Help for a new Hubber: Adding to existing or start a new hub?

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   smiller2956posted 11 years ago

   I'm confused. My hub is about traveling in our motorhome for 5 months covering 30 states and the purpose is mostly to keep my family and friends up to date on our journey. But I don't know whether each "story" should be a new hub with a new title, or does the original hub entitled "Five Months and 30 States in an RV" just keep growing larger? That doesn't seem right, but how do I keep them connected to that topic. I'll be posting from each state. Thanks.

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      Rochelle Frankposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Seems logical that each new 'story' , or each new week or each new state could  be logical divisions. You could  title them something like  Trial Run to Florida Keys: Five Weeks and 30 States in an RV-- or whatever your main theme is.
      For updating your family and friends-- just direct them to your profile page.

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         smiller2956posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks, Rochelle. I like that idea. On easily directing my family to the new stories, I was wondering how to do that also. Do I just go to my profile and copy that link and send it to them?

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            Rochelle Frankposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            That would work.
            And, as others are saying, the articles should be written so they would be of general interest to people who don't know you personally. Including information about how other people might do this kind of traveling, and about what there is to see and do in each location would be interesting to a wide audience.

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      WalterPoonposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Smiller2956, you said: "... the purpose is mostly to keep my family and friends up to date on our journey." Facebook sounds more like a place for this purpose.
      
      My suggestion is that you should write a separate hub for each place that you visit.  That way, you would also end up with several hubs, instead of just one.  More hubs means more revenues, provided they are well-written. The latter requirement will make you sharper and more observant, whenever you visit a new place. What's it that would interest people? Write about it and don't forget to take a lot of colorful photos!!!

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      Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      The basic problem is that you're trying to use HubPages as a blog, and it's not a blog.
      
      Think of HubPages as a big magazine, and Hubs as articles in that magazine.  A Hub is not designed to be added to endlessly, because it's intended to be a stand-alone article.  In particular, when you add to an existing Hub your followers aren't notified. 
      
      However as you've found, if you start a new Hub instead, they are notified but the linkage between your various Hubs isn't obvious, and it's certainly not easy to follow them in sequence unless you add your own links.  Same reason - a Hub is a standalone article, and HubPages assumes readers would be just as interested in Hubs by other Hubbers as in Hubs by the same author. 
      
      If your main purpose is to keep family and friends up to date, then a blog on Blogger.com would've been a more sensible solution.

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         WalterPoonposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Well said, Marisa Wright. You explained it better than I do. Just one point, though... there is a feature to group all related hubs together.

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      Joanne M Olivieriposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Wow that sounds like a wonderful journey.  As others have mentioned, I would write one hub for each state.  Think of it as a travel hub and let your readers know not only what you are doing but also pointing out some of the hot spots in each state.  I think it is a great idea and I would love to follow your journeys on here, which I will do now

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         smiller2956posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I hope to make the articles as interesting and informative as possible as well as throwing in some humor. I'll add photos along the way which I could only hope are as good as yours, Joanne. What beautiful photography. Thanks for your advice.

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      CroftRoanposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I'd go with starting new each time. It's easier to keep track of and if your friends and family want to reread a certain day or part of the trip they don't have to search the whole thing to find that one part.

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   hawaiianodysseusposted 11 years ago

   How wonderful that you and a loved one (or loved ones) can make this trip across the country! To write HubPages articles about this marathon trip is a fantastic idea. Rather than get credited for one large gigantic journal, I think you should opt for having separate titles for each segment. That way, you'll build up your hub inventory while providing your readers the opportunity to have several "bite-size" articles to enjoy instead of an entire book. (Later, when you're ready to publish the book,  you will already have all these wonderful chapters reasonably separated.)
   
   To keep the unified theme intact, however, you can maintain link capsules that mention your overall project and connect each article with several others. I've not studied the rules enough, admittedly, to know if you can make one link that instantly connects the instant article to ALL of the other related articles. I'm confident that if it is indeed possible to do so, someone will explain how to do it or provide you with the HubPages link.
   
   Best wishes for a great journey, lots of fun and memorable experiences, and your tremendous writing project!  Aloha!
   
   Joe

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      smiller2956posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Joe, thank you for the encouragement and kind words. That's the same attitude we found EVERYWHERE in Hawaii last month! It must be the beautiful weather and scenery that keeps Hawaiians so friendly.
      I'm glad I'm on the right track with thinking several shorter Hubs with links makes more sense. We leave on Thursday so I'll be starting the next chapter soon. Thanks again!

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   wildernessposted 11 years ago

   You will need to take considerable care that it doesn't become purely personal.  Hubs are required to be informative, and purely personal writing seldom is.  If your intent is simply to keep your family informed, HP is probably not the place to do so.
   
   If you can write some reviews, included in your hubs, or descriptions of entertainment possibilities in various locations - that sort of thing is quite informative and well accepted.

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      mistyhorizon2003posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I confess I was thinking the exact same thing, this is not a 'blog' site, and therefore diaries of travels etc could be penalised unless they offer genuine travel advice etc.

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      smiller2956posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Actually what started out as a way to keep in touch has become a travel tips column for camping in  a motorhome and what to see in each place. I should have advice on which campgrounds are good, what to avoid, things to see, etc. I hope it's interesting to other retirees and anyone else who visits those areas.

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         Rochelle Frankposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I think this is the right idea.

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            Jean Bakulaposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            My husband and I drove across country twice many years ago, and we saw many fabulous things. Take a lot of pictures and take brochures from each tourist place you visit, and I'm sure you will have lots of interesting things to write about. I was cleaning a closet the other day, and found a whole bunch of stuff, like the Crazy Horse Monument (which is still being carved out of a mountain 30 + years later by the same family), and I have loads of pictures of Mesa Verde, the Indian Cliff dwellings. People lived in them and totally disappeared one day, nobody knows why. There are so many cool places, and I'm sure you could write and describe them on HP, and maybe just keep a personal journal for yourself in a notebook. Have a great time!

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         wildernessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         That would be perfect, I think.  Your family may get bored reading your recommendations, but strangers looking for advice won't.

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   shielamaeparrenoposted 11 years ago

   Wow congratulations smiller2956! Not everyone gets the chance to travel and what's best is you're with family. I agree with Joe..it'd be exciting to read your separate hubs on each state..you'll give your readers more reason to follow your posts.. All the best!

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   yupperclubposted 11 years ago

   I think there is a limit to the length of a hub.  I ran into a problem when I had a lot of capsules and pictures on a hub I was making.  I don't know exactly how you would want to break it down...sure you have interesting stories almost every day.  Wow.  Maybe you should write a little book instead...check out createspace...publish for free...use a word processor to write your story or stories...you can purchase copies for your friends and family or distribute them free on kindle.  That might be a better way to go.

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   Travis Aaronposted 11 years ago

   I think that you should write them in new hubs each time... and create a group to place them in, so that at the end of each hub, you will see a next/previous button to link to other hubs in the series.

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   delleaposted 11 years ago

   My best suggestion is to write each hub with the same title, followed by "Part 1", "Part 2", etc. Also, after you create each hub, make a custom Group and place all the trip hubs under that group. This has worked quite well for a 3-part hub series that I wrote.

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   lovebuglenaposted 11 years ago

   If a hub is too long it may become confusing, tiresome, and/or overwhelming to the readers. My advice would be to break up the hubs. If there is a lot of information for each state then I would devote a separate hub for each state. You can combine a few states together in one hub if not too much info. Make sure to include links in a hub about one state to a hub about another state. You can keep the same title for each hub but add on to the title the name of the state. You can even include Part I, Part II, etc. in the title. Hope this helps.

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      smiller2956posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for your comments. I had started to think about the Part II, Part lll idea. That way the title will be consistent and I can link them together. Appreciate your advice!

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   pinappuposted 11 years ago

   Smiler, I love your idea of travelling and story telling. You are creating a modern Canterbury Tells.

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    nakmeisterposted 11 years ago

    I'd write one for each state- sounds really interesting; I can't wait to read it. You could also do one overarching one that is updated too. Good luck with it!

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    yupperclubposted 11 years ago

    My little book idea...maybe after you write your hubs as you go, you can combine them into a little book...parti I, part II etc. can be chapters!  Then you will have the opportunity to spread your words worldwide and people can take their time reading all of your tales...maybe a little more profit, too, since you can promote your little book on each hub in case someone just happens to read one.!
    
    Just something to think about.

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    smiller2956posted 11 years ago

    Thank you all for the encouragement and advice. I just hope that I can write up to your expectations. I think I can see the interesting stories the same way I see a potential photo when out with my camera. We'll find out, but at least I'm going to give it my best.

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    FamousDenaposted 11 years ago

    You should definitely create separate hubs with different titles. Statistics show that most people read about 75% of an article and call it good so it is best to keep it short and entertaining. You can link to your other hubs from each of the new ones you create. Just refer to a previous hub and create a link so people can click on it and go to your various hubs. Good luck!

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       smiller2956posted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks, Dena. I appreciate your opinion.

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