Have You Inkpopped?

Yesterday at Write Chic, I blogged about my love of competition. It's a love that's vast, wide, and many other adjectives implying that I kind of like to, well, throw down. Be it a game of Scrabble or a writing contest, nothing gets me working harder than a chance to succeed in public. It's a bit ridiculous, but my family is the same way, so let's go ahead and blame genetics here.

It's no wonder that my little competitive soul totally perked up when rumors began to circle about a Harper Collins writing contest for YA writers. After all, just a few years ago, my decision to seriously pursue a writing career was kick-started by another HarperTeen contest. This new venture, called Inkpop, is essentially a teenlit form of HC's wildly popular adult writing site, Authonomy.

Unlike the Avon and HarperTeen Fanlit competitions of 2006, this is a site geared toward connecting aspiring authors with their audience. Users upload their work, whether it's chapters of a novel or snippets of poetry, then the community gives feedback. It could be just like any other critique site, but there's a twist. At the end of each month, an editorial team from HarperTeen will read through the top 5 entries, giving responses to the authors.

That Inkpop is still in private beta testing is obvious - the community is small and is growing by only a few more users each day. Personally, I just received my invite today and am still exploring the site. So far, it does seem to reach one of its goals: creating an active dialogue between YA writers and readers. There are forums, active commenters and readers (dubbed "trendspotters"), and quite a few talented participants.

I don't know how much I plan on participating, but it may be interesting to post a few chapters of my Golden Heart entries and see what happens. What I do know, however, is that Harper Collins has once more proved that they're on the cutting edge of the publishing industry when it comes to reader outreach. Sure, they may find a few great writers out of this, but even more readers will find great HarperTeen books and possibly even form some brand loyalty. In this changing age of publishing, such initiatives speak of true competition and daring.

Is anyone else planning on joining Inkpop, when it officially opens? Or do you just plain love to see a publishing house with a 21st century plan, as much as I do?