On Monday, 27th Feburay I came home from school tired from not finding sleep the previous night due to one of my random periods of insomnia. I had intended to go straight to sleep, but my body decided it no longer demanded rest now my bed was there to occupy. So I was checking my Twitter (hm...@RachelVerna) to see if anything remotely interesting had happen. I saw one of Inkpop's rare important twits. So I click on it and its link. Then my heart broke a little bit.
My favourite writing site was going to disappear in 3 days time, on the same day I was most likely going to be failing my Higher English Prelim, 5 days before I would be getting my new laptop which I promised to write on. Crap!
HarperColin had sold Inkpop's community to Figment.com (or in their words: http://harpercollins.com/footer/release.aspx?id=990&b=&year=2012 ) All of the Inkpop accounts would be getting transferred to Figment on 1st of March. Of learning of its doomed my first emotions were of shock and angry. Frankly, I told Inkpop to Fuck themselves on Twiter. Not my proudest moment.
I couldn't believe their would throw away Inkpop like that. The website had only been completely re-hauled less than a year ago. It had taken them a great deal of effect and time to do since they had encountered several problems with the update. This all equal money that HarperColins had spent on the website. While I could understand that HC didn't want to continue with the concept of Inkpop, it did seems as though they had wasted a lot.
The rough just of Inkpop that it is a writing site for teen writers and writers that write for them, but with the actual chance to have ones work read and critique by an Actual Editor of HarperColins. They could decided to publish it. Though, only those who reach the Top 5 rank, being picked by their fellow Inkpopers, get this reward. It is likely that HC have realise the benefit of reviewing hundreds(Well, 5 novels, 5 short-stories, and 5 poems) is not giving that many potential publishable projects as their hoped, only one book had been published from being discovered on Inkpop: Carrier of the Mark, by Leigh Fallon. Also the time scale which the Top Fiction authors were getting their Critiques, could be used as evidence they simply don't have the time to do them.
My angry mainly stemmed from my sleep deprivation and lack of warning. It takes time to organised the merger of two sites, they must have knew this was coming for a awhile. Less than a week, 3 days of warning was that all Inkpop was worth. A site that many had found a online home and made connections. I guess in a way lifeline. It was home of escapists, but now its escaping from them. Gone would be swap forms, random societies. .PiXiE. would be the last Inkpopper of the Week. How can there be a Inkpop sisterhood without an Inkpop. While I was never a member of any of these societies, I couldn't but notice their lovely banners on their members pages. These societies will most likely rebuild on Figment.com, doubt it will be the same strength. A lot of Inkpoppers will not be moving. So like the forced moves of the Council housing in the 70s (and before that), communities that have been made will not remained in track.
Okay, maybe I'm being a bit silly comparing the Inkpop-Figment merger to people being forced to move their homes, but I'm a writer and actress (amateur obviously); I have a knack for dramatising things. And I am truly going to miss Inkpop.
On the 28th I couldn't get on Inkpop for one last look, I thought I would have had the chance two days before its destruction. Even if it came back on (which it did), I wouldn't have had time to do it again as I needed, still need to revise for my Prelims that had been declare months before for this week.
I was PhoenixAngel, I never in the Top 5 Picks, or a Trendsetter, but briefly I was in the top 10 short story critics and you will find me on Figment.com because I have no where better to go.
Farewell, Inkpop and her Inkpoppers.
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