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Inkpop

Here is how Inkpop bills itself : 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.

Being that the talent scouts are looking for the next big teen-lit phenom and anyone older than thirteen is welcome, this could be a great place for middle and high-school students to post their work - even if they were class assignments.As a gathering place for the literature minded it would be a great way to meet new people and form meaningful friendships. For some kids this may be a welcome alternative to MySpace and other youth-centric social networking options.

The spin on the garden variety voting system to identify the most popular works, is the idea of a Trendsetter - something that the 13-19 age group can only benefit from. Instead of being a follower and part of a hive mind that "fitting in" is generally about, here is a different way to be influential, consequential and therefore cool. Love the Cherry Pick idea - for a teen to have their maiden submission panned by the community could be a rough experience. To that end, the ability to highlight the comments they want everyone to take note of it is quite empowering.

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