First off, tell me about yourself?
I am an Edinburgh based freelance journalist of as many journo trades as possible, editor-in-chief at Reviewsphere magazine, Director of Studies at Edinburgh School of Language, passionate art enthusiast and life observer (I guess). I wouldn’t want this to be about promoting my name but the concept of Reviewsphere as a platform and the people behind it.
And tell me about the rest of your team?
The team is made up of people from all walks of life, interested in ‘word-painting’ opinions/reviews, articles on theatre, film, art, lifestyle, culture and a whole bunch of other aspects of everyday entertainment around Edinburgh, Scotland, UK and the WORLD BEYOND. Among our contributors we have professional and experienced theatre and film experts such as Peter Callaghan or Marc Nelson, counsellors (Paula Smith, Chris Burn), former Fleet Street journalists, as well as writers who are published by papers such as The Guardian, The Times, etc. or people totally unrelated to the world of journalism with the hunger for expressing their views on what’s out there. It is very often the case that totally random contributors come up with extraordinary pieces.
How many contributors are there at the moment, and are you looking to expand that number? If so how do you apply?
Good question. I’m not sure exactly but I’d say 20+ or so. Just checked our registered contributors’ list and it says 85. Not all of them re active or regular, of course. New creative brains approach us every week and we’d love to keep open doors to everyone – no matter the gender, race, sexual orientation, nationality or universe you’re from.
Tell me about Reviewsphere? And what is it exactly you do?
The mag is a platform for everyone interested in all forms of art projects around them. One of the very crucial ideas of Reviewsphere is to help people get their word out there; get published, in many cases for the very first time. All opinions matter and we’d like to serve as a tannoy for expressing these views (re-views). So, if you’ve just seen a film, a theatre performance, art exhibition, cultural event, social issue where art could be the cure, let us know, put a review or opinion piece together and we’re there to share it with the world. We’re open to all forms of creative writing and anyone can pitch their ideas to us.
If you have/had one what is your company mission statement?
Scotland’s perspective on the NEWS, Theatre, Film, ART reviews.
Why did you start the site, and how long has it been active?
The site was started out of passion for arts and it’s been properly active for over 2 years now.
What has been your proudest moment and/or biggest accomplishment so far?
Each piece published is an accomplishment not only for us but for an author as well.
How do you make your site stand out?
We try to keep it simple, transparent, as informative as possible and to the point.
Do you have an active audience on your site and if so how do you maintain it?
Our audience has been growing steadily since we launched in 2016. I remember when our stats at that time were only a few hits per day and today we measure these in hundreds daily. Nothing humongous but we are being read and I believe there’s loads more to come.
If you could give advice to anyone wanting to start their own site what would it be?
Persistence mainly and don’t let anything or anybody, and I mean anybody, try to discourage you or put you down. Believe in your concepts ideas and learn on the go.
Lastly feel free to share your social media etc so people can follow you?
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
First Published on: https://offtherecordblog.org/
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