Am I The Only One Who...

1. 89

   Nell Roseposted 5 years ago

   Sends articles to the niche sites and gets rejected? I recently sent an interesting English History one concerning a girl (family) back in the 19th century who fell asleep for nine years and even royalty came to check her out as it was one of those strange mysterious of the time. Hubpages said it wasn't a general interest so couldn't add it. So why has it been copied at least 30 times then? Now I sent another Historic piece about a cottage industry in the last few centuries, needle making in Long Crendon, and still nothing! I just wondered why mine weren't good enough!

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      always exploringposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      I never send anything to the sites, but I got a notice from HubPages that they sent my piece about Jackie to LetterP. I'm not sure I spelled that correctly. Who knows what anyone thinks about our writing? lol.Take care and keep writing.

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      cheryloneposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      I have not been lucky asking if my article is good for a site, I just wait and see if they send it there themselves.  I have quite a few now that have been sent to Pet Helpful.  Maybe you just have to wait for them to see what you have done.

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   3. 93

      Beth Eaglescliffeposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      The topic sounded so intriguing that I searched through your hubs to find it. You are referring to the one about The Sleeping Girl of Turville? If so, I think the following changes could help get it moved to a niche site:-
      
      1. Nearly all your links go to articles which are on HP and not on niche sites. As far as I know, links may go from HP to a niche site but not from a niche site back to HP. (And of course your aim is to get this article onto a niche site.)
      
      2. Links take readers away from your work. So instead of linking out to other articles (even your own) reword information from them and include it within this article. This will have the effect of broadening the context and show that you are not talking about your family's story in isolation. Giving the topic universal relevance should also get over the editor's comment that your article is too personal (not of general interest.)

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      1. 89

         Nell Roseposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks Beth, I thought I had done all that, I had better go back and check.

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         1. 89

            Patty Inglish, MSposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            I stopped submitting niche sites, because my choices were 100% always rejected -- BUT often, the same rejected articles were chosen in a few weeks by HP for niche sites, so I just let them choose what and when they like. They usually do some minor edits or snips and then post to niches, but once in a while, editors ask me to make changes. It works for me.

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            1. 81

               Wesman Todd Shawposted 5 years agoin reply to this

               The last thing I published, I thought, 'wow, this is good. This ought to be a total hit, and they should love to put it on the niche site I usually submit to.'
               
               Rejected. Yeah, I've been pretty peeved about it.
               
               Glad to see your comment. I've always thought of you as probably the most badass entity around here.

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                  Patty Inglish, MSposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                  I like the image of a badass entity. 

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         2. 93

            Bedbugabscondposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            I have been rejected for reason number one, but then accepted when I removed the links. I want to write on a similar topic so I hope you can figure out how to get it moved. Keep us posted.

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            1. 89

               Nell Roseposted 5 years agoin reply to this

               Hiya Bedbugabscond, I figured out my mistakes, sometimes you really do need Grammarly! LOL!

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2. 95

   EricFarmer8xposted 5 years ago

   The HubPages editing process (to me) is quite strict, but they tend to be fair for the most part. Some of my Hubs were rejected before. At first, I was angry and annoyed, but I considered what I could do the edit the hub to get it to where I want.
   
   In a few cases, I was able to find out what the editors wanted to be changed and I got it to where I wanted. In other times I could not. I try to not get too annoyed at this anymore. If a hub doesn't fit at all I consider using it off HubPages or I move on and try something else.
   
   I once wrote an email to support asking why a hub was not considered for LevelSkip (a network website) I got a detailed response back telling me why. I did not agree with it 100%, but at least they told me things to work on. I recommend giving this a try.

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   1. 81

      Wesman Todd Shawposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Well that's something I've never done. I wish they'd just say what they think the problem(s) are with the page in the rejection notice.
      
      I definitely get upset about the rejections. I just can't seem to see, sometimes, why one thing does great, and another thing is thought to not be so good.

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3. 81

   Wesman Todd Shawposted 5 years ago

   I'm sometimes just amazed at things that do especially well online, and then at things that do not. A couple months ago I did a thing about a person, and I expected it to sit on Hubpages, maybe a niche site, and get a little bit of traffic every day, for the next several years.
   
   I sure didn't expect it to do as well as it has been doing. I pretty much never expect something to become as successful as my most successful things have been.
   
   Anyway, I've also done things I thought were stronger than things accepted to niche sites.. I like to imagine the editors of the niche sites look much more deeply into the subjects than I do. I'm not saying I think they look into what I'm saying, whether it is true or false, or spin - I'm saying I think they maybe do keyword research, to see if the thing submitted has much interest in terms of persons searching for that sort of information.
   
   How much competition there is for a page about this or that is extremely important.
   
   I'm only thinking out loud here. I've no clue whether or not they do keyword research. I don't do keyword research, but I know that if I did, and truly understood that research, I'd have a much better idea of what to expect in terms of search traffic.

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   1. 89

      Nell Roseposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Wesman

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4. 94

   jansharesposted 5 years ago

   It's not just you Nell. I've been rejected, too. Sometimes I forget what has been rejected and submit it again, lol.

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      siramaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      "Sometimes I forget what has been rejected and submit it again, lol.:"
      
      me too me too

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         jansharesposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         

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5. 96

   DrMark1961posted 5 years ago

   Are you looking for constructive criticism? If not, skip this!
   I just read your article on Long Crendon. I was more confused than anything else. It is kind of disorganized to be a historical piece, and I was left kind of wondering if you wrote it just for the family.
   If you want it to be an Owlcation type of article, you need to change your bio, change the layout so that the subtitles are in APA style, and get rid of that Amazon capsule that has nothing to do with the subject. I would recommend including an outline so that a reader can look at separate sections of the article without going through all of the images. (All of those images are probably slowing down your page load time and it would be much better to have them as thumbnails.)
   Why the image of the Shrimpton needles? Do you feel this would be useful or entertaining to a reader?
   It does not feel much like an academic article. Did you submit it to Owlcation?
   (Nell, sorry if this is harsh. If you prefer just ignore it.)

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   1. 89

      Nell Roseposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Dr.Mark I will take another look.

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      1. 96

         DrMark1961posted 5 years agoin reply to this

         I saw the link on there to your article on the sleeping girl. If that stays on HP, it is as Beth points out and you cannot link from a niche site back to HP.

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            DzyMsLizzyposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            True, and their reasoning behind that is that in creating the niche sites, they were trying to get Google to notice those articles on their own, and not as part of a "content farm," which seems to be how Google regards the HP main site.
            So, link away,  from HP articles to a niche site, but never the other way around.
            Cheers!

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               Nell Roseposted 5 years agoin reply to this

               lol! just goes to prove that however many times we edit our own stuff we just miss the obvious!

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               siramaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

               Linking is the problem as it is associated to touching google's nose. But, you can keep a reference section (http://<your link> without a clickable hyper link) and refer that in your main article.
               
               Ex: In your article section(s) you can write something like,
               "If you want to know more about Tom & Jerry refer the page at reference section, link 2"

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6. 93

   Kenna McHughposted 5 years ago

   I've submitted and then rejected. I've submitted and then moved over with the editor thanking me for bringing the article to his or her attention.
   Is there a secret formula? I don't think so.
   There are times an editor moves my article over to a niche site without my having to submit. That is totally awesome - I do the happy dance. 
   One time, I submitted and then rejected. That article is top in rankings and impressions. Go figure!
   Oh well, it's part of writing for HP.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 5 years agoin reply to this

      The secret is to use the same formula for each article that has been accepted in the past...usually this would be one that is well written, follows all the rules and doesn't cover topics that have been saturated.  I've had a few rejected, but every time this has happened for good reasons.  Usually when this happens I just dump the article...much less frustrating than trying to redo something that wasn't good to begin with!

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7. 93

   Kenna McHughposted 5 years ago

   Great advice, Beth!

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8. 92

   Titiaposted 5 years ago

   You're not the only one. I have two hubs about roses. One is on Dengarden, the other got rejected (don't know why). However the one on HP is getting more views than the one on Dengarden.

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9. 89

   Nell Roseposted 5 years ago

   Jeesh! I just double checked my Sleeping Girl hub! How many grammar mistakes? LOL! the only excuse I can make is that it is one of the very first hubs I wrote here about 9 years ago. Slap on the wrist, ashamed....hide my face!

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   1. 94

      jansharesposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Sometimes it has nothing to do with grammatical mistakes. This one has been rejected twice (I believe) due to the topic (???). They give a generic list about it not being up to par, none of which I really get. Anyway . . .
      https://hubpages.com/relationships/How- … -Love-Peom

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      1. 96

         DrMark1961posted 5 years agoin reply to this

         I agree that it has nothing to do with grammar. If it was just a poem it would have been moved to Letterpile already, but since it is an article about relationships I think the editors are looking at it differenty.
         If I were researching this on the web, I would be looking for a solution to my problem. How about "Best way to accept your partners annoying behaviors" and then explain that method. (Or 5 Ways to accept your partners annoying behaviors.) The bullet list is ok, but I already know her quirks. How about a bullet list telling me how to put up with them?
         If you would, I think it would be moved to a niche site right away, and also help a lot of us.

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            jansharesposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            Thank you so much, DrMark, for your critique. I will make time to implement your suggestions. I appreciate the help.

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      2. 89

         Nell Roseposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         Hi Jan, and the other thing is of course snipping....over and over and over...the same one! Didn't it get snipped by them in the first place LOL!

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            jansharesposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            Oh yes, several of mine have gotten snipped . . . again and again, same ones. My, the rules change so quickly around here (similar to a line said by Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz").

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         psycheskinnerposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         It might be due to the typo in the url

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            jansharesposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            I thought about that, too, psycheskinner.

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            jansharesposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            Now you have me wondering, psycheskinner. It has over a thousand views. Would it be worth it to rewrite it with a new URL instead of editing the original? If I incorporate DrMark's suggestions and title change, it may be a whole new article anyway. But it has over a thousand views.

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10. 93

    Beth Eaglescliffeposted 5 years ago

    Jan - It depends on how long it took to gather those views and where they are from.
    
    If the article got 1,000 views in one week, I would keep the existing URL, but if it took a year to reach that total, then scrap it and start again. Likewise, if those views are from other hubbers taking a look, rather than from Google, I would just start over with a new URL.

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