# HackerNews Post Timing Guide

## Best Times to Post (US Eastern)
- **Tuesday 8:00-9:00 AM ET** ← BEST DAY
- **Wednesday 8:00-9:00 AM ET** ← SECOND BEST
- **Thursday 8:00-9:00 AM ET** ← GOOD
- **Avoid:** Friday PM, Saturday, Sunday

## Why Early Morning ET?
- HN's "new" page is most active 8-10 AM ET
- East coast tech workers check HN over morning coffee
- West coast sees it 5-7 AM PT (pre-work browsing)
- European devs see it 1-3 PM CET (afternoon break)

## HN Cultural Rules (CRITICAL)
1. **Be genuine, not promotional.** HN hates marketing speak.
2. **Use "Show HN" for projects, "Ask HN" for questions.** Never just a title.
3. **Answer every comment within 5 minutes for the first hour.**
4. **Don't ask for upvotes.** Ever. Will get you flagged.
5. **Reply with substance.** "Great point, the reason we use X is..." not just "Thanks!"
6. **Be ready for hard questions about the benchmark methodology.**
7. **Have the code ready to show.** "You can see the exact scoring logic at [link]"
8. **Don't cross-post to Reddit until 24h later.** HN detects raiding.
9. **If someone finds a bug, fix it immediately and push.** Then reply "Fixed in v2.13.28, pushed 2 min ago"
10. **Never edit the submission title after posting.**

## Show HN Format
```
Title: Show HN: [Product Name] – [One-line description that's technically interesting]

[Body of the post]

[Benchmark/data/hard evidence]

[Code/install instructions]

[Link to GitHub]
```

## What to Avoid
- Words like "revolutionary", "game-changing", "disruptive"
- Emoji in the title
- ALL CAPS
- Comparing yourself to well-liked incumbents aggressively
- Anything that sounds like marketing copy

## After You Post
1. Stay online for at least 2 hours
2. Reply to every comment (even critical ones, especially critical ones)
3. If someone finds a real issue, acknowledge it honestly
4. Don't delete downvoted comments
5. Post a "Thank you HN" comment after 24 hours with updates
