HUBBERS I LOVE; HUBBERS I LEAVE

Yes, love em and leave em, but not necessarily the same ones. I realize my preferences don't automatically apply to everyone; however, for me, its all about good common sense, and social grace. If you would not say something at a social get-to-gather, you probably shouldn't write it in a hub comment either.

HUBBERS I LOVE

LOYAL FRIENDS AND FANS

I have a number of loyal fans (friends) from all over the world, who read my hubs as they are able. They do not always offer long comments, but generally write something in the comment section implying my hub was read and enjoyed. I may not hear from them for several days, but when they do comment, their comments are positive, encouraging, and stimulate more comments by others. Some comments they make are very short, but positive, implying their support of my work. If they witness an attack by another hubber, they defend me, or write that they were able to understand the point I was making, not understood by the other writer, or well taken.

FRIENDS WHO CORRECT MY ERRORS

Some fans have emailed me privately, with good suggestions, or additional information I found helpful. Some even let me know either in comments or by direct email about typographical errors in my writing, or words or letters I left out. While I do edit and proofread my work, I am not mistake proof. Those corrections are greatly appreciated by this humble novice. All I can say to you, is keep those letters and card coming in!

FREINDS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD

In graduate school, some of my favorite people were the International students, who offered me the opportunity to learn about other cultures without the need of having enough money to travel to other countries. I am finding the same wonderful opportunity here, through my many International hubpages friends. Communicating with people from other cultures is an education in itself, and greatly reduces the sadness I feel over losing my business and higher standard of living. It is amazing how much I learn from those of you who share cultures from distant lands. Thank you so much! Many here in the good ole USA would agree that different cultures exist within our own country, so I also enjoy my friends and fans in Western, Northern, and Midwest states. Those of you who are fellow southerners have much to offer as well.

GOOD WRITERS

Some of you are just plain good writers, and I am amazed at the quality of your work. In such cases, I join fan clubs, and don't much care if you join my own, though that is always an added bonus. I love good writing, and enjoy the company of good writers. I also tend to do better in larger International groups than I was able to do in the little town in which I presently reside. About an hour south of Atlanta, it is a very conservative, small town, and I am not a very conservative person, or writer, on many fronts. My writing was often so offensive to these small town writing groups, I had to cease attending them. Amazingly, some of you have found me first, additionally surprising, and added yourself to my fan club. In such cases, I was very honored to find that your writing far surpassed my own. Thank you immensely for joining my fan club.

HUBBERS I LEAVE

HUBBERS WHO FAKE IT

Any hubber who never makes a comment suggesting he or she might actually have really read your writing, is a leaver. Yes, I will thank such hubbers for their comments, but never will I follow such a person. Making a comment such as "Great Hub," isn't telling me anything, except that you are hoping to be followed, but aren't particularly interested in reading my writing. Most writers aren't stupid, so I assume many of you can also see through these types of comments. If you are going to make a comment on another writer's hub, give an opinion, or tell him or her something you like about the hub, something you agree with, or something with which you do not agree. Be nice, but be honest, that is, as honest as you can be without being rude. If the hub makes you feel too angry, it is best not to make a comment at all, nor follow the hubber either. If you find the writing to be very poor, why comment at all? Just stop reading, and don't follow, or comment.

HUBBERS WHO PROVIDE "WELL MEANING" ADVICE, WITHOUT KNOWING THE FACTS

I could publish a book on these; however, I will only mention a few. As a supervisor in my former life, I knew the best criticism usually began with a question for clarification. Before I can criticize your work, I need to be sure I understand what you are trying to say. It may be that your writing is not clear enough, or it may be that I have my own personal shortsightedness, and react to some issue of my own. Your writing may not even be implying what I am feeling emotionally. Some writers use irony, or satire in their writing, and mean for you to read between the lines; this is especially common in poetry, or song lyrics. Satire may say openly, exactly the opposite of the message it wants to impact. Don't jump on the simple meaning, without taking the time to look deeper. Who remembers Joan Baez's lyric "With God on our Side?" The lyric was not implying that God was really on our side. Please, read between the lines.

Also, don't email me directly with unsolicited ways I could earn more money. There are plenty of hubs out there about increasing one's earning potential, and I can select from them if I am interested in reading such a hub. It may be I'm earning more money than you are, and while you may be scoring 100 on that particular day, don't let it go to your head. I've scored 100 a number of times, then sunk to 95, then rose to 100 again, only to sink again.

It is wonderful to score 100 for a day or so, but it doesn't make me any authority. If I were that successful, I wouldn't have time to write as much as I do for hubpages. Suggestions like including large numbers of lyrics on a single hub, imply that earning pennies through googlesense is more important than having my lyrics read, since no one is going to read through twenty song lyrics at once. Your goal may be to earn the small amount hubpages pays; mine is to eventually be a well known writer, whose lyrics are heard on the radio or MTV.

Don't give advice about something you know nothing about. You may believe only long hubs bring in money, and that may be true of many hubs; however, my best money makers are very short pet breed profiles. People outside of hubpages find them through the title name of the animal involved. To argue with me on line, telling me I must only want to attract other hubbers, is insulting, since I think I have enough sense to know which hubs pull in money, and which ones don't. My short breed hubs attract more outside readers than do my longer hubs. Case closed. My main goal is to be read, not to make pennies from add clicks. While making money here is great, I'm not going to write long dull, "put people to sleep" hubs in order to earn a minimal amount of money. My dreams are much larger than that.

CORRECTIONS

I've received two corrective responses to my breed profiles. One was very polite, and called into question one of the pictures in my breed profile. I decided the hubber was correct, and eliminated the picture that looked more like an American Pit Bull than an American Bulldog, even though it had been labeled as one. Such corrections are appreciated. The other was rude, questioning why I wrote about things about which I knew nothing. While I did do some further investigating on the breed, and added some other sites featuring the dog, I did not approve the rude comment, nor answer the rude email I received for two or three days. As writers, we do research and write about things we do not do on a daily basis. I am open to changing hubs, but not to insult. Since I do have the option of not approving comments, extremely hurtful ones will be rejected.

HUBBERS WHO ONLY JOIN FAN CLUBS TO OBTAIN NEW FANS FOR THEMSELVES

In a sense, we are all opportunist; however, joining my fan club, or anyone's fan club, and making a comment that only demonstrates you have not actually read the material, is disappointing. Most of us write in order to be read, and we want people to really read and appreciate our work. If you are only joining fan clubs trying to collect notches on your own belt, please pass mine up. I prefer friends and fans who particularly like my writing style. Such people are revealed by how often they return to my site. You aren't expected to like or enjoy all of my writing equally; however, don't join my fan club if you don't particularly like any of it.