Display your YA writing for the world to see
Inkpop is a useful site that allows aspiring writers to upload your unpublished novels, short stories, or poetry to share with a community of writers.
If you've ever wanted to receive constructive feedback on YA (young adult) fiction, short stories, or poetry you've written, but aren't quite ready to take the leap into the world of publication, Inkpop is a great way to get your work out there in front of a group of publishers and aspiring writers alike.
Owned by HarperCollins, the creators of Authonomy, Inkpop is geared toward teenage writers. Inkpop users can upload novels as long as they're at least 10,000 words in length, as well as short fiction and poetry of any length. From there, you can introduce yourself on the message board or start searching out other works that have been posted on the site to get an idea of what Inkpop users are writing. If you like a work, you can back it, which helps improve its ranking on the overall site. If you see books of interest you'd like to read later, Inkpop also lets you add them to your bookshelf for future reading.
The ultimate draw to Inkpop is the chance of ending up in the top five on the site by the end of the month. If you're one of the lucky few, HarperCollins, the publishing company that created Inkpop, will send your work to the editor's desk, where you'll have the opportunity to receive constructive feedback from an actual HarperCollins editor. For novelists with hopes of publishing contracts in their future, this is a great opportunity.
Unfortunately, you're likely to receive a flood of messages requesting you back someone's book in order to receive their backing of yours. In this way, Inkpop's rankings can be gamed to a certain extent. Incessant requests can get annoying as well. The 10,000 word minimum on full-length novels also presents a negative for many writers who want to reveal excerpts of their novel without actually posting a substantial amount on Inkpop, although there is the option to upload it as a short story instead.
If you want a platform where your YA writing will get a ready and willing audience, Inkpop is a good way for teens to gain some self-published exposure.
