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inkpop Basics

What is inkpop?

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inkpop is an online community that connects up-and-coming authors with talent spotters and publishing professionals in the teen market. Each month, HarperCollins editors read inkpop's most popular submissions in hopes of discovering the next big thing in teen lit. The best inkpop writers have the potential to land every author's dream: a publishing contract.

inkpop was conceived and built by editors at HarperCollins Publishers. inkpop caters to the teen writing world and allows members to post books, short stories, essays, and poetry. A leader in the teen publishing industry, HarperCollins has published books in the Princess Diaries series, The Vampire Diaries trilogy, Emily the Strange, Wicked Lovely, and Lauren Conrad's L.A. Candy.

inkpop is in beta at the moment, so we're still developing and perfecting the site.

How does inkpop work?

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inkpop invites unpublished, published, and self-published authors to create their own personal inkpop page and post their books, short stories, essays, and poetry for public viewing. There is no word-count minimum for short stories, essays, and poetry, but authors must upload books that are at least 10,000 words in order for them to be read and critiqued by the inkpop community.

Visitors can comment on submissions and choose their top five favorites. inkpop counts the number of times a project appears to be among the five favorites of community members and uses that information to rank the projects. inkpop also recognizes the visitors who consistently recommend the best projects and uses that info to rank the most influential Trendsetters, who play a critical role in selecting top authors.

In short, talent development is a collaborative process at inkpop. Readers are talent scouts and critics who become community leaders in their search for standout projects. In turn, writers get to load up on valuable feedback from a target audience and make their projects the very best they can be.

How much does it cost to use inkpop?

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Nothing. It costs nothing to create a profile, to upload your writing work, or to read and recommend the books, short stories, essays, and poetry you find on inkpop.

How does inkpop make money?

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HarperCollins hopes to find talented writers that they can sign up for their traditional book publishing programs—they'll read the most popular projects each month as part of this search.

What does registering with inkpop enable me to do?

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Registering with inkpop enables you to create an online profile, upload your books and other writings, comment on other people's work, take part in forum discussions, and truly experience the social networking aspects of the site.

How do I register with inkpop?

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All you need to do to register is create a username and password, provide a valid e-mail address, complete the security question, and confirm that you've read the Terms and Conditions. Once registered, you have the option to provide us with additional information about yourself. We won't share your information with any other parties. Click here to register with inkpop.

Why do I need to provide a security question and answer as part of inkpop's registration process? What kind of question should I select?

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If we need to confirm your identity in the future, we may ask you for the answer to your security question. Please select a question and answer that you'll easily remember, but isn't known to others (e.g., the name of your first pet or place of birth).

What is the image of text in the registration and what is it for?

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This is called a CAPTCHA—it ensures that your registration is being completed by a human and not another computer. The CAPTCHA helps prevent spam and other malicious activity.

Do I need to be American or meet an age requirement in order to submit my work to inkpop?

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Everyone age 13 and older is welcome to join inkpop to submit writings and critique and rank the work of other inkpop members. As for geographical location, you can live anywhere in the world—whether you're from Austria or Zimbabwe, we welcome you to inkpop.

Can I submit writing in a language other than English?

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No, unfortunately, projects must be written in English as this is the only language that inkpop currently supports.

How many inkpop user accounts can I open?

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Only one. inkpop reserves the right to close down duplicate accounts.

I am already published—can I still join inkpop?

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Yes! You're more than welcome to join inkpop and take part in the site.

If you're self-published or hold the rights to your work, there shouldn’t be a problem with uploading your own project onto inkpop.com. If in doubt, check with your publisher.

Who will be able to see my inkpop profile?

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Everyone and anyone who visits inkpop will be able to view your profile, so be sure to make the most of it. Use your inkpop profile as a tool to promote yourself and your projects.

I've uploaded a profile image, so why can't I see it on inkpop?

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We monitor all the images that are uploaded to inkpop.com, both book cover images and avatars. If your image hasn't appeared on your profile, it's probably because a moderator hasn’t yet approved it. Please be patient; it will appear shortly. If an avatar is deemed inappropriate, you'll be notified. Please refer to the Terms and Conditions for a guideline of what's acceptable.

How do I cancel my inkpop membership?

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You can't delete your profile yourself. Fill out the email form on our Contact Us page to let us know that you’d like to terminate your account, and we'll take care of it for you. Once your account is deleted from our system, we cannot recover any of your account information or projects.

How do I report a technical project on inkpop?

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To report technical problems on Inkpop.com please provide the following information, being as specific as possible. Please include the Web address of the page where you encountered the error. You can send this to us via our contact us page or post it on the forums

We read everything you send us, but we regret that we can't respond to each message personally.

Operating System (e.g. XP, Vista, Windows7, Mac)
Browser Type and Version (e.g. Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8, Fire Fox 2.0, Fire Fox 3.0, Fire Fox 3.5, Safari, Chrome, Other)
What was the URL where problem occurred?
Steps to replicate the error or issue
Connection Speed (e.g. LAN/T1, DSL/Cable, Dial-up)
Internet Service Provider (e.g. Verizon, AT&T, Time Warner, Cable Vision)
Country / Region
Zip Code

Reading and Recommending

I want to find great books and other writings on inkpop. Where do I start?

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There are loads of ways to start surfing inkpop. One route is to use the search box to scout out projects by genre or keyword. You can also browse through the latest inkpop projects or the tags by clicking the Browse link, which is located in the top navigation bar. And a really good way to find interesting projects is by visiting other members' personal pages—there you can see both what your fellow inkpop members have uploaded and which favorite submissions they've promoted to their Picks.

How do I tell everyone about the great books and other writings I've found on inkpop?

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Every book, short story, essay, and poem has its own URL. You can create hyperlinks by copying and pasting this address on the other Web pages and blogs that you participate in, and in doing so, direct an audience to your project or to others that you've discovered. You can also use the inkpop Forums to discuss projects and your profile to promote your findings.

What are “Picks” (aka “My Picks”)?

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inkpop isn't just about displaying your own work—it’s about recommending the work of others. As soon as you register with inkpop, you receive a virtual shelf called “My Picks,” which is viewable to others from your profile page as “Picks.” Picks is the place to showcase your favorite inkpop submissions.

There are many talented authors jostling for attention on inkpop—your Picks give you the opportunity to reward authors whom you feel deserve wider readership and visibility. Picks also generate the inkpop rankings—both for submissions and Trendsetters. Every time you place a project in “My Picks,” your recommendation pushes the book up the rankings. And while that project sits on your Picks list, your reputation as a Trendsetter increases depending on how well that book performs.

Your Picks list is empty when you first register, so you need to find projects to showcase on it. When you find a writing work you like, click the “Add to My Picks” button. You can remove it later, as you wish.

Why can I only put five projects on my inkpop Picks list?

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inkpop hosts a lot of projects, and we want to flag only the very best material.

What is an inkpop Watch List?

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Your Watch List allows you to keep track of all the interesting projects you come across on inkpop. If you like the look of something, you can add it to your Watch List and come back to it later. You can also decide to promote a project from your Watch List onto Picks, bringing it directly to the attention of all visitors of your profile page. While the whole world can see your Picks, only you can see your Watch List. You may store a maximum of 30 projects on your Watch List. Look for the “Add to Watch List” link on every project page. You can access and edit your Watch List by clicking on the “Manage” button located above your Picks list on your profile page.

Do I have to read whole books online?

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Yes, you cannot download books from the inkpop site. Read as much or as little as you like. Sometimes you'll know within a paragraph or two that a book doesn't interest you; sometimes you'll be so drawn in that you won’t want to stop. But however much of a book you read, be sure to leave the author a comment letting him or her know what you think.

Do I have to comment on inkpop projects I've read?

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No. It's totally up to you whether you comment on a book.

What comments should I make on projects?

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Make your comments as constructive as possible. They'll help the person whose work you’re critiquing, it adds to the community, and if you have uploaded your own work, your constructive criticism encourages other inkpop members to be equally constructive. Try not to veer off the topic at hand —if you want to discuss something other than an inkpop member's project, leave a message on his or her profile page or discuss it with the community in the Forums.

How do you use tags on inkpop?

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Tags are keywords that describe a project's content. Tags can describe a genre (crime, nonfiction), a subject (travel, teachers, tomboys), or even an emotion (scary, happy, reflective).

Tags make it easier for readers to find exactly what they're looking for. Visit the Browse page to find a comprehensive collection of tags for all of inkpop's projects. In addition, on the right-hand vertical toolbar of each project page, you'll find a condensed list of tags separated with commas. If you click on “tags,” you'll be able to view the full list of tags associated with the project.

I've found offensive or copyrighted content on inkpop. What should I do?

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We hope our visitors will help us identify and report abuses across the site, so please don't hesitate to drop us a line if you spot anything out of place. Click the “Report Abuse” links, which you'll find on each page, and leave our moderators the details of your complaint. Help us keep the inkpop community running as it should!

How does inkpop calculate a project's rank?

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inkpop believes in the power of recommendation. Similar to the book market at large, at inkpop, a project’s rank depends on people adding it to their Picks in recommendation. The more people recommend a book, and the greater those recommenders’ Trendsetter ranking, the higher the project ranking it will achieve.

What are Top Picks?

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Top Picks track the activity on inkpop members' Picks charts—Top Picks is a collection of the five most popular projects of all time. Each time a book, short story, essay, or poem is added to a member's Picks list, it gets to feel that much bigger about itself. If you want to delve deeper or love a particular type of reading material, Top Picks can also be filtered by genre and time period.

What happens to the projects that rank as Top Picks?

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At the end of every month, the five most popular over all time are delivered to the desks of an editorial board made up of international HarperCollins editors. The board members read at least 10,000 words of book projects (and the entirety of essays, short stories, and poems) and deliver feedback to the top-ranked authors' inkpop profile. In fairness to all the new writers on inkpop, our board will only consider a project once, so this chart only features projects that haven’t already passed across the desks of the inkpop Editorial Board.

What do the numbers next to my project mean?

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This refers to your project's ranking on the Top Picks chart, measuring its all-time popularity against other projects on inkpop. The number in parentheses refers to how far your project has risen or fallen since this time last week.

What does a star next to a project title mean?

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A star signifies that a project has made it to the Top Picks chart in a previous month and has been reviewed by the Editorial Board. While this project may continue to rank high on inkpop, it will not be reviewed by the Editorial Board again; Top Picks only get one review.

Why doesn't an inkpop project’s rank correspond to the number of Picks lists it's on?

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The number of Picks lists that a project is currently on is displayed on the project page. This is only an instantaneous measure of the project's popularity and the ranking by this measure corresponds to the Top Picks list. The number of Picks doesn't necessarily relate to how popular the project has been over a different or longer-time period, since people who recommended the project at one time may have removed it from their Picks in favor of another title.

The Top Picks chart is a measure of a book’s all-time popularity; every single Picks list the project has ever been on counts toward the ranking. Finally, the contribution to a book’s overall rank provided by each Picks list recommendation will vary depending on the Trendsetter ranking of the Picks owner. The support of higher-ranked Trendsetters counts for more than lower-ranked Trendsetters.

Why has my project suddenly been removed from everyone's Picks?

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If you make your project private, it will be removed from any Picks and Watch Lists it happens to be on. If your project is a book and this was not done deliberately, you've most likely edited your book and in the process, the word count has dropped to below the 10,000-word minimum. Please be careful of this—if it happens, you’ll have to begin gaining support for your book from scratch. However, your book's rank in the charts will not be affected.

How do I encourage visitors to read my project to help improve my project's ranking?

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Firstly, and most obviously, make sure your script is as appealing and as well-written as possible. Concentrate on drawing your reader in and keeping a well-structured narrative journey (this is as true for nonfiction as for fiction). The inkpop team believes there is no substitute for good writing!

Ensure your project is an all-round tempting offering. Make sure your Short Pitch and Long Pitch are as good as they possibly can be, because these are the first things a reader will see. Make sure you classify your project by the correct genres, and remember to pick a good few tags that accurately represent the content of your work. An eye-catching cover image is the icing on the cake.

The next step is to increase your visibility by being a good reader and a high-performing Trendsetter. Fill your Picks with top titles; comment helpfully and insightfully on other projects, and members will do the same for you.

Attracting external readership can really boost your visibility on the site. If you already have champions from outside the inkpop community—whether that's family, friends, colleagues, or visitors to your blog, Facebook profile, or other Web sites—you might also encourage them to join inkpop and get involved. If they can prove their credentials to the community by building their Trendsetter rank, they'll be in a position to be noticed and in turn help you raise the profile of your project.

Keep in mind that each inkpop project profile page has its own URL. You can create hyperlinks by quoting this address on the other Web pages and blogs that you participate in, and in doing so, direct an audience to your project.

Who are Trendsetters?

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Trendsetters are the members of the inkpop community who managed to spot a popular project before it's been placed on many Picks lists.

If an inkpop member has publicly recommended a project and that project then gains popularity on other members' Picks, their Trendsetter ranking will rise.

How do I become a Trendsetter?

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Simply log in and start adding projects to your “My Picks” list. If someone else recommends that same project by placing it on their Picks, your Trendsetter ranking will improve.

How does inkpop calculate my Trendsetter rank?

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Every time you add a project to your Picks, you start to share in the success of that project. As that project becomes more popular across the site, your reputation as a Trendsetter will rise accordingly.

The earlier you back a great discovery, the more you have to gain. If you're the first person to recommend a hot new script, you'll gain more from its success than anyone else. Conversely, if you back projects that are already popular, you'll find your reputation might not rise as quickly as you'd like.

Once you've removed a book from your Picks, you won't continue to gain in reputation from its further success, but that's all right because you'll have found something new and exciting to champion in its place, right?

What do the numbers next to my profile mean?

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This refers to your Trendsetter rank during the last 30 days. If other people like and subsequently back the projects on your Picks list, your reputation as a Trendsetter will rise. The number in the brackets represents how much your reputation has risen or fallen since this time last week.

Will I be rewarded for being a top Trendsetter?

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Yes, your backing becomes more important the higher your Trendsetter ranking becomes. Therefore the better your ranking as a Trendsetter, the more likely your recommendations are to impact the Top Picks chart. It will also increase your visibility on inkpop and encourage people to take more notice of your own submissions.

Is this more like a popularity contest than a true judge of quality?

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Just like the books market at large, there may be a few flutters and fads at inkpop. And in this day and age, there's no denying you need to think about actively promoting your project to readers by networking if you want to gather a healthy army of support.

However, we believe quality of writing and project construction will be the ultimate test to sustained support and success on inkpop. When your project is assessed by the Editorial Board or by any visiting agent or publisher, quality of work is by far the most important consideration. After the inkpop community of readers ranks and comments on its favorite submissions, the Editorial Board provides a final critique. The two-step process assures that quality projects rise to the top.

Is it possible to cheat on inkpop?

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We have done everything in our power to prevent cheating, but should you witness actions that you consider unethical, please alert us right by emailing us via the Contact Us page.

Can my profile and writing be found easily by talent scouts who are perusing inkpop?

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We developed the “Sort by genre” mechanism to allow talent scouts and readers to focus on interesting niche areas in which to find literary gems.

Does the inkpop Editorial Board favor certain genres?

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No. The inkpop Editorial Board is committed to reading the most recommended projects on inkpop.

Who are the members of the HarperCollins Editorial Board?

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The Editorial Board is made up of a selection of international HarperCollins editors. We do our best to deliver projects selected for review to an editor working on a relevant list.

Is my project eligible for reassessment by the Editorial Board now that I’ve improved it so much?

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An important purpose of inkpop is to help writers improve their work and grow in confidence. But in fairness to other new writers at the site, the Editorial Board will only provide reviews of projects it hasn't already evaluated. Rest assured, if your all-improved project is keeping a consistently high rank in the Top Picks, you can be sure that it is doing well and gaining maximum visibility for anyone scouting the site for talent.

If you feel your project has improved so much it is unrecognizable, it might be worth considering deleting it and re-uploading to inkpop as a new project. However, bear in mind that with this fresh start, you will also have to start again with getting it on to members’ Picks and establishing its rank.

Submitting Your Project on inkpop

Basics

What kinds of projects does inkpop accept?

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All original, non-illustrated books, short stories (fiction), essays (nonfiction), and poetry are eligible for inkpop.

What kinds of projects will inkpop not accept?

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Anything you didn't write yourself.

Fan fiction: projects that include characters or locations from copyrighted work.

Projects containing images, diagrams, or illustrations.

Read our Terms and Conditions for more detailed information.

I've got images/diagrams/illustrations. Is this a problem?

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inkpop is not currently accepting illustrated projects. Text only, please! You'll need to remove the images before you upload your files. Check back soon for more information on this.

How much of my book should I upload?

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You must make a minimum of 10,000 words available on inkpop.com, but we encourage you to upload as much as possible—even the entire book. No one can support or honestly recommend a book if they can’t read a good amount of it first.

How do I find out my book's word count?

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If you're using Microsoft Word, select “Tools” in the top toolbar. Then select “Word Count.” You’ll then be able to see the length of your book project posted next to “Words.”

Why does inkpop need to display so much of my book?

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Two reasons.

Firstly, we want to attract serious writers to inkpop (who have complete or nearly complete book projects), who will provide an exciting experience for the enthusiastic readers. The 10,000-word word minimum ensures this.

Secondly, we firmly believe that writers should be judged on the quality of the work they produce, not on their ability to pitch, market, or publicize themselves. Personal recommendations are by far the most effective way of building support for a project, and writers on inkpop stand to gain the support of a community of readers who are really motivated to spread the word about the best new writing. But they can’t help you unless you’re prepared to show them what you've got!

Who will be able to read my project?

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Once you make your project public, anyone visiting inkpop will be able to view it. Only registered members will be able to comment on your project or back it on their Picks. If you opt to keep your project private during the Submit process, no one but you will have access to it.

Will HarperCollins be reading my work?

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Once a month we'll be pulling out the top five projects from Top Picks and passing them on to our Editorial Board. HarperCollins editors will read the most popular short stories, essays, and poems in their entirety and will read the first 10,000 words of books. Afterward, the Editorial Board will feed back their comments to the appropriate authors, who will be able to decide whether to make these comments available to the community at large. HarperCollins reserves the right to read submissions even if they are not one of the top five projects.

Will HarperCollins publish books from inkpop?

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We’ve created inkpop in the hope of finding new authors for our various publishing lists, so we'll certainly be looking for promising books. We only buy books we really believe in; as such, HarperCollins does not guarantee to publish anything submitted to inkpop. In this way, you can be sure that any books picked from inkpop will have been chosen because we really love them.

The terms of any publication deals arising from inkpop would be negotiated as and when such opportunities arise. There is no fixed “boilerplate” offer specifically for authors who come to our attention via the site.

What rights do I give up by submitting to inkpop?

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None. You will have to grant us a very specific license to display the project on inkpop, but that's it. We won't ask for a “first option” to publish or take away any of your rights of ownership, and you can continue to submit to publishers and agents by other methods.

Will inkpop keep my project?

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HarperCollins doesn't create duplicate copies of your work. Once you remove your project from inkpop, it will leave our system too.

Can I remove my project from inkpop?

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You're free to take your book down from inkpop whenever you choose. Click the appropriate “delete” button next to your project's listing on your profile page. But be careful—you can't recover your project once you’ve deleted it.

I'm self-published. Can I post on inkpop?

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Absolutely. Setting up a profile on inkpop can be a really effective way of bringing your self-published project to the attention of readers and publishers around the world. You can even link to your own sales site by adding the Web site address to your profile page.

I'm already contracted to a publisher. Can I still post my project on inkpop?

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Quite possibly, but you’ll need to check with your publisher first.

Project Upload Process

How do I post my work on inkpop?

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Click on the “Submit” button, which is located in inkpop's top navigation bar. This will launch a five-step submission process to upload one of the four inkpop project formats: book, essay (nonfiction), short story (fiction), or poem.

Step 1: Type your project's title, select one of four formats, and write a Short Pitch and Long Pitch.

Step 2: Select a book cover from the inkpop image gallery or upload one of your own project-cover image files.

Step 3: Select a genre from inkpop’s list of options. Then describe your project with tags, which are keywords that describe your project.

Step 4: Add Content.

For a short story, essay, or poem:

Copy your project's text from a Word document or text file and paste into the empty box on the inkpop “Add Content” page.

For books:

Don't upload your entire book in one file. Before uploading a book, you must divide your book into chapters or chunks, saved as a separate Microsoft Word document (“.doc” or “.docx”) or rich text format (“.rtf”). One chapter per file is ideal. Please also make sure your documents aren’t open on your desktop when you try to upload them.

Simply browse for your file when prompted, type the appropriate chapter heading (either a chapter title or simply “Chapter One,” etc.), and start building your book.

You can determine how many chapters you want to upload first (easiest) or add them as you go. Just click on “Browse,” find your chapter on your computer, “upload” and then do the same for the next chapter.

Step 5: Select from one of two Publish Settings: Public or Private.

What’s a Short Pitch?

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Your Short Pitch is a sentence or tagline (no more than 25 words) that will represent your project when it shows up in lists and search results on inkpop. Make sure your Short Pitch reflects the content and themes of your project and that it makes readers desperate to find out more. Make sure your Short Pitch contains keywords that best describe your work to ensure that your project will be found through site searches.

What should I include in my Full Pitch?

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Your Full Pitch is your chance to sell the project to readers—think of it as the blurb on the back of the book. You've only got 200 words to make your project sound as interesting and compelling as you can, so don’t try to sum up the whole plot. Instead, set the scene for your readers — and convince them that your project is worth their time.

How do I upload a cover image for my project?

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inkpop accepts either a .jpeg or .gif file. Simply browse for your image and click “upload.” If your image is larger than 80 pixels x 120 pixels, our system will automatically crop the image to 80x120.

Please note that any cover image you upload will be viewed by an inkpop staffer. Proceed with the rest of the content-uploading process, but be aware that the image may take some time to appear while it’s undergoing our approval process.

Is a book/project cover image required?

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Yes, you need to have some kind of image to represent your project on inkpop. If you don’t have a specific cover, you might want to upload any interesting or relevant image to grab the community’s attention — or you can pick from the template images we’ve provided. You can change your project’s cover at any time.

I’ve uploaded a project cover image. Why can't I see it on inkpop.com?

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inkpop monitors all the images that are uploaded to the site, both jacket images and avatars. If your image hasn't appeared on your profile, it’s probably because a moderator hasn’t approved it yet. Please be patient; it will appear shortly (unless of course it's deemed inappropriate in which case you'll be notified). Please refer to the Terms and Conditions for a guideline on what's acceptable.

How long does it take for project covers and avatar images to be approved?

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If you upload your image on a working day (Monday through Friday), you can expect for it to be approved within 24 hours. However, if it was uploaded on a weekend day, it may take longer.

My project fits into more than one genre.

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Not all projects fit neatly into genres. Sometimes the best ones don’t fit any genre at all! You can pick up to four genres from our list to classify your book, and you can change your classification at any time. And remember, any other keywords you think are relevant to your book can be added as tags.

My book doesn't have chapters. Why do I need to split it up?

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By clearly defining individual sections, you'll be able to maintain your project more easily on the site. In turn, your work will be more accessible for the inkpop community to discover, read, and promote.

My book includes a prologue/epilogue/introduction/acknowledgements, etc. How do I handle that?

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We ask you to upload your book in chapters — please treat each section as a different chapter.

I’m seeing strange line breaks in my uploaded text. What happened?

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When you upload your work onto inkpop, it reflows the text for the screen and might not match how you've chosen to format your original document. Your word processor probably has a mode to show extra formatting on your document. For example, in Microsoft Word, look for this symbol, ¶, in your toolbar or go to View> Show Paragraph Marks to identify where you’ve inserted unnecessary returns, line breaks, or spaces.

The paragraph indentation is wrong or has been lost. What happened?

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If you want to indent your work, you must hard tab (use the tab key on your keyboard). This is the only form of indentation that inkpop recognizes. For example, if your document has been auto-formatted on Microsoft Word, it will be ignored by inkpop. To be safe, you can use a “hard return” of space (press the Enter/Return key twice) between paragraphs instead of indenting.

Which font should I use?

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Avoid using obscure fonts. Use a font that's simple, easy to read, and well supported across all browsers. If you want a sans-serif font, Helvetica and Arial work well. For serif, use Times New Roman.

Why is my book listed as “Private”?

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Make sure your book is more than 10,000 words. If your book is less than 10,000 words, it will automatically remain “Private,” which means it’s not visible to the public. If your book is more than 10,000 words in length and you want to make it visible to inkpop visitors, make sure you’ve switched it to “Public.” The word-count restriction does not apply to essays, short stories, or poems.

Why is my project listed as “Public”?

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This means your project is visible to everyone who visits inkpop. Change it to “Private” if this was not your intention.

My project is live to the whole world. Can I still make changes to it?

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Of course. Just find the “edit book” button on your profile page or on your project's page, and take it from there.

Who can comment on my project?

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Any registered inkpop member can add a comment on your project's pages.

What is a Cherry Pick?

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If an author takes the time to upload his or her project to inkpop, he or she also will want some kind of control over the comments that appear beneath it. We don't believe writers should be able to delete comments—all authors should be prepared to receive fair and frank feedback on their work—but by using the “Cherry Pick” function, authors can select which comments appear most prominently.

By clicking the cherry icon to the righthand side of each comment, authors can select up to five messages to appear directly under their project or text. Think of these like the supportive quotes printed on the front or back of published books — they should reflect the most supportive feedback received.

Authors can deselect their “Cherry Picked” comments by clicking again on the appropriate cherry icon.

How do I get my project to appear on "Read It Now" on the inkpop homepage?

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Sadly, you can't nominate your project to be selected for “Read It Now.” They are picked at random and change every time the page is refreshed.

inkpop Copyright and Concerns

Does posting work on inkpop affect my copyright?

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No. In the United States and in many other countries, you own the copyright of your work as soon as it's created (whether written down or saved to a file).

Publishing on a blog, broadcasting a reading on Internet radio, handing out free printed copies on street corners—none of this invalidates your right to be recognized as the author of your work or allows anyone to use that work without your permission.

Authors posting to inkpop grant us a very specific license to display the project on the inkpop site, but they don’t give us anything else. And authors are free to remove their project at any time.

Does posting work on inkpop affect the value of my project?

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We really see no particular reason why a project that’s been showcased online should lose any of its value to an interested publisher.

Indeed, it's central to the inkpop concept that a writer with a proven readership is often more valuable to a publisher, not less. Book companies now regularly snap up volumes from high-profile bloggers and promising self-publishers with existing readerships. It's a good thing to prove that you’ve got the enthusiasm and the skills to help make your project a success.

Can people steal my work from the inkpop site?

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We’ve taken some practical steps to make authors feel more secure: We've disabled the ability to “cut” and “copy” on the pages on which your work will be displayed, and we don’t offer an option to download the text.

At inkpop, we believe that your talent is better displayed than kept hidden. We believe that the chances of good things happening are more likely the more hands your project passes through, and the more people you enlist in your support.

Why won't HarperCollins read all the projects itself, instead of enlisting Internet users to help them?

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HarperCollins, like all publishers, is inundated with new projects and cannot hope to consider them all fairly. We don't feel that our current, closed “slush pile” system is fair to authors themselves, nor do we believe it is giving us the best chance of finding the brightest new talent. inkpop is a genuine attempt to find a better way to determine the books on our shelves, and it hands selective power to the readers who will ultimately be buying them.

Can you help me with a legal query?

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No, unfortunately we can’t assist individuals on a case-by-case basis.