A Creative Writer's Guide to the Internet: Hot Links Land

Do you have your own web page and love to write, but can't find anyone to read your writing? Try hot links land!

This tutorial deals with the so called "hot links" pages so popular on the web nowadays. What is a hot links page? A hot links page allows registered users to submit links to stories they find appealing, that are subsequently reviewed by site moderators, and if you are good enough, or lucky enough to get posted, or "green lit", your material will be displayed on a rolling blog on the site's main page.

Here are some of the best and brightest hot links pages on the web that I have discovered, and have found very successful in promoting my material. When you write a story, register on the the hot links page, and submit it. You can check to see if it gets green lit in a few hours, typically, and if you do get on, watch the big hits roll in!

http://www.fark.com King Fark rules the web. The brainchild of Drew Curtis, Fark is the absolute toughest to get green lighted on with original material, as the Fark community, known as "Farkers" are demanding and demeaning at their very best, although they do seem to appreciate a really, really well written piece. If you are fortunate to get the green lit, watch the hits roll in! From 8,000-60,000, depending on the subject.

Big Rule: Title is everything. Create a snappy, compelling, concise title for your submissions, and you greatly improve your chances. Write stories that appeal to everyone at a cerebral level for Fark. Farkers fancy themselves the cream of the hot links community. One big tip: Do NOT submit your entries as "Satire" under the submission tags. Farkers have utter disdain for satire for some reason. Use "Cool" or "Amusing". It increases your green light chances dramatically. Bad kitty!

http://www.wellplayed.net A newcomer to hot links land, wellplayed.com shows all the signs of running with the big boys, due to an eclectic mix of tasteful material and outstanding web design and page layout. If any hot links page shows signs of dealing donuts with Drew Curtis' Fark, Kris Steele's Wellplayed is as good a bet as any. The yield? 500-1000 hits.

http://humor.netscape.com Another hot links powerhouse similar to www.digg.com in format, humor.netscape.net has a finely tuned main page and graphics layout slick enough to make any webmaster green with envy. Register for free, just like on fark.com and digg.com, and submit your material. If the humor.netscape.com community likes your material, expect 1000-5000 hits. I've discovered that both www.digg.com and www.humor.netscape.com are frequented by younger browsers, 18-29, so material better suited for that audience fare better, such as video game reviews, PC current events, sophomoric humor, etc. You don't need to get "green lit" to get on either page, as the voting system predicates which stories are displayed main page, and which are buried, so make your title and description as snappy and compelling as possible for that age group..

http://www.attuworld.com Formerly www.attu.blogspot.com, attuworld.com is an exotic, highly erotic adult blog with a tasteful soft porn theme, attuworld.com is sheer beauty in its simplicity and creative originality. If you have an erotic bent in writing, Attu has interest, and they also appreciate well scripted stories of general interest too. One complaint: It's hard to find the submission link. Email them to attuseesall@gmail.com, subject "link tip". The hit count? Expect 1000-3000 hits.

http://www.b2.is Iceland? Yes, Iceland! For some odd reason, B2 has been very kind to my more whimsical material, and the page is scripted in Icelandic, not English. I would guess there are plenty of bilingual people up there, based on my popularity with them. One big tip: The submission box is at upper right, and is in Icelandic, so schmaltz your way through it. You can see where the http: field is, and can wing the rest. Press the "senda" key to submit. Once you have entered a story, it will prompt you with "Takk fyrir" which means "Thank you", at least I think. The yield? 5000-9000 hits.

http://www.jokeaday.com Jokeaday is the product of good ol' pard Ray Owens, a down-home page with a strong southern U.S. community and flair. Ray accepts hard hitting, often racy material, as the humor standard down south seems to trend toward raucous and roughhouse. Ray has been very kind in posting my material. Submit your link URL under "wild links" at left. Yield? Anywhere from 800-2000 hits, typically.

http://www.madville.com Madville seems to have an association with 2 other pages, http://www.collegemix.com and http://www.snikksnakk.com Once you get green lighted on Madville, your link is automatically dropped in the Snikksnakk and Collegemix lineup, (you don't have to submit to all 3, just Madville) and then into Madville proper. Madville seems to frown on original material strictly from your own web page, however, which it deems as a self promotional plug, a fact that has lead to some tension in my experiences with them in the past. The yield for all 3? About 150-700 hits.

There are many other links pages out there, to be sure, but I have used these aforementioned with a great level of success. Be sure to submit your stories promptly to all of them, and check back to see if you get on. Big tip: Even if you get rejected, you still get in on a subscriber level and will pick up 25-100 hits even for a rejected link. Have fun!