need to check out Medium.com. I do not come here much and my articles here are old, old from years ago and the writing was awful. However, I have my own websites, but getting an audience is very hard. I had now about Medium for a long time but never had gotten involved until a few months ago.
      
      The instructions are good, there is an opportunity to make money but there is no advertisement or is it allowed. You pay $5 month..and write well-written articles, (they give instructions) and people read etc.
      
      Think about. Income does not come overnight but.. they like 1st person narrative also. I hope you will come and we can promote each other.
      
      So far I have no complaints. You have to get approved for some of the publications, but you can write without that. Email me.

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         promisemposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         I caution against Medium. I have written more than 30 articles for it. The only way a writer makes money is if the editors choose to "feature" the article and qualify it for the payment program. Otherwise, it doesn't make a penny.
         
         The competition there is enormous. You need to have a top-quality article with a unique perspective to have any chance of getting featured.
         
         Even the featured articles make money for only a brief period of time. Then in a few months they sink way down into the site and make almost nothing.
         
         Once my article doesn't make any more money (if any), I move it elsewhere.

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            DzyMsLizzyposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            A huge red flag for me would be the fact that YOU have to PAY THEM to write there!  That tells me that the only ones truly making money on that site are the hosts!
            I would never sign up for such a site.

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               Glenn Stokposted 5 years agoin reply to this

               Lizzy, This is off topic for this thread, but I felt I need to correct what Scott (promisem) said. He mislead you with his incorrect comment.
               
               Medium does not charge authors for posting articles. They only charge readers who want to read more than three articles per month—that membership is $5 per month or $50 a year.
               
               There are no ads on Medium. The revenue paid to authors comes from the reader membership.
               
               Authors can sign up for the Medium Partner Program and then they can place their articles behind a paywall. This program is free to join.
               
               If you want more information, see my hub: "How to Make Money Writing Articles Without Ads on Medium"
               
               I must say, however, that writing on HubPages is more rewarding since we get paid from organic traffic. Medium also gets Google traffic, but you earn nothing from those readers unless they pay for membership and engage with your articles by applauding (clapping) and commenting. None members cannot clap or comment.

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                  Savio Dawsonposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                  Agreed with everything you said, Glenn, but the charges for writers.
                  
                  I've been writing there for nearly a year now and they do ask me if I would like to take the payment option to have my articles featured. So, I presume the payment terms for writers is a new thing and they don't charge for old accounts like yours (maybe).  I guess that's why you have not encountered that situation of writers having to pay for getting featured.
                  
                  Why do I want to not take the payment option and yet write for Medium? Well, I usually write there in response to blockchain contests and hence the only requirement is to use Medium to post my articles. I am not keen on the readership as I am getting paid in cryptos through the contests. That's why I write there being less concerned with the readership.

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                     Glenn Stokposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                     Savio, The payment option means that you get paid, not that you pay Medium. You got that backwards. And yes, the payment option is new.
                     
                     You have to accept the option to let the curators review your article in order to get paid. If they like it they will feature it so you get more readers rather than just your own followers. Why wouldn’t anyone agree to that? That's a no-brainer.
                     
                     If you don’t accept it then you don’t get paid. I’m surprised you didn’t understand that since you say you've been writing on Medium for a year. You should read the updated terms of service. The changes are across all accounts. Not just new ones.
                     
                     Before the payment option was introduced, and clearly explained in the updated terms of service. The old method was that anyone can chose to write for free or place their article behind the paywall. It’s similar, but the logic is different. The curators don’t want to waste time reviewing articles that don’t make money. There’s no point to that. If you don’t get paid, they don’t either. That’s why they charged the terms to create the payment option.

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                        Savio Dawsonposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                        Okay, you got me to go back and check and I stand corrected. The payment link flashes when I log in. At that point, the system is still considering me as a reader and not a writer. That's where the payment part comes in.
                        
                        On the other hand, when I complete writing the article, the system asks me if I would like to have my article featured. Alright, point clarified (for me ).
                        
                        Well, well, then I can earn in USD and cryptos. Not bad!
                        
                        But here's the thing - just like you mentioned, no one would like to stay behind the paywall. Everyone will opt for the payment option. The job of the curator, thus, is not going to reduce. Of course, those who would voluntarily not want to have their articles curated (like referral link posts and other trash) will prosper, wouldn't they? I think the Medium team has to give that a good thought.
                        
                        By the way, apologies Nell, to have hijacked the original discussion.

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                           promisemposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                           Your comment is relevant because, unlike HP editors, Medium editors generally don't touch any article.
                           
                           Any writer who cares more about freedom than money should consider Medium. HP is more about money than freedom.

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                  promisemposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                  Glenn, you are incorrect. I did not say that Medium charges people for writing there.

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               Savio Dawsonposted 5 years agoin reply to this

               No, you can post there without paying, DzyMsLizzy. The payment for writers comes in only if you want to get readers fast.
               
               You can very well take your time and form your reader base for free.

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            JC Scullposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            I have posted close to a hundred articles in Medium with some great results until recently. It seems, and I might be wrong on this, that if you are not a paid subscriber, your articles will not be featured in "Topics" and they will get burried. My last article, which was a fiction, got "two" views in seven days. That's when I decided to look into other options. There is another problem with Medium.  They have created their own publications, such as One Zero, Elemental, Gen, Zora, Forge, Human Parts and a few others. Obviously, they are going to promote those before any other publication or self-posting.

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               promisemposted 5 years agoin reply to this

               I have great results some months and terrible results other months. I think it all depends on how often you write and how often you get featured.

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                  Nell Roseposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                  Thanks it's fine now, but it did annoy me at the time, lol!

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      promisemposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Do the changes follow the style guide? If not, the editor should give you a thorough explanation. Send an email asking for answers.
      
      We are supposed to have a collaborative relationship between writers and editors.
      
      Collaboration means we all should agree on how to improve an article. It's not supposed to be a one-way street.

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         Tim Truzy info4uposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, it supposed to be that way, but I've requested information regarding changes and have been met with silence to the point of considering removing my material from this site. I haven't yet, I will give the team time to return to a collaborative spirit regarding my case. I've dealt with transitions in ownership-even initiating it--and that sort of thing can take time.

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            promisemposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            I sometimes get silence, defensiveness or a complete rejection of my feedback. Other times I get an editor who listens well and is willing to meet me halfway.

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               Tim Truzy info4uposted 5 years agoin reply to this

               Thanks for the feedback, Scott. Appreciated.

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      MarleneBposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      In the beginning, I was a little bit taken back by some of the things the editors did. One time, an editor made a change that completely altered the meaning of the subject (real estate terminology). I imagine the editor was not well-versed on real estate terms. I had to quickly go in and revert it back because my readers would have been misled.
      
      It use to be that we could write a hub and be done with it. Now, we have to stay on top of everything we write - see what changes the editors made and whatnot. I am fairly happy with the changes they make, especially when they change out the images, because their images are usually better than the ones I originally selected.
      
      Editing is one thing - checking for grammar and spelling. To completely change the scope of something someone wrote is re-writing. The editor who worked on your article (in my mind) is more than an over-zealous editor. To me, that editor is an editor who should be a writer instead.
      
      I know how frustrating it is to see your work completely re-done. I would feel the same way as you.

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      OldRosesposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      The same thing happened to me.  More than once.  I sent the team a strongly worded complaint.  I am an expert in my field and to have my name on crap written by rank amateurs hurts my professional reputation.  I reverted all of the hubs back to the original text and photos. HP has not touched any of my hubs since so they do listen when you complain.  Do not be afraid to speak up.

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         Nell Roseposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks OldRoses, I think I will change mine back. Can't believe they do it! I do think they don't explain to the 'editors' how far to go.

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            OldRosesposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            I agree!

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               ReViewMeMediaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

               I always keep a backup of my original article on my computer, if I don't like the edits they've done to my article, I change it back.

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         Nell Roseposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks OldRoses. Sorry for the delay in answering, I have been away.

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            samanthacubbisonposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            @Nell Rose, our platform blends user-generated content and professional editing services. Had we not moved to this synergistic model, HubPages would likely have died and your content would no longer be. One of our areas of expertise is understanding reader intent and Google's search results. We have put a lot of effort and time into researching your article and its potential areas of growth.
            
            Unfortunately, your content will continue to come up in our editing queues if it is performing well.  We'd love to work with you in a positive, collaborative way.  However, we also recognize that our platform isn't for everyone. If you'd like complete control of all of your content and to revert the edits, we can move your content back to HubPages. Please let us know what you'd prefer. We hope that we can continue working together!

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      Jean Bakulaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Nell Rose,
      I realize this thread is a few days old, but I've been having a lot of personal problems and have been unable to spend time on HP. I have had awful edits in the past. I find that if you get to question the editor of the niche, and talk about it, it's better. I know you write a lot for Exemplore, although this article doesn't sound like it's there, and Taylor edits all my articles herself. She's been great. Some don't understand certain terminology or aren't as well versed in subjects you write about. I saw an answer from Samantha which didn't answer your question or solve your issue, typical. Why don't you change it back, and if it gets changed again, email the administration and get the name of who edits that niche. I've had to fight a lot for my articles and am so sick of it. But you are a good writer and deserve to be heard in your voice.

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      Thelma Albertsposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      OMG! That sounds weird Nell. I think you can change it to your original writing.

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   abwilliamsposted 5 years ago

   I'm sorry Nell Rose, I know how you feel! I too feel insulted and fed up regularly, but for different reasons.

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   Kenna McHughposted 5 years ago

   Sounds like a nightmare most writers experience some time during their career. HP sends out an email when they make edit changes. In so many words, you have an option to change it back.

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      Nell Roseposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Kenna, it wasn't just a small change, more like a complete makeover, with weird photos.

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         Glenn Stokposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         That doesn’t sound like something the editors HubPages hired would do. On the contrary—they remove images that don’t fit the topic or are silly, like the boiled egg representing a bald head that you mentioned. Are you sure your account was not hacked?

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            OldRosesposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            Glenn, I have to respectfully disagree.  Two editors worked on two of my hubs completely changing them, text and photos.  I complained to both the editors and the team and received responses from both.  As I stated, I reverted both hubs back to the original and HP hasn't touched my hubs since.  No hacking was involved.  Just shockingly massive changes that should never have been made.

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               Glenn Stokposted 5 years agoin reply to this

               Caren, The point I was making was that the image you said the editors put into your hub is the kind of image editors usually remove.
               
               Anyway, it's good to know that you were not hacked. I remember someone saying years ago that they clicked on link in an email that caused malware to be installed. It allowed the hacker to get access to their logon information of a number of sites. Good to know that wasn't the case with you.

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   Kenna McHughposted 5 years ago

   Yes. I got that, and it is weird. You should be able to revert it back to the original.

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   Kenna McHughposted 5 years ago

   Glenn,
   That is something to have an article hacked. I never heard of that happening.
   Nell,
   Did you email HP Team?

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      Glenn Stokposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Kenna, I’m not talking about me. I was asking Nell Rose, because of the drastic changes someone made to her hub. See her comments above.

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      Nell Roseposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      No, as I could see it was their doing because of the 'what we have changed' thing.

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   Kenna McHughposted 5 years ago

   Glenn,
   
   I know. Sorry for the confusions. It's hard for me to fathom someone hacking an HP article.

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   Savio Dawsonposted 5 years ago

   Oh man, that unsettles me! One of my articles is undergoing a Hubpro edit. I hope it doesn't end up so different.

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      Savio Dawsonposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Hello,
      
      Just an update - my hub got edited and is now LIVE. I am fine with the changes. So, it did work.
      
      That makes me wonder if something went wrong in your case, Nell. Doesn't hurt sending a mail to them.

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   Pamela99posted 5 years ago

   Nell, I have had pictures removed and changes in wording a couple of times. It never changed the whole point of view. I have not always agreed with the grammatical changes, but I just let it go as they did not change the point of view. I doubt you were hacked. I think you could contact Hubpages, but I don't know if it will change anything. Pam

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      Nell Roseposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Pam, yes I think I will leave it. I suppose they know what they are doing but it was so drastic. most of the writing was changed and the photos. It's not as if it was a poor hub. In fact it was one of my top ones.

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         Sherry Hewinsposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         I have had a couple that had substantial changes. One had a lot of added material that it turned out came from the pages of my competitors. I did not discover that until months later. That hub took a big hit and has never recovered. I would search some of the added stuff does not appear elsewhere on the Internet.
         
         Now, I don't think the edit was totally to blame for the loss on that one hub. When I first wrote it there was virtually no competition for it, and that has changed. It is medically related, and the competition is from medical sites.

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            Nell Roseposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            Hi Sherry, that is terrible! we are so careful not to plagiarise, then they go and do it!

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            Glenn Stokposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            Sherry, That's a horror! I would report it to the team. They can track down the editor who added plagiarized material to your hub. No one like that deserves to be on staff.

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               Sherry Hewinsposted 5 years agoin reply to this

               That editor is already gone

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         samanthacubbisonposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         Hi Nell Rose, we assure that our editors are trained in recognizing what changes (spelling/grammar, media, formatting, etc.) will help you gain more traffic (and income). But we understand that it can be startling!
         
         We find that a good top image with a call to action helps draw in readers, and some photos appear blurry or too small on mobile.
         
         But of course, if you don't agree with an image, you can always change it! Just remember that photos should be roughly 1000 pixels (full-width).

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            promisemposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            Samantha, I believe most writers recognize the importance of getting spelling, grammar, media and formatting correct with the help of editors.
            
            But some writers have experienced editors who have crossed over into changing voice and style as well as making changes based on personal preferences.

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               Shesabutterflyposted 5 years agoin reply to this

               According to emails from HP staff, "I know you want complete control of your content, and unfortunately, this isn't our business model any longer....It is part of their job to be adding bios and content to articles".
               
               This was mostly in response to my email about author bio's, but I've had articles that received added content that I didn't believe in or even mention anywhere else in my article. It doesn't appear our work is going to be completely our work for much longer.

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                  Tim Truzy info4uposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                  Thanks very much for this post. From education, counseling, banking, transportation, writing (fields I've worked in)--and I don't expect this situation to be any different--numbers matter and that must be an influencing factor with the edits. However, some idea of what to expect is important for authors, to tune our craft. After all, we own our copyright, and that should be respected.

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                  promisemposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                  I think we all -- editors and writers -- need to come to an understanding about how much control we each have over the content.
                  
                  I don't expect 100% control for myself. I hope the editors don't expect their own 100% control.
                  
                  After 10 years writing on here, I think it depends on the individual editor. Some seem to want total control and others seem willing to give us at least some control over the final article.

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                  Tim Truzy info4uposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                  I maintain some patience with caution. I remember working with a newspaper where the editors were so gun-ho with making changes on reports, etc., all of the reporters and other staff walked out. That paper failed. Yet, I've worked in a place where the opposite held true. That paper still flourishes, in spite of the digital era. Regardless of what platform HP decides to proceed with, if some editors don't want to hear thoughts from writers, then rough sailing is ahead for the company. I suspect the team is wiser than to make the writing environment, like that first newspaper,  unsuitable for anyone.

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         Solarasposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         I just saw something similar.  I have been using the same philosophy, as they add innumerable stupid names to my articles, in the hopes that they know what they are doing. 
         
         Views are off and going in to an old faithful article, I was horrified by stupid sentences.  I squirmed in my chair reading it.  Ughhh. I would not show any of my HP articles to anyone as an example of my writing or IQ.
         
         Added suggested dog names include things like Waffles, Toothpick and Hairbrush. I might start writing articles on dog name inspiration sources.  Open your freezer or top bathroom drawer, take an inventory; your dog's name likely lies in this  box...
         
         I am too old and tired to redo them.  Every few months someone sneaks through them; there is no going back to the original. It's what I get for being to busy for 1.5 years to guard against the mundane or down right strange.

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   Kenna McHughposted 5 years ago

   Will,
   It depends on how you like your eggs. Scrambled, poached, hard-boiled?

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    CerridwenDevoteeDposted 5 years ago

    I think Medium hasn't enstated a pay wall because it's very rare to actually make any substantial money from it. I wrote for them for a time, and after 6 mos of paying $5/month, I earned 5 cents. Earning money on there makes no sense. One person says it's for claps - another says reader engagement. I stopped writing after I talked to a few other writers who earned $20+ for articles that had fewer claps and fans than mine that earned .03 cents. The 2 cents I earned were for comments. It's a lot of work for nothing if you ask me. I personally like that Hubpages has editors that review articles -Medium promotes reliable articles but has no system for checking the articles themselves, weeding out people that are full of crap. Hubpages has made grammatical and punctuation changes to my articles before, and they've removed a photo I had because it was a graphic with the article's title. But they've never changed entire sentences. If you're unhappy with the changes, I would revert to the original article and contact the Hubpages editors team to inquire about the modifications.

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       promisemposted 5 years agoin reply to this

       Several comments:
       
       - Medium has a $5 monthly paywall for subscribers. If you want to make money as a writer from the paywall, you put your article into the partner program, and it goes behind that paywall. If you want to make little to no money from it, the article doesn't go behind the paywall.
       
       - Most of the money comes from claps and some comes from engagement.
       
       - A single article can make thousands of dollars if it goes viral or only pennies if the readership is low, even when it gets featured by editors.
       
       - Earning money is great for a small number of writers who have figured out Medium's obscure formula. It's a big risk for everyone else.
       
       https://help.medium.com/hc/en-us/articl … ed-paywall

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    agilitymachposted 5 years ago

    I had an edit done today on one of my less-viewed articles. I've been busy writing novels (my literary agent put my first novel out on submission to editors just recently!! I'ma nervous wreck!!). Because of that, I've been ignoring many emails from HubPages, but today I decided to check this one out. I'm glad I did. The edits were on a very old article, and they added or changed section headings and changed the title. Unfortunately, the title change was incorrect, and I had to rewrite it.  One of the section headings was also misleading. A few others were just poorly written. I edited them, and a few minutes later, my article had been approved for the niche site.
    
    I'm sure it's hard to edit these articles. My articles are on a little known sport, and it would be easy to edit in errors. I think the take away here is to check the edits if you have time. The writing in my article was mostly left alone, with only minor changes that I agreed with. I didn't have the article so drastically changed that it no longer felt like "my" writing.
    
    I am used to being edited, but for me this round of edits caused more issues than they fixed. I'm not around much, but I still think HubPages is a pretty cool site.

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       Savio Dawsonposted 5 years agoin reply to this

       Wow, a novel you said, agilitymach! All the best and God bless!

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          agilitymachposted 5 years agoin reply to this

          Thank you!!  I am stoked that I actually wrote one. I don't know if it's good or bad, but I DID write one.

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    shanmarieposted 5 years ago

    I remember that article and it popped in my news feed. I thought that first image seemed odd. I figured you'd changed it for some reason, though, and I didn't look at the rest of the article again. To me, the egg makes no sense for your article. The egg seems kind of insulting to me - unless maybe it represented a cartoony type of article.

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    Nell Roseposted 5 years ago

    Thanks for all your replies and suggestions. Yes I think I will just change it back.

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    Kenna McHughposted 5 years ago

    The main point is that we all understand each other. My work with the HP editors is positive. I haven't had a problem. If I did have a problem with an edit, I'd address it with the editor or HP Team. Mistakes happen on both sides, so it's not always black and white. We need to leave some room for the grey area.

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       Nell Roseposted 5 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks Kenna

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       Tim Truzy info4uposted 5 years agoin reply to this

       Agreed. The point is the creative process does not belong to one party and positivity for one does not represent the experiences of others. The process must be easily recognizable and not unpredictable for anyone.

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    Kenna McHughposted 5 years ago

    Tim, True. Communicate openly and try to understand each others point of view on the matter.

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    The Stages Of MEposted 5 years ago

    While I sympathize with your frustration, I would welcome editing. Unless it got out of hand with a drastic manipulation as you claim to have experienced. Maybe talk with the Hub team and see what they can do to revert it for you.

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