Network Sites Are Getting Stricter With Rules and Regulations

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   hclpdposted 4 years ago

   A lot of my new hubs have not been getting considered for Reelrundown lately. It feels as if they have gotten a tad more strict. Do you guys feel the same way?

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      samanthacubbisonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Hi @hclpd! Every editor's acceptance process is a little different, but we do update our standards occasionally to maintain high-quality content across the network.
      
      I would suggest following any notes that your editors may provide. Their job is to be helpful, so applying their suggestions should better your chances of being accepted.

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         paradigmsearchposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         HP's current practices are:
         
         A. Making people unwilling to gamble their time, money, and labor to write new articles.
         
         B. Making people afraid to update their existing articles.
         
         It is not the policy that is at fault. It is the way it is being implemented.

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            samanthacubbisonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            I'm sorry you feel that way! To continue ranking well with Google and readers, we need to be strategic with our content. Online writers everywhere must be prepared to edit their work after submitting, and we do try to provide as much feedback as possible. Otherwise, our staff executes edits to assure that even more articles get published. These are normal practices in the world of online publishing.
            
            @hclpd, I have reviewed some of your content and stand behind my original suggestion. Your articles are unique and informative, so with a little tweaking here and there, I think you'll have no problem at all.

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               paradigmsearchposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               Again, it is not HP's policies that are at fault. I understand and agree with them. It is HP's method of implementation that is causing all the problems and is being a deal-breaker for many.

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               hclpdposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               Thank you for reviewing them. I will and see what I can do with them. Maybe I'll delete, tweak, and then republish them. That way, it will be reconsidered without me having to wait for 15 days.

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            greenmindposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            I think paradigmsearch has a point here. I'm feeling it.

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            theraggededgeposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            Sorry... I completely disagree with both assertions

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               paradigmsearchposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               I could send a long email to HP, but that would take a lot of time and work to write it. I can guarantee that HP would agree with what the email said and would very probably make use of the information in how they decide their procedures.

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            OldRosesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            Wow, I couldn't disagree more.  I've never mentioned this in the forums before because I don't want to appear to be bragging, but all of my hubs are moved to the appropriate niche site within a few days of of being published.  I have only ever had one hub rejected by the editors.  I received the usual bland email so I queried them about it.  They were kind enough to send me a detailed response.  Additionally, I have been rewriting old hubs and submitting them to niche sites every two weeks.  None have been rejected.  Admittedly I have had a couple of over-zealous editors inappropriately "edit" a couple of my hubs.  I just reversed their changes.
            
            Overall, my experience writing on HubPages has been positive.  And I look forward to the 28th of the month.

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               paradigmsearchposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               That is good to hear, especially the part about the 28th; I am fond of that date, myself.
               
               I guess I should have said "a percentage of people", instead of just "people".

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               theraggededgeposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               Yep. This has been my experience too. And the editors are willing to discuss any fixable issues.

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      Ladymermaidposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Yep, I've been noticing fewer being accepted as well. If I think the refusal is unmerited then I move the article to my own sites.

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         hclpdposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         I thought I was the only one noticing the trend. If only I knew how to create a blog. Where and how do I start?

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   FatFreddysCatposted 4 years ago

   Just curious: does each niche site have its own "experts" reviewing our articles? In other words, are the ReelRundown editors movie nerds, are the SpinDitty editors music geeks, etc.... or does every new submission simply go into a general "bucket" that the pool of editors pick through?
   
   My music articles are generally moved onto Spinditty within a few days of being posted, with minimal changes  - I'm not tryin' to toot my own horn, I'm just sayin'. However, when I write the occasional movie review (just to mix things up for my own amusement) my success rate for making it to ReelRundown is about 50/50. R.R. is also the only niche site I've ever gotten an "editors' note" email from with suggestions to improve the piece(s).
   
   My articles on ReelRundown don't get much traffic anyway, so at this point if I write a movie review and they accept it for R.R., great. If not, I don't worry too much about tweaking it to get it on there.

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      samanthacubbisonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      @FatFreddysCat, we have a system that sends articles to the most appropriate Network Site. Then the editors pick through their curated "bucket."
      
      And there's some jumping around when necessary, but our Network Sites are usually claimed by editors who are total nerds, yes.

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      EricFarmer8xposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I have noticed something similar. Anything I write that fits on TubrboFuture gets there somewhat fast. But anything anything else seems to need to pass harder checks?
      
      I think I might try some more content for TurboFuture though since I seem to be able to write for it.

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   PaulGoodman67posted 4 years ago

   Yes, I used to have the vast majority of my new hubs getting accepted by niche sites. And when not accepted initially, I got told what changes were necessary. But recently I've had a number of rejections with the don't bother to resubmit for at least a couple of months message. This type of rejection gives no indication on the specific reasoning (just completely general list of possible rejection reasons) and is not helpful.
   
   It's frustrating if you've written a couple of thousand words and spent a few days on something. I'm still hanging in there, but it's demoralizing. I used to think that I knew what was required, but not so much nowadays.

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      hclpdposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      That's exactly my problem as well. Something needs to be done about this issue.

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         PaulGoodman67posted 4 years agoin reply to this

         I got another one today (not this, but another HP account). Same generic rejection letter. No feedback.
         
         It seems like what worked before is no longer being accepted. Even though it's not dissimilar to work already up there.
         
         Unrelated, I also got a comment from member of public regarding factually incorrect information that an editor had inserted into a hub. Not the first case of this happening.
         
         Mistakes happen. And generally speaking, the editing in recent times has boosted my traffic enormously. But I'm not sure what to do at the moment. I may try writing one more hub on a different topic, and if that fails, take a break. If the acceptance rate is 10% instead of 90%, it becomes less appealing.

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            Amanda Buckposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            You have more than one HP account?  Is that possible and why?  I can see that it might be a benefit if you write about totally different topics and want to have a separate account or identity for specific topics.  Interesting.

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               PaulGoodman67posted 4 years agoin reply to this

               Well, I don't think it's particularly useful now. It's a result of two factors:
               
               1. During the "subdomains" period of HubPages, account views were rising and falling like a roller coaster ride. It seemed like a good idea to try different subject areas, and also not put my eggs in one basket, because major crashes were common.
               
               2. The death of Squidoo meant that my Squidoo stuff migrated over here and formed a couple of new accounts.
               
               I wouldn't particularly recommend having more than one account in the current setup.

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   eugbugposted 4 years ago

   I agree that rejections should include more specific info on what led to the decision, rather than editors just clicking some boxes to categorise the rejection. That's of course if there was a very specific reason, rather than the article failing to reach a standard in some category. Strangely editors never edit any changes in math hubs. Their eyes probably glaze over when they see all those symbols

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      samanthacubbisonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      @eugbug, thank you for your feedback! I'll pass this on to the team.
      
      I'm sure the editors are scared to touch those math hubs, haha.

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   Rupert Taylorposted 4 years ago

   I can't say I've noticed stricter vetting. Most of what I submit gets moved to the niche sites within a few days with minimal editing. As with FatFreddiesCat, I'm not boasting, just saying.
   
   Having plied my trade as an editor for several decades I understand the complexities and subjective nature of the job. Writers, understandably, are a bit touchy about their work being altered, but you have to accept that somebody coming to your article for the first time may not see it as the brilliant and  carefully crafted prose you believe it to be.
   
   (Suck up alert) In general, I find the HP editors to be helpful and professional. I might quibble about the odd change but it's not my website and I operate on the theory that they know better than me what works on this webbynet thing.

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      paradigmsearchposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      My post is not about the editors, it's about how the editors are inefficiently used and some other issues that don't even involve the editors.

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      samanthacubbisonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      @Rupert Taylor, thanks for the support. You'll be receiving your official "Suck Up" gift basket in the mail shortly.

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         paradigmsearchposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         Hmm. A promise of a monetarily worthy suck-up "basket" might entice me to do that email.

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            samanthacubbisonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            I'd love to know what thoughts you have on the matter. I can't promise anything, but feedback from the community is always helpful.

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               paradigmsearchposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               The email would not be so much feedback, but more of as an analysis and recommendations based on that analysis.

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   Will Apseposted 4 years ago

   I have serious rejection issues. I like working on my own and I hate criticism which I tend to see as an attack on me rather than my work. This is undoubtedly my problem and not anyone else's, lol.
   
   I think genuinely actionable feedback would help (as others have suggested). Give the writer hope.
   
   I would suggest a rejection check list with a link from each item to advice on fixing the issue.
   
   Something like:
   
   Spelling and or grammar needs improvement
   Needs better structure (reader needs to be led through the issues more carefully)
   Topic already extensively covered
   Needs illustrations/pictures/graphics
   Needs more evidence to support assertions within the article
   Needs to include alternative viewpoints
   You think you are a writer but you are not
   
   Whatever...
   
   The ed ticks away. Link each rejection criteria to a page in the help section which shows the fix. Is this feasible in the time frame?

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      Solarasposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      In the instance of an article submitted to Delishably, I got this from the editor, accepting the article, pending these changes. Shameful that I had these issues, and more were presented to me upon the editing that occurred after its move.  Perhaps not all of the editors are bothering to follow these practices.
      
      "The Editor who reviewed your article suggests that you address the following issues:
      
      Additional Note From Your Editor:
      Thank you for submitting this article to Delishably!
      
      In order to consider it, please make the following edits:
      
      - Please fix the typo in the text overlay in the top image ("Waldorph" should be "Waldorf").
      
      - The title makes it sound like the article will include only a recipe for the salad dressing, not for the entire salad. More apt might be: "The Waldorf: A Simple and Sophisticated Fruit Salad Recipe."
      
      - Please lowercase all ingredients.
      
      Thank you!"

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         Will Apseposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         That is indeed very helpful and detailed. If they go into that level of detail for everyone, my earlier comment is entirely redundant.

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            PaulGoodman67posted 4 years agoin reply to this

            The issue for me is not so much the "rejection" as that the criteria or something else seems to have changed. Maybe its just a change of  emphasis placed on certain factors. I mean, some of the stuff I've had rejected in recent times are not majorly different to the stuff I had accepted without question in the past. Historically, once I got into the swing of writing for the niches, I had almost nothing rejected for a long, long time. And if it was rejected, it came with easily actionable advice. My acceptance rate was around 95% if not more.
            
            I suspect that there's a reaction to some of the recent Google Algo changes going on, but I wish it was made a little clearer how us writers are supposed to adapt. Guesswork is painful when it takes hours to write an article. The Maven tutor videos are fine, but pretty basic. (Though I do need to go through all my author biogs still).

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      EricFarmer8xposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I feel the same way sometimes. This is something I have needed to work on and I try to improve with suggestions.

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   Don Bobbittposted 4 years ago

   I Wonder .... Is a suggestion for improvements a rejection?
   Or is it just a suggestion for improvements?
   
   I get these regularly, and honestly, when I get on it's usually because I got lazy with my article, often with my overall structure and my presentation.
   
   Let's be honest here. We're here to be the best at what we do and how we present it.
   I know I certainly suck at this sometimes, and having an editor throw a cold glass of water in my face occasionally doesn't leave scars!

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      samanthacubbisonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      @Don Bobbitt When we send out author edit requests, they are always suggestions for improvement! We want to accept as many articles as possible, so we try to help in any way we can. These requests are normally quick and easy fixes.
      
      When we send a "rejection," the article often needs a bit more time spent.  Even so, they are always meant to encourage the author to go through and improve their work before resubmitting.
      
      I'm sorry about the whole "cold glass of water" thing, but at least it's filtered!

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   Rupert Taylorposted 4 years ago

   Samantha. I don't want to be ungracious, but could the "suck-up gift basket" include Barolo wine, Brie, and Creme Caramel? Okay, just the Barolo would be fine.

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      samanthacubbisonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I was thinking of just a pound of lemons, but Barolo sounds better.

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   paradigmsearchposted 4 years ago

   So far, none of the feedback here has covered what my analysis-recommendation email would cover.
   
   I shall give HP a gentle nudge. Google Analytics has informed me that in November:
   
   A. My website exceeded my HP articles in users, sessions, page views.
   B. My website literally has half the bounce rate of my HP articles.
   
   In other words, I'm getting darned good at what I do. All we need to do is discuss that suck-up gift basket. If interested, contact me offline.

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    paradigmsearchposted 4 years ago

    Because of this thread and the things I posted here, someone (a stranger) sent me an inquiry. Paranoid person that I am, I'm leery of revealing my email address to strangers. So am posting the answer here, since I'm sure they'll see it.
    
    https://www.blogger.com

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       Sherry Hewinsposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       When I click that link it takes me to my blog

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          paradigmsearchposted 4 years agoin reply to this

          That's because you are already signed in. For an unsigned in newbie, it takes them to the Google intro telling them all about Blogger/Blogspot.

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