Write Something Worth Reading: You need to write something interesting. If you don’t, trying to get on the frontpage will be a waste of your time. Even if you manipulate and get upvotes, hacker news readers will rip you apart and you’ll wish you never got there.
Send the link (news.ycombinator.com/newest) to at least 20 people from different locations that you know will upvote or submit it. I’ve heard that people submitting or upvoting with a solid amount of karma helps (although I’m not sure how much really).
Once you hit 5 or 6 upvotes, within the first five to ten minutes, you should get to the first or second page.
The more you hit Frontpage, the harder the entire process becomes as the site recognizes your and flags your profile or site.
Eventually you will have to start asking others to submit for you. if you submit yourself, you will kill the submission.
Being on the frontpage becomes increasingly difficult once you’ve been there several times. Within a few months (or depending on how often you post) soon enough, 6 upvotes within the first 10-15 minutes won’t be enough to make it out of “Newest” anymore.
It also matters that it’s not always the same group of people upvoting.
Keep posting every week till you make it to the top and keep experimenting with the title.
Zhenfang Han
Best wishes to Zhenfang!
