HubPages: Week 8

What do you mean I’ve only made 8 cents so far?

This week is my 8^th week on HubPages, and I have published 43 articles. One article is awaiting approval because I had to rewrite it. I found out that I can move my HubPages articles into my blog, but I can’t move my blog articles into my HubPages. That would be considered a duplicate or (not in this case) plagiarism.

My answer to a question was booted off the site for having too many negative votes. Someone asked if HubPages writers would welcome getting their work (spelling) corrected by other Hubbers. To my surprise, most Hubbers would welcome emails from unknown Hubbers, telling them that they had errors in their published Hubs.

Fellow Hubbers, don’t you dare email me with your corrections! I will not appreciate them!

But my feelings and my answer to the question remains the same. As a writer, you have to take pride in your work. I am a published writer. If Hubbers sent emails to me saying I had spelling errors in my hub, I’d tell them to butt out. Why? Think about it.

Would you expect anyone to drop everything to correct your work? I wouldn’t. Don't do anything for free. I'm not paying you to edit my work.

If you stepped out of HubPages and were away from your safety net of someone correcting your online Hubs, where would you be? See what it’s like to sell your work to an editor with loads of errors. That editor will not baby you and send you an email saying, “Please correct your work. You have spelling errors on page so-and-so, paragraphs 3, 4 and 5.”

Bottom line? Don’t enable a writer or anyone else. Let them stand on their own two feet. Unless someone died and made you editor, move on. Save your editing skills for your own work.

Besides, would you want a stranger emailing you about your work and saying you should correct certain parts of your masterpiece?

Oh, hell no!

Fix your article before putting it out there. Or let it rest for a few hours, and then get back to it with fresh eyes. Be ruthless with your work. If you wish, get others to read your work. People you actually know and trust. Keep an editor in your pocket or nearby.

I used to have a friend who used to correct the spelling on my emails. The nerve. Now, who’s the the one with the English degree, here?

"Oh! Isn't daylillys spelled daylillies?"

Puullllease. She’s certainly no longer a friend of mine.

What can I do with 8 cents?

Not much. I have my water bill and other bills before me. Believe me. The money I’ve made will not be paying those bills.

But, I’m no stranger to online writing. I started online work about the same time last year. It was an experience, but my workaholic tendencies kicked in, and I was glued to my laptop for seven months until I quit the project. During those seven months, I wrote and got paid for it. $10 per 300-word article with no byline. But, I slammed articles from 7:30 in the morning til 11:30 at night. At the same time, I didn’t have much of a life.

When I first started writing for HubPages, I got a note from a follower:

“How much money have you made?”

You’ve gotta be kidding. Who keeps telling these people that online writing will get you wads of of cash?

I went on and on about my experiences with online writing. I told him to pitch to magazines and complete his novel, instead. Then pitch his novel to an agent or a publisher. Go for the big money because online work won’t pay the bills. Yet, a lot of talented people who are experienced writers and editors are willing to work for online pay.

His brief answer to me came through his Blackberry, and it was priceless.

“Great. Love your passion for writing.”

So if a person I’ve never met can see passion in my writing, then so can I.

I am, therefore I write.

I’ll find something to do with the 8 cents.