Raiders of The Lost Nuggets

It's that time again, folks. After a week of research, of poring over ancient maps and deciphering clues, of hacking our way through dense jungles and of searching across trackless wastes, we are once again closing in on the legendary treasure of Hub Pages - the fabled, golden HubNuggets.

Our journey has taken us far from the icy comforts of home and keyboard, far from the frozen wilds of mysterious Canada, far, far from our comfy box-seats at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, as we crawled through dark, snake-infested tunnels and clambered over crumbling ruins in search of the golden hoard...and you thought we were taking it easy after the Christmas Holidays!

Our never-ending quest for Hub excellence has spanned the vast continents of cyberspace. Our intrepid team has faced untold hardship and dangers - OK, we nearly got lost once because I sat on the map, and we almost ran out of Butter Tarts - almost! We didn't actually run out, c'mon guys!

Nevertheless, we have labored long to uncover these genuine nuggets of hubbing at its best. Now it's up to you to evaluate our amazing findings and choose the cream of the crop. Simply read the HubNugget Wannabe hubs below and vote for your choice. One vote per customer, per category.

Maddie Ruud, Hub Pages employee and Dean of Archeology and Unearthing Valuable Artifacts, this noted scholar, Hub Pages Moderator, and Communicator of Awesome Fairness brings a new era of research and explorations to the entire HubNuggets Department.

Dean of Marketing Studies, Jason Menayan, Hub Pages employee and newly created Communicator of Awesomeness, is putting his own stamp on the Department while helping Maddie fill the vacancy left by former Dean Hupfer.

Head archeologist,Indianderson Shirleyleads our intrepid band of HubNugget Wannabe excavators. Her patience is legendary, and her nose for excellence has unearthed rare and valuable HubNuggets Wannabes that might otherwise have gone undiscovered.

B.T. EvilPants, Freelance writer, Jackalope-of-all-trades, butter tart lover, evil genius, and all-round great critter to have your back while crawling through snake-infested tunnels - or when you can't get the truck started...he can read the owner's manual to you in any of several languages.

Professor Inglish, Master Scribe and inscription decoder extraordinaire...her skills in deciphering ancient texts are second only to her knowledge of the arcane and obscure, as well as her understanding of what constitutes a great HubNugget Wannabe hub.

Ripplemaker - angelic cheerleader, HubMobile driver, and font of amazing positivity - this savvy hubber scouts on ahead of the team, sifting through untold hubs to celebrate hubnugget wannabes

Zsuzsy Bee, transportation captain on this "dig". Having already gained an awesome reputation as a great hubber and fun, supportive gal, she will be scouring Hub Pages seeking likely candidates for HubNugget fame and glory.

...and RedElf (that's me) - writer, poet, photographer, intrepid navigator of the little-known and less traveled by-ways of the Hub Pages (OK, I was the navigator 'til I sat on the map - now I'm the baggage wrangler), and purveyor of fine butter tarts to discerning jackalopes.

Every seven days the HubNuggets Team begins its new research cycle, poring over each of the thousand plus hubs published in that week's selected topics, in search of the elusive "wannabes".

Here's a never-before-seen shot of the HubNuggets archives we navigate each week, seeking the best of all the potential HubNuggets hubs.

Those of you who are familiar with the old method of voting will notice that there are now 6 (six) candidates in each of 3 (three) topic categories, all vying for your vote.

The top three in each category, a total of 9 (nine) lucky winners, will be featured in the Hub Pages Weekly Newsletter, which has a current circulation of about 50,000 readers.

There will be a new contest next week (and each following week) with a different set of topic categories. They will change each week, so this week's topic categories won't come up again for approximately 7 weeks. That will give us a chance to feature all the topic categories equally, in turn.

We hope this will raise the visibility of our HubNuggets Weekly Contest and increase the potential for views of the deserving HubNuggets Wannabes. Please take time to check them out and vote for one HubNugget Wannabe in each of the three topic categories. As well, please leave us some feedback and tell us what you think.

At last, the recovered artifacts, displayed for all the world to enjoy -

The Golden Hoard of HubNugget Wannabes...

Take our fun Pop Quiz, below, or just check out Shirley Anderson's hub - here - on how to become eligible.

If you're not a member, why not join now? It's fun, it's free, and it only takes a few minutes.

Winning one of the coveted HubNugget spots in the newsletter will mean that your hub goes out to more than 50,000 readers. That means traffic, page views and, possibly, revenue! Tell your friends and family they don't need to join in order to vote.

Get out there and promote your hub - Blog about it, Digg it, Tweet it, Twitter it, post it on FaceBook - tell everyone you know to come and check out your awesomeness at Hub Pages!

© Elle Fredine, 2010, All rights reserved