).The idea would be to have a number of contributors who can write more or less consistently about once a month (or more often if they have the time). The requirements would be good command of the English language and a writing style that has some flare and warmth to it. I don't see a reason to put a length limitation on the critiques, but each review should probably be between 2000-8000 characters (that's around 1-3 A4 pages in normal print). Furthermore, around three people, myself included, would fill the role of editors to screen each other's work prior to publishing. If someone would be willing to be a non-resident multiple-time contributor, they might be asked to assist with editing as well (I'd like to keep things as professional as possible with the least possible stress on people who would be willing to put their time into this, whatever the extent). Each contributor would be asked to include some research and images where appropriate and write under their real name.
My initial idea would be to get something like 1-2 reviews up each week (assuming around 4 steady contributors). Non-resident contributions would be welcome as well assuming the material is well written and original. My idea stems from the thought of creating an outlet for cool finds and for people who might not be interested in writing professionally as paid reviewers, but feel like they have something to say (let's say you played System Shock 2 recently with all of the latest patches/mods applied and you want to share your experience, that'd be awesome; or that you watched all of the Bodysnatcher films back-to-back and you feel like writing a comparison piece to cherish the experience, that'd be perfect; or that you've found a cool, but obscure band/piece of music and you want to review their stuff and write about them in more detail, that'd be great, too).
One thing I'm also considering is a news feed where developers could post limited length news about their projects, like on Twitter (but with a larger character limit) with something like a once-per-month update limit. For instance, you might be releasing your game or signing a new deal with Steam that you want to promote. This might be part of a separate edited news feed. Since this requires relatively fast turnaround time, however, it's a far more demanding feature to maintain.
For the time being I have no plans of making money with the page; should the whole thing take off and result in actual traffic that makes actual money, contributors would naturally be compensated. For now I also don't have any ideas for the name of the site, or how to market it (if you'd be interested in participating, do feel free to throw out ideas below); which means that for now the safest bet would be to simply rely on viral.
Ideally I'd like to see a distribution of 40% film reviews, 40% game reviews and 20% music reviews, but right now the entire idea is just a thought I've been toying with for a few days. If I had to pick a site that has a similar writing style to what I have in mind, then crackd.com would probably be it while the late cinematical.com might be a guide in terms of form.
Which brings me to the purpose of this thread: please post below if you read the above description and would be willing to contribute if such an opportunity arose. Also, please specify in which capacity you think you'd be interested in contributing/able to contribute and what you'd be interested in reviewing/critiquing (games/films/music only, any one of these categories, etc). Not to sound cynical, but please do NOT offer to contribute if you are not sure you can write fluently in English or you think writing an article is a difficult chore (it is, which is why not everyone can write a balanced and well-written piece) or you think the whole idea is just plain bad.
