Email us at hn@ycombinator.com if you want some tips about how to present this to HN. (Same invitation goes for everybody who wants such tips.)<p>Edit: here's what I sent the users who emailed:<p>If you're sharing
your own work and there's a way to try it out, put "Show HN" in
the title. Make sure you've read the Show HN guidelines: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html">https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html</a>.<p>Include text giving the backstory of how you came to work on this, and explaining what's different about it. That tends to seed discussion in a good direction. (Your text should show up at the top of the Show HN submission, but if for some reason it doesn't, add it as a first comment to the thread. Either way is fine.)<p>Include a clear statement of what your project is or does. If you don't, the discussion will consist of "I can't tell what this is".<p>Include links to any previous HN threads that are relevant. Readers like those.<p>Drop any language that sounds like marketing or sales. On HN, that is an instant turnoff. Use factual, direct language. Personal stories and technical details are great.<p>For Show HN, the product/project needs to actually exist and there needs to be a way for people to try it out. It can't just be a landing page or market test or fundraiser or a blog post or a curated list or other reading material. Please respect this rule. If we allowed "Show HN" on all those things, nearly every post would be a Show HN.<p>Please make it easy for users to try your thing out, preferably without having to sign up, get a confirmation email, and other such barriers. You'll get more feedback that way, plus HN users get ornery if you make them jump through hoops.<p>If it's hardware or something that's not so easy to try out over the internet, find a different way to show how it actually works—a video, for example, or a detailed post with photos.<p>Don't have your username be that of your company or project. It creates a feeling of using HN for promotion and of not really participating as a person. You don't have to use your real name, just something to indicate that you're here as a human, not a brand. If you'd like to change your username, email hn@ycombinator.com.<p>If you're comfortable doing so, put your email address in your profile so we can
contact you if we notice anything, and also so
we can send you a repost invite. We do that sometimes.<p>Make sure your friends and users do <i>not</i> add booster comments in the thread. HN users are adept at picking up on those, they consider it spamming, and they will flame you for it. If a friend or a fan has something interesting to say, that's fine, but comments should not be promotional.<p>You can post a new release as a Show HN only if the new version is significantly different. It shouldn't just be an incremental upgrade. If you do repost, add a comment linking to the previous Show HN and explaining what is different from last time. This should probably only happen once or twice a year—more starts to be excessive.