What I'm going to do...

1. 87

   theraggededgeposted 6 weeks ago

   As HP is no longer invested in helping or investing in its writers, I'm going to leave all my stuff on Discover for the residual (dwindling) income. At least for the time being. But, I'm also going to revamp them and republish them, splitting them between my own site and Medium.

   replyreport
   1. 73

      Miebakagh57posted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

      Bev, you're good to go. Hubpages is now very hard to understand due to the massives going on.

      replyreport
      1. 73

         Miebakagh57posted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

         Bev, I'm sorry. There is an omitted word that confused you, in my reply.                                      Okay, here's the correct post:'Bev, you're good to go. Hubpages is now very hard to understand, due to the massive changes going on'.

         replyreport
   2. 94

      AnupamaRposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

      All the very best to you! You've been very helpful to newbies like me.  Hope things remain the same at least here at the hubpages forum.

      replyreport
   3. 67

      OldRosesposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

      I'm moving all of my Dengarden articles to Discover.  Thankfully, I had already started the process of converting them to Substack newsletters, which I hope will start to generate some revenue eventually.

      replyreport
   4. 62

      EricFarmer8xposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

      I am taking most of my HubPages content, updating it, and publishing it on my own websites. Never did that good here anyway. At best I just was getting paid $50 every few months. I suppose it was better than nothing.
      
      I feel I rather be in control of the entire writing process. Even if I don't do as well.

      replyreport
   5. 99

      chef-de-jourposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

      What will happen to articles on Owlcation? Are they to be moved to Discover over time? I'm still reaching the threshold each month with 450+ Owlcation articles but haven't a clue about their future status, so I'm wondering who knows the latest? Team at HP?

      replyreport
      1. 92

         Michelle Shortposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

         Lisa said that Owlcation is one of the niches that is staying, at least for the time being.

         replyreport
      2. 98

         Gregory DeVictorposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

         The majority of my articles are on HobbyLark, and I have been wondering what is going to happen with that site down the road.
         
         Matt told me in an email earlier this week that HubPages will no longer be moving qualified articles from Discover to HobbyLark. Obviously, I don't know if that ruling applies to Owlcation as well.

         replyreport
      3. 92

         SerenityHaloposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

         On a similar note, Delishably is on the list of niche sites that aren’t being dumped; however, nothing new has appeared since July.
         
         Perhaps these websites won’t be dumped. Instead they’ll meet the same arcane fate as Pethelpful and DenGarden.

         replyreport
         1. 97

            Shesabutterflyposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

            This thought crossed my mind as well. I'd love for HP to be bought out by someone else, but I'm worried they might simply transfer some of the other remaining niches over to TAG if Pethelpful and Dengarden prove successful.
            
            I hate to move my Owlcation articles elsewhere and lose my SERP ranking and copyright date, but I'm thinking now is the time. I do not want to be in this spot again in a few months or a year with my most profitable articles. Hopefully a new platform will do them some good.

            replyreport
            1. 92

               SerenityHaloposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

               Originally, I was excited that some niches would remain. Now it all just seems questionable. I think they’ve laid off all the editors unless they were moved to another sector of Arena… I think that’s doubtful that they kept them at all.
               
               I don’t think any new content will be moved to the remaining niches.
               
               It does seem like the right time to backup everything.

               replyreport
2. 92

   Sue Adamsposted 6 weeks ago

   Good idea Bev. I'm going to  move all my articles to a new website which I'll own and control myself. It's the only way. With dwindling incme from Hubpages, what have we got to lose? As independent publishers we at least can keep our dignity.

   replyreport
   1. 61

      Grip55posted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

      ok this is what I found on the internet. Parade owned by The Arena Group, is a publication that has gone to internet newsletter, by subscription only. A lot like Sub Stack.
      It looks like that is the sign of the times. The advertising dollar is drying up due to the economy. Newspapers all over the country are shutting down, because they all depended on the advertising dollar to support them. Have you ever started reading an article for the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times and then had it blurred out part way through the article, and then they said you have to subscribe to finish reading. That is what Medium does I hear. Pay to read. Perhaps Hub Pages, is failing for a lot of reasons, and no it wasn't fair to not let the writers that have been on this platform for a long time, what the score was. But if they did - would you have stayed? I imagine Pet Helpful and Den Garden will be one of the newsletters that are by subscription only. It is a sign of the times I suppose, and no education or experience writing could have prepared you what is happening with this site, no more than anything could have prepared the world for COVID 19. Perhaps that is what kicked this whole thing off, or perhaps it would have happened anyway, I will ask all of you, because I read it on Facebook, an article that was published on this platform, and it was called "The Greater Depression of 2030". It predicted difficult times, it was well researched and well written. It didn't mention the fall of newspapers, but it did mention what would cause the Greater Depression by 2030. I was lucky, I was in the military, and have free prescriptions and a free secondary insurance, but I have empathy for those of you who don't have that, or perhaps you do.  Perhaps some of you knew this already, and if so, then please forgive my ramblings. The Arena Group has problems that are beyond YOUR control. They fired their CEO, (per the internet), and hired someone else, and the former fired CEO, is suing them. If all of you knew this already, please forgive me for repeating what you already knew.
      Ok on the lighter side, I will get off my soap box now, I hope all of you have retained your sense of humor, sometimes that is all we have left.

      replyreport
      1. 87

         theraggededgeposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

         I'm glad that you now have a grasp of why writers here are unhappy instead of telling us what miseries we are and how well you are doing.
         
         Some of us are heartbroken that this place where we have congregated, socialised, turned our brains inside out to earn a useful income and, at the same time, turned a profit for HP, is now turning to sand in our hands.
         
         The owners have taken advantage of our blood, sweat and tears only to cut our earnings, frustrate us with a terrible-looking platform, reduce our ability to interact with each other and our readers, and leave us in the dark about everything.

         replyreport
         1. 97

            viryaboposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

            +1

            replyreport
            1. 87

               theraggededgeposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

               I don't think I used the word 'turn' enough To be fair it was quite early and one coffee is never sufficient to get the brain into gear.

               replyreport
               1. 97

                  viryaboposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

                  

                  replyreport
3. 97

   Eric Cauncaposted 6 weeks ago

   Which website generates the better revenue for you: your own site or HP?

   replyreport
   1. 97

      Eric Cauncaposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

      ...and which outrank better on Google? Thanks

      replyreport
      1. 87

         theraggededgeposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

         My HP articles are definitely ranking better on Discover than they were previously but traffic has only increased by a couple hundred per day.
         
         With the new site, it's the old URLs that are ranking well as they always did, but that might fade away as I stop renewing them next year.

         replyreport
   2. 87

      theraggededgeposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

      I've only just started my own site - closed down the previous one that generated some  Adsense but it was only breaking even and was too much faff to keep going. I've published on Notion.sites now (I already had an account) and put redirects from my old domains. So no income yet, apart from a little Amazon.
      
      I used to earn quite a bit from Medium - the best month was about £800, but I lost interest and stopped writing there. It's time to start again.
      
      HubPages was once four figures and, even while declining, was still enough to be a useful amount. I'm just going to see how it goes. I'm not moving the Discover articles, just rewriting and republishing.

      replyreport
      1. 97

         Eric Cauncaposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

         Why not try Wordpress? Do you think it's a good platform for content writing?

         replyreport
         1. 87

            theraggededgeposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

            Ha, no, I just moved from two self-hosted WP sites after 13 years. Had enough of the hassle. Plus Hostgator doubled my fees overnight.

            replyreport
            1. 97

               Shesabutterflyposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

               Hostgator jacked my price and then tried charging me for 3yrs. Ridiculous. I've never paid for more than a year at a time.
               
               I have my domain for another year yet and I'm looking elsewhere, but my technology skills are severely lacking. I don't know if I'll ever be able to turn a profit on my own site.

               replyreport
         2. 95

            eugbugposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

            I can't make any sense of Wordpress. The whole thing is totally user unfriendly and difficult to navigate and design blogs on.

            replyreport
            1. 97

               Eric Cauncaposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

               Do you know of any other writing platforms that can generate a good revenue or even just same as HubPages?

               replyreport
               1. 97

                  Eric Cauncaposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

                  I asked the Chatgpt about this and here what it gave to me.
                  
                  

                  replyreport
                  1. 96

                     PaulGoodman67posted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

                     Yes, I tried ChatGPT some time back and that was all I got too.
                     
                     The list is pretty much useless unless you're a complete newbie to the writing field and even then, you'd have a lot of fun trying to sign up to Infobarrel which has been defunct for a long time.
                     
                     When HP started, the internet was a buzzing hive of new ideas, including revenue sharing projects. Now, it's cold and corporate.

                     replyreport
                     1. 99

                        DrMark1961posted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

                        Yes, I like how they also include Adsense and affiliate marketing under ways to earn with Hubpages. Maybe someone should inform Chat GPT that information from years ago is no longer valid now?

                        replyreport
                        1. 96

                           PaulGoodman67posted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

                           That is the core issue with ChatGPT. It's painfully bad when it comes to assessing and quantifying qualities such as veracity and usefulness.
                           
                           It resembles the worst possible sort of web surfer who assumes that if something's on the internet, it must be true.
                           
                           Even worse, as you imply, it can throw up answers that are just plain irrelevant to what's been asked because it struggles to understand the motivations of the questioner.
                           
                           And then there's the archaic information...
                           
                           Medium, Substack, HP, and Vocal are the only sites in this list that are writing for an income/reward sites. I wish that there were others that have been hiding under our noses but I'm not sure that there are. There certainly don't seem to be any publish and revenue share like HP.

                           replyreport
               2. 95

                  eugbugposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

                  Not really. I've just regurgitated a story from Medium and put it on Substack as my first free article. I might post another few free ones and then make the next ones subscription-only. I had setup an account there last year, but hadn't done anything with it until now.

                  replyreport
            2. 62

               EricFarmer8xposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

               It is annoying to get started, but eventually, it makes sense. I have found that once I get things to how I want them, I don't change much and focus on writing.
               
               My main issues with my websites are not the tech and more writing things anyone actually wants to read.

               replyreport
4. 84

   Venkatachari Mposted 6 weeks ago

   I hope most of us will be doing the same thing. Recipe and "How To" posts will do better on your Blog perhaps.

   replyreport
5. 96

   PaulGoodman67posted 6 weeks ago

   "...no income yet, apart from a little Amazon"
   
   I think that earning a reasonable amount is the biggest challenge when going it alone. I've achieved views from my efforts elsewhere but never much money.
   
   Medium seems to be in decline. I think it's more challenging to earn $800 there nowadays. Maybe the answer is to launch a publication where we all support each other, I don't know.

   replyreport
   1. 87

      theraggededgeposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

      Maybe that's the answer, but perhaps more towards a serious writers' publication. Well-written, across a range of topics, or even a bit niche. I already have a tarot one on Medium so would be willing to venture into something different. How tos don't work. There's already a ton focused on writing. We should give it some thought.

      replyreport
      1. 96

         PaulGoodman67posted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

         If I was going to expand a lot of energy on a personal project, I think I would steer clear of writing. As much as I love the written word, I'm not convinced that there's much earning potential nowadays. Podcasts and short videos are the thing at the moment.

         replyreport
         1. 92

            Kenna McHughposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

            YT invited me back to monetization, which was a nice surprise. The payout increases each day, week and month. It looks promising, with a nice payout for July.

            replyreport
   2. 95

      eugbugposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

      I can't even get Google to index a Blogger blog I started six months ago. I have 80 original articles, but they keep calling it thin content. Probably because their automated assessment algorithms are as bad as the search algorithm,

      replyreport
      1. 96

         PaulGoodman67posted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

         Yeah, I suspect that’s a generic message. Probably the same one I’ve received.

         replyreport
   3. 84

      JerryFisherposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

      That's a great idea Paul. Start HP from the beginning again. I'm all for that. Or, the alternative might be a a large group Substack with subscription - such as a newsletter with sections on Pets, botanical, poetry, How to repair? etc. There has been a few enormous Newsletter success stories on Substack - selling for multi millions.

      replyreport
6. 95

   Rupert Taylorposted 6 weeks ago

   I ran my own website for a while using Dreamweaver (I called it Screamweaver) software. It was an add-on to the print magazine I published. The experience wiped several years off my life expectancy largely because my technical skills are calibrated negatively. The part of the brain in which digital talents reside is, in my case, filled with a small piece of three-quarter inch plywood, finished one side.
   
   I will applaud, from the cheaper seats, any effort to set up a quality writers' site. I would be happy to contribute content but my scribblings don't attract a lot of traffic so may not be of much interest.
   
   My feeling is that TAG will test the model with Pethelpful and Dengarden. and, if it works, eventually move everything to a platform that doesn't pay its writers.

   replyreport
   1. 96

      PaulGoodman67posted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

      Even for someone like myself, who has moderate technical skills, it's a big strain on time and energy running your own site.
      
      Generally speaking, the more control you have, the more energy you have to put in. The advertising/revue raising side can be particularly tricky, which was the main reason why I loved HP when it was at its peak, which was probably 2018.
      
      I'd rather just write and earn and not have to be constantly fiddling around with the website.
      
      I agree with you that the trend of TAG losing interest will continue.

      replyreport
7. 85

   FatFreddysCatposted 6 weeks ago

   Honestly, I don't know if it's even worth the trouble for me to try starting over from scratch somewhere else. I have accounts on Medium and Substack, but have never done much with either of them. I don't have the time or the patience to learn the ins and outs of new sites.
   
   For now, I'm leaving my stuff on Discover so it can continue to earn its daily pittance, until the HP Powers that Be inevitably decide that it's lights-out time.
   
   When that happens, I will ride off into the sunset with no regrets.

   replyreport
   1. 96

      PaulGoodman67posted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

      I don't know where you published at Medium but Rui Alves' publication "Rock n' Heavy" did well for the handful of music articles I've written. One or two did particularly well there.
      
      Although the name implies only heavy rock, he publishes pretty much any music article in my experience. He also has a decent Twitter (I refuse to call it X) following and will often tweet links to your work.
      
      Generally, though, I'm in agreement with you. The pittance I earn from HP is certainly superior to the pittance I'd get from Adsense.

      replyreport
      1. 85

         FatFreddysCatposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

         I looked into that "Rock N Heavy" pub when I first signed up for Medium but couldn't figure out how to join it. I think you have to be a paying subscriber to contribute to it, which I'm not, because right now I'm not even sure if I'm going to bother with Medium yet.
         
         Like I said, I no longer have the time or the patience to jump through f*ckin' hoops learning how to use a new site. I think I'm just gonna take my toys and go home for now.

         replyreport
         1. 73

            Miebakagh57posted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

            Well said as that's good for you.

            replyreport
8. 61

   Grip55posted 6 weeks ago

   I was wondering if anyone knew anything about the writing platform, - Simply - Kenna told me to look around and I found this one, and wondered if anyone knew anything about it.

   replyreport
9. 90

   How to - Answersposted 6 weeks ago

   I am at a loss as how to ask for all my den garden and pethelpful articles to be transferred to discover, can someone point me in the correct direction please

   replyreport
   1. 73

      Miebakagh57posted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

      Contact team@hubpages.com/ or editors@hubpages.com/

      replyreport
10. 95

    Rupert Taylorposted 6 weeks ago

    It's simple. Just send an email to editors@hubpages.com requesting the move and they'll take care of it.

    replyreport
    1. 96

       PaulGoodman67posted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

       I wish there were a mechanism for us to do it ourselves. I'd be happy to do it and not rely on others.
       
       If it's not done by mid-October, I'll start to worry. Hopefully, that won't be the case.

       replyreport
11. 61

    Mark Ewbieposted 5 weeks ago

    I had already left HP a few years ago but left a few articles here and there.
    
    I could have emailed whoever@wherever and asked them to move my articles to Discover but it felt like another hoop to jump through.  A possibly pointless hoop.  A hoop too far.  You get the idea.
    
    My last HP payment was August 2023.  My handful of remaining articles earns a few dollars income per month at most.
    
    Given that it doesn't really matter where these old articles exist, or even if they exist at all tbh, I figured it's a good time to move them to my own site.
    
    The choice for me is to earn very little and have no control or to have total control and earn very little.
    
    It's good to have a choice.

    replyreport
    1. 73

       Miebakagh57posted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

       I giggle at your wit. You're good to go with your 'choice'.

       replyreport
    2. 96

       PaulGoodman67posted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

       "The choice for me is to earn very little and have no control or to have total control and earn very little."
       
       It's the modern dilemma! There don't seem to be good options anymore!

       replyreport
       1. 87

          theraggededgeposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

          The last resort for us is OnlyFans, Paul

          replyreport
12. 61

    Grip55posted 5 weeks ago

    Well this is a very busy little thread, however this thread just keep getting longer and longer. I asked Kenna, one of your regulars what I should do during this train wreck, and she told me since I just started on hub pages, to find another platform.
    Well taking her advise,, I moved all but three of my articles from hub pages.
    
    I will leave the remaining three here where they were born. Someone to carry on my legacy, whether good or bad.
    
    I have been earning one cent per day, - How long do you think it will take me to get to the $50 payout? That is $3.65 a year. - ok -phones out go to your calculator and let's see. You're right, you know I am retired so that means I won't live long enough to see pay out. Still there is the legacy, and who knows maybe someone will buy hub pages, and we can all start over again.
    
    So here is to the legacy. -----

    replyreport
    1. 92

       SerenityHaloposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

       Hello there.
       
       It took me about a year to get to the $50 payout. That was more than ten years ago. Things have changed… but it did start with earning pennies a day.
       
       The money you earn isn’t consistent from day to day, so there isn’t a quick and easy formula you can use to figure out how long it will take to earn $50. It does take posting a lot of articles that people are going to want to read. Right now, things are up in the air, as you already know… so it might be wise to pause before pushing on the gas on publishing lots of things.

       replyreport
13. 65

    Eileen Hughesposted 5 weeks ago

    Has anyone done any good writing articles for amazon affiliates. I have written a lot but get clicks but no sales. Just wondering if anyone has succeeded thanks

    replyreport
14. 92

    Sue Adamsposted 5 weeks ago

    A few years ago, a group of disappointed HP writers set up their own website called "The Creative Exiles". It has no advertising.
    But today there doesn't seem to be any way of signing up, neither can I find any "About" or "Contact" or "Write for Us" pages to possibly join and contribute.
    
    Do any of you know more about "The Creative Exiles"? Or does anyone have an email address for any of these former HP authors?

    replyreport
    1. 87

       tsmogposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

       John Hansen (Jodah) is one of the original members. He is still somewhat active in these forums. He may be able to shed some light on it for you. His 'contact' link is live.
       
       John Hansen
       https://hubpages.com/@jodah

       replyreport
       1. 92

          Sue Adamsposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

          Thank you Tim.

          replyreport
    2. 87

       Jodahposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

       Hello Sue,
       I was one of the creators of The Creative Exiles along with Phyllis Doyle and Ralph Schwartz.
       Yes, it still exists, and you can apply to join as an author there by emailing:
       poet@gmx.us or Creativeexiles@outlook.com

       replyreport