Which sites are staying with the Arena group for sure?

1. 96

   Sustainable Sueposted 5 months ago

   I recently received an email from The Arena Group/Maven. They said they were keeping PetHelpful and DenGarden, while moving others back to Discover. (I don't know how many or which others.) They're offering some kind of deal to write for them and be paid upfront, and asked me to meet with them online today to discuss it. I can let you know more afterward.
   
   Meanwhile, has anyone else received such an email? Which sites did they tell you they'd be keeping?

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      bravewarriorposted 5 months agoin reply to this

      I have not but I look forward to the results of your online meeting!

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   2. 99

      chef-de-jourposted 5 months agoin reply to this

      Wow. Yet another curious development on the theme of 'How to completely confuse, irritate and bamboozle HP writers'...
      
      I haven't received any emails whatsoever about the recent proposed move to Discover. I don't think anyone else has. You're the first to break the news. You could be the last.
      All of my 450+ articles are still on Owlcation, editing is still on the go and quite frankly I don't believe there's anyone at HP has the foggiest idea about who is in charge of this latest strategic move. Seems like one editor claims lead role, another goes off at a tangent, another hasn't a clue about either.....

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   3. 86

      Patty Inglish, MSposted 5 months agoin reply to this

      No emails to me from anyone about this. Good luck with the meeting.

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   4. 90

      WriterJanisposted 5 months agoin reply to this

      I haven't heard anything. Fingers crossed for your meeting.

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   5. 93

      Kenna McHughposted 5 months agoin reply to this

      Sue, I have seen your work. It's impressive. I would follow Glen's advice. Let us know what happened.

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   6. 93

      Kenna McHughposted 5 months agoin reply to this

      This is why HP staff need to keep writers informed of what is happening.

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2. 99

   Shesabutterflyposted 5 months ago

   I did not receive an email, but I would not expect to.
   
   Honestly, I can't say I'm surprised by this news. Both those niches have several experts that they can pay up front to generate enough income for TAG while letting everything else languish away on Discover or a select few other niche sites for little to no cost to them.
   
   Assuming they keep any around for authors who are not paid up front.

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3. 84

   viryaboposted 5 months ago

   I haven’t received such a message from them either. Perhaps they are being selective about it?

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4. 95

   Rupert Taylorposted 5 months ago

   No e-mail here either. Would this be appropriate time to trot out Groucho Marx's famous comment about not wanting to join any club that would have him as a member?

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5. 94

   Glenn Stokposted 5 months ago

   Sue, Are you certain that email came from The Arena Group? It might be a scam. I would suggest not to give any personal information that they already have. If they ask for your logon info, for example, that would be a red flag.
   
   If it is legit, good luck with whatever the offer is. And do keep us posted.

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   1. 82

      bravewarriorposted 5 months agoin reply to this

      Excellent advice, Glenn! If legit emails are being sent by TAG, why hasn't HP opened a forum letting us know that there could be a real possibility the HP authors have the opportunity to be paid upfront?
      
      Now that I think about it, magazines, newspapers, and authoritative, legitimate online resources never pay upfront. And they NEVER email a writer asking for an online interview beforehand. Writers are paid AFTER they've sent a successful pitch and the publication has accepted the article. Payment comes after publication, not prior to.

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      1. 94

         Glenn Stokposted 5 months agoin reply to this

         Exactly! All the more reason to question it, Shauna. Good points.

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      2. 92

         SerenityHaloposted 5 months agoin reply to this

         That is interesting. Payment up front doesn’t really make sense. I could see them spelling out the terms of a payment first. Even perhaps an installment of payments. It does sound fishy. Generally people want to see your writing work first before giving you payment.

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      3. 96

         Sustainable Sueposted 5 months agoin reply to this

         I didn't really mean "upfront" in that regard—more like they buy the article outright, and we forfeit any royalties or payment for ads.

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6. 95

   Rupert Taylorposted 5 months ago

   I get frequent solicitations from people, whose names are most certainly not of Anglo-Saxon origin, making suggestions about posting articles on my AxelAddict/RemedyGrove/etc website. No doubt large sums of money are on offer but I never bother reading the e-mails. Silly me.

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7. 90

   Sue Adamsposted 5 months ago

   I just received this email:
   
   "Hi Sue Adams,
   
   Thank you for submitting your article, How to Learn Yoga From Your Baby or Toddler (the Child Becomes the Teacher), for consideration on CalorieBee.Unfortunately, we are no longer accepting submissions to HubPages Network Sites.
   
   We constantly strive to ensure that articles achieve the best possible visibility and engagement. As such, we are in the process of moving all articles currently on Network Sites back to Discover HubPages, and we believe your article has the potential to attract more traffic and generate higher earnings on the Discover HubPages domain.
   
   Thanks for writing on HubPages, and let us know if you have any questions!
   
   Kindly,
   The HubPages Editing Team"
   
   But the thing is, I have not submitted any article to any niche sites for at least a year!
   
   Weird!

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   1. 93

      Kenna McHughposted 5 months agoin reply to this

      Sue A., Good to know!

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   2. 82

      bravewarriorposted 5 months agoin reply to this

      Well, this certainly answers all the questions about HP niche sites and whether or not to bother submitting to them. The question remains, though: Where is HP headed? What is the earning potential, if any?

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   3. 92

      SerenityHaloposted 5 months agoin reply to this

      This form letter is telling. I think it goes with what others are saying… no one 100% knows what is happening. I’ve heard some niche sites are staying, which I think is probably true, and then this letter says it’s all going to Discover. Interesting developments.

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      1. 82

         bravewarriorposted 5 months agoin reply to this

         I still have articles on Delishably, DenGarden, Letterpile, PetHelpful, Tough Nickel, and TurboFuture.

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8. 95

   Rupert Taylorposted 5 months ago

   Sue, I don't think your message is from HubPages. The giveaway is the phrase "let us know if you have any questions!"
   
   HubPages hasn't been the tiniest bit interested in questions from writers for weeks.

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   1. 100

      Gregory DeVictorposted 5 months agoin reply to this

      Also, I have never seen HubPages use "Kindly" as a sign-off in an email. I have seen "Cheers" and "Thanks" used, but never "Kindly."
      
      Edit: "Kindly" just doesn't sound like a sign-off that HubPages would use.

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      1. 93

         Kenna McHughposted 5 months agoin reply to this

         I have clients in India who use "Kindly" as their salutation in emails. HP is not in India.

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      2. 99

         Shesabutterflyposted 5 months agoin reply to this

         All emails regarding edits that I've received have said
         
         "Kindly,
         The HubPages Editing Team"
         
         As far as I'm aware they are automated messages as they are identical with the exception of the title of the article/niche site. Or the occasional editor's note.
         
         I'm assuming Sue Adams' email is real. If the plan is to remove all or most of the niche sites, it would make sense for them to have an automated message to alert authors who are trying to submit articles.
         
         Transparency is not happening in the forums from staff, but at least an auto message is a way to communicate with authors.
         
         It is weird that it's coming this late from when she last submitted an article, but maybe they have been extremely backlogged or not actively working on moving articles from the que for awhile?

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         1. 100

            Gregory DeVictorposted 5 months agoin reply to this

            OK, I was wrong about the use of "Kindly" as a sign-off to an email. I just checked on an email that I received back on April 25 regarding an article that was edited. The sign-off was indeed "Kindly."

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            1. 100

               Gregory DeVictorposted 5 months agoin reply to this

               Edit: In addition, the email also stated:
               
               "Feel free to email us if you have any questions about this edit."

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9. 96

   Sustainable Sueposted 5 months ago

   It was legit. Apparently they're just starting with these two sites and being (understandably) selective about who they make the offer to. They'll be keeping Owlcation, Delishably, Holidappy, and a couple of other sites too. I forgot which ones, because an earthquake interfered with our meeting, They also said they will be making an announcement in a few days, as soon as they have everything worked out. So keep your fingers crossed. You may be contacted next.

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   1. 92

      SerenityHaloposted 5 months agoin reply to this

      Thank you so much for this update! Glad to hear it is real and not something nefarious. I’m happy to hear the niche sites you’ve mentioned are staying. I think all of those so far have staying power.

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   2. 93

      Kenna McHughposted 5 months agoin reply to this

      Sue, Thanks for letting us know. Interesting.

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      1. 82

         bravewarriorposted 5 months agoin reply to this

         Very!

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   3. 94

      Glenn Stokposted 5 months agoin reply to this

      Evidently, we can't trust what they tell you, Sue, because Holidappy was moved to Discover today.

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      1. 93

         Kenna McHughposted 5 months agoin reply to this

         Wow! Why am I not surprised! (at least it's Thursday)

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      2. 96

         Sustainable Sueposted 5 months agoin reply to this

         Maybe I remembered it wrong. All my Holidappy articles are now on Discover as well . . . but they're all older articles.

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10. 94

    Glenn Stokposted 5 months ago

    I just had some articles moved from ToughNickel and TurboFuture today. But many of my hubs still remain on those niches. I can’t figure out why only a few were moved. And why today? I thought they said the moves are done each Thursday, maybe I misread that.

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    1. 82

       bravewarriorposted 5 months agoin reply to this

       No, you didn't misread that, Glenn. We were told a couple of weeks ago that the moves to Discover are happening each Thursday, with the exception of that first Thursday because the editor/mover was going to be out that day.

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       1. 94

          Glenn Stokposted 5 months agoin reply to this

          Thanks for confirming that, Shauna. It looks like we can't trust anything they tell us. It always turns out different, with no transparency.

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11. 91

    Genna Eastposted 5 months ago

    I'm afraid I would have to agree with Kenna and others.  These emails sound suspicious.

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12. 97

    CYong74posted 5 months ago

    Some of my Holidappy and ToughNickel articles have been transferred.
    
    Guess we can soon say goodbye to these two niches too.

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    1. 92

       SerenityHaloposted 5 months agoin reply to this

       Some of my Holidappy articles have been moved as well.

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       1. 90

          WriterJanisposted 5 months agoin reply to this

          Holidappy is still showing up, but the articles on the HubPages homepage are all older. The current lead article is from Jan. 2024.

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13. 94

    Michelle Shortposted 5 months ago

    It looks like The Crime Wire is going too. All of my articles on there have been moved to Discover.

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    1. 92

       SerenityHaloposted 5 months agoin reply to this

       Hmmm. I think it would have been wise for them to keep The Crime Wire separate since the content is more mature. I just saw the news section for it… I hope they end all the news sections.

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    2. 93

       Kenna McHughposted 5 months agoin reply to this

       Wow! I thought for sure Crime Wire would stay at least until Thursday.

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       1. 90

          WriterJanisposted 5 months agoin reply to this

          I'm no longer seeing Crime Wire.

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          1. 87

             theraggededgeposted 5 months agoin reply to this

             HubPages needs to update the feed page, for sure. They are all still listed.

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14. 61

    FatFreddysCatposted 5 months ago

    Looks like Spinditty has gone the way of the Dodo as well.
    
    Soooo, that does it for me. (grabs hat) G'nite everybody! It's been fun.

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15. 96

    eugbugposted 5 months ago

    Google still appears to be using the network site names in SERPs, with the Discover URL underneath for some moved content. Other articles have Hubpages written on top of the entry.

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    1. 96

       PaulGoodman67posted 5 months agoin reply to this

       I expect that situation will be temporary.

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16. 84

    Venkatachari Mposted 5 months ago

    Please refer to this thread for all your queries and clearance of doubts:
    https://hubpages.com/community/forum/36 … d-discover

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