Here at The Haute Critique, we are always searching for new insight from fellow journeymen. If you’ve seen something, good or bad, experienced minds want to know. That said, the quality of the site is near and dear to our hearts. We mean no offense, but submissions should be smartly written and bring something new to the table. Out of respect to our current authors, only the best will be published.
So, what are we looking for?
First, it must be a good review. In our case, that means it satisfies two main criteria. Does the review give readers an understanding of whether or not they will enjoy the media being reviewed, and if they would enjoy it, would it be better if they were high.
Every writer will have different techniques for servicing these two goals. Often it is as simple as giving the reader some insight into your personality and state of mind. This gets to the second criteria. The review should be well written. It should have style and a literary quality. A quick synopsis followed by an opinion usually won’t cut the mustard here. By exercising your own personal flair, readers will be able to sense quickly your attitude and integrate that into your review.
Lastly, reviews should be concise. In today’s world, readers want to compare lots of reviews. Pack it tight. 500 words is often enough. If you are moved by the spirit, don’t pinch it off, but don’t let it wander too far.
Now, for the technical details. We want to give something back for publishing your article. The best way right now is to give the writer control over ad space in the article. You can put a banner (468×49) anywhere you like in your post. This can be a google ad, a link to your own site or just about anything else. You can also place a graphical link to an external retail site for the product you are reviewing (amazon w/ an affiliate code for example).
We encourage text links within the article as well. These links should open in a new window. Trackbacks, wikipedia and informative links are best, but a judicious use of commercial links is also permitted.
Links that are not permitted in the body of an article are the standard stuff. No adult links or links to pop up laden spam sites. Within articles, we also prohibit links to marijuana paraphernalia (vaporizers, pipes, etc.) or ‘herbal’ marijuana sites and retailers. Marijuana information and political activists sites, however, are perfectly fine.
In addition to the body, authors are responsible for the graphics in their posts. There should be at least one image or video in the body of the post. Posts also need a separate thumbnail for the index pages. This thumbnail should be 305×120.
Finally, a quick word about becoming a listed author on The Haute Critique. For your first submissions, you will be listed as a guest contributor. To have your own author listing and have articles indexed by your name, you must publish five reviews within the span of five months. On the fifth accepted review, you will receive author status on the site and your reviews will be accessible by your author name. If you fall below the one per month threshold after that, your status will revert to guest contributor.
If you have any questions, please, please, please contact editor@hautecritique.com. We hope you send your review and we look forward to seeing it on the site.
Cheers,
Sen. Gravity
