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Unjustifiable Refusal to Publish - Why HubPages Has No Right to Edit
I was referred to HubPages and I really looked forward to writing here. I consider myself a fairly decent writer with more than acceptable grammar. I try to be certain that what I write goes into the appropriate category. I make sure there is no plagiarism and that the writings are mine. I don't spam images or promotional links. I only use my own images or images that I am allowed to use either with permission or as public domain. I make certain that the ads I select for my articles are related to the article in which they're placed and my articles always remain on topic. Even with all that, I have had the last three articles I have written refused by HubPages' alleged "Quality Assessment." Why do i say "alleged"? Because i don't think they would know quality if it reached off the screen and punched them in the nose. I don't expect this article to be published either. To make matters worse, they never inform you as to why your article was refused and when you try to contact them, they never respond. How can we, as writers, fix our articles if the "editor" just says, "It sucks" and doesn't bother to tell us why?
The articles I write are fairly in depth; some more than others. And they're about things that matter to me. I don't know if my articles are refused because they're truly poor or if it's just because the 'powers that be' have no clue regarding the topics about which i write. Either way, i find their method of dealing with it unacceptable. Below are re-postings of the articles that were refused.
I have no problem with my articles not being accepted. What I have a problem with is not knowing why. The "Learning Center" offered by HubPages is absolutely no help when you feel you've followed the guidelines. To those of you that like it here, I say excellent! It works for you. But their refusal to accept articles doesn't work for me. Therefore, i will be finding somewhere else to call "home." I just wish I wouldn't have given out so much of my information to them prior to this.
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1:
Republished and "Featured"
http://craeft.hubpages.com/hub/EAA-Declines-FAAs-Grant-of-Exemption
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2:
Republished but not featured due to "quality":
http://craeft.hubpages.com/hub/Google-Aviate-Android-Launcher-of-Intrigue
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3:
Republished but not featured due to "quality":
http://craeft.hubpages.com/hub/Hand-Crafted-Accessories-Personalize-Your-Holiday-Gifts
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Well, at least they got published again. I can't tell you how many times I've changed every hub I have. Sometimes I felt so angry I vowed to myself to take them all off. But if you do that, and put them on a site of your own, it's only you. I have my own blog, and it's very hard to get traffic to it. Just keep changing pictures, read them every few weeks, and as you get better at it and calmer, you will think of better ways to fix them. I understand it's very personal when our work gets criticized and we aren't sure why. Another thing, don't worry about the numbers system, like the hubber score, it's really a secret, and I'll be damned, nobody knows that algorithm, or they won't tell. It's so people can't game the system. They love pictures, just make sure you say where you got them from. I still look on Google Images, but click that wheel thingy, and it leads to legal ones to use. People like to look at pictures. I know that sucks when you are a writer, but what good is it if we write something good and it never gets read? Hang in there!
- Author
Thanks, Jean.
So I finally got 5 featured so that means the rest of mine will be published, just not featured. Kind of a bummer, but at least they'll be there.
I don't understand their 'rating' and I am severely irked that the only reason I got in the email from them was:
"Hi Jeremy,
It appears your Hub was unpublished for failing the QAP.
For more information, see:
http://hubpages.com/faq/#quality-assessment
That is very possibly the least helpful 'help' I've ever received.
I don't think you have to format the hub exactly like the format they suggest. It really is only a suggestion, though 3 pictures do break it up. I have a habit of writing long hubs and understand people have short attention spans, so try harder to break it up. I've never had a hub just rejected or pulled, so I don't really understand why this is happening. Others have said they experienced the same. I hope you can work it out. Good luck!
- Author
The EAA/FAA one was recently accepted after I guessed (on the third 'edit') that it was in the wrong category even though the previous category was more fitting for the article. That particular article was thrown back at me twice prior without any information as to why.
As for the images, if that's the issue, then all I would like is to know that is the reason. As I said above, I have no problem with the rejection, but as a write and if HubPages is going to take the role as an editor, then I need to know why. But in my opinion (and that's all it is), not having three images should not be reason for rejection. I would say minimum of 1, personally.
I sent two emails to their team. One of which was Friday morning (I think). Maybe they will get in touch with me after the weekend. At that point, I may reconsider depending on their response. But thus far, my experience here has been nothing but frustrating and negative.
If it's just page formatting, then ok. Though I'm not a huge fan of the way it's set up, at least that's fixable. But again, that needs to be communicated in their "Your article didn't get a high enough score...". The score thing seems a bit ambiguous to me overall, anyway. But as for why I'm not a fan of how it's set up, I write in Word first and then copy/paste from there. If I am required to break up the text with images, then they really should find a better editing system than the "text capsule". It would be a lot more effective to be able to paste the text and then INSERT images where they're needed.
Thanks for the comment/feedback. It actually helped a bit. I guess I'll wait and see what (if) they say. I will just not write anything else here or visit until I hear from them.
I'm perplexed about why two of the three hubs you relisted on this one were unpublished. The third, about the FAA, is shown on your profile screen with two other hubs about home brewing of beer.
HubPages prefers hubs to contain at least three original or properly-attributed images, broken up by capsules of copy for a pleasing screen look. This also grabs readers with short attention spans. Most people who read online don't want to read a lot of copy with no pictures or illustrations (and most will stop after a few sentences). You only have one logo and one unbroken "chunk" of copy for each published hub. I don't know how your other two hubs looked because you reproduced them as straight copy, no pictures.
These could be the reasons your hubs didn't get past the analysis, but I don't know that for certain.
If you can't find the answers you need, you can send an email to the HP Team, but don't expect a reply on the weekend. It usually takes them two or three days to respond. I've found them to be helpful when they do reply.
Look at it this way. Your writing is competent, so if formatting is mostly what you need to improve, that can be easy. HP has straightforward instructions in the HP Learning Center.
Good luck. I hope you will give HP another chance. It's really a nice place to write and to meet other writers. Compared to other writing sites and content "mills", HP has more advantages than disadvantages.
Jaye
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