Writers Wanted...

[The_Red_Spark]

I am looking for writers to collaborate with on a online periodical. We need writers of all kinds and on all subjects. From news and events to editorials. If you are interested in writing and submitting an article, or if you want to join our writers collective, post here or PM me for more details.

[Comrades Unite!]

Nice one AkaTheRed,I'll put you in the group.

[Comrades Unite!]

Sorry double post.

[Clarion]

What would the nature of this periodical be?

[Pricey]

I would be interested in writing or submitting an article or joining the writers collective. Send me a PM please.

[The_Red_Spark]

I will PM you tomorrow when I have more time AkaTheRed. Thanks for showing an interest. Comrades Unite will be sending you a invite to our group.

[Comrades Unite!]

Anybody else?

[Veovis]

I might be interested. It depends on what kind of topics you're looking for.

[Philosophos]

Well since english is not my native language I can't be in much help but if you want translation in my native language I can help you... Hope it's not really that off-topic

[ВАЛТЕР]

Will this be mostly editorials made by various writers one various subjects concerning leftist politics?

[Comrades Unite!]

I might be interested. It depends on what kind of topics you're looking for.

Anything relevant to the worker or politics in general, Very wide range of subjects.PM if you are interested or join our group.


Will this be mostly editorials made by various writers on various subjects concerning leftist politics?

Yes although we are all ears to suggestions like movie reviews and whatnot

[Tim Cornelis]

I tried to do something similar, but it didn't work because of the lack of input of volunteers and lack of streamlining as a result it bled out. Try to prevent that!

[Comrades Unite!]

Thanks for the heads up mate!

We're working fairly hard at it and in one day we managed to get a fair few ideas drawn up and we're going to vote what to pass on either Sunday or Monday, would you like to join?

[The_Red_Spark]

Will this be mostly editorials made by various writers one various subjects concerning leftist politics?
We are developing a format with everything from news to editorials and everything in between. It will be like a internet newspaper with many categories that pertain to issues and situational developments in leftist politics. The writers can contribute in several different ways and at differing levels of commitment and will enjoy a great degree of freedom to write what they want on whatever topic they want. We will have a few editors to work with the writers and then the article will be inserted in the appropriate category. It should be a great project to work on and write for.

[nihilust]

add me to the group please, i am a writer myself. thanks!

[Positivist]

Do you plan on organizing this as an exclusively revolutionary collective of writers, or do you intend on including the broader progressive movement?

[The_Red_Spark]

What would the nature of this periodical be?
It will be a collective of leftist writers and will cover various topics. It is going to consist of everything a typical newspaper will cover from news and current events, to editorials and entertainment reviews, all of which will be from a leftist perspective. It will cover things outside the traditional format too and will have a place for events that require a organized rapid response from activists.

As I said in another post it will grant the writers a great degree of freedom as well as support from editors to help with the grammar, appropriate categorization of the article, and the publishing aspect etc. We also have a group that is formatting and organizing the periodical. This is a democratic process and I hope that people will participate in discussion and votes that will start Sunday or Monday. We are using the group for this purpose so please join to participate and help build this project into a tool for political class struggle.

[The_Red_Spark]

Do you plan on organizing this as an exclusively revolutionary collective of writers, or do you intend on including the broader progressive movement?
We have proposed it for leftist politics and want to draw in a wide and varying audience as well as a wide variety of writers. We hope to use this as a platform to educate, agitate, and organize, and bring more traditional left wing thinkers into more revolutionary leftist politics. My thought is that it will be a bastion of the revolutionary leftist thinkers with a wide readership of varying degrees of the left.To what degree has not been fully discussed and voted on as of this moment. I hope you will join the discussion, proposal, and voting processes because I value your input. This will be what we make it. I hope that through a joint effort that we can make this the number one leftist periodical/blog on the internet. That would make this a huge tool to reach our political goals.

[Positivist]

I think that a broad left collective of writers is a good idea as we could possibly promote it through major media sources (ex: submitting OP-ed articles to the new York times, and identifying the authors as members of the collective or just citing the collective itself as the author.) This would be much more difficult with an exclusively revolutionary group.

[The_Red_Spark]

I might be interested. It depends on what kind of topics you're looking for.
Thanks for your interest in the project. Any topic you wish to address from a leftist perspective is ok and desired. It can be on a new music group or a article exposing corruption on Wall St. as a few specific ideas. I leave the subject matter up to the writer. We just want it to be from a leftist perspective. Staff writers will be asked to address specific assigned topics that suit their interests and this position is voluntarily applied for. There are more details in this thread since your post was made. Try reading these for more details or joining our group where there is a very detailed discussion underway in the 'organizational matters...' thread.

Our group is here... http://www.revleft.com/vb/group.php?groupid=1019

[The_Red_Spark]

I tried to do something similar, but it didn't work because of the lack of input of volunteers and lack of streamlining as a result it bled out. Try to prevent that!
Indeed! That is sound advice. I hope you join us at some point. We could use your experience and input. I hope you will give it some consideration. We will accommodate you in any and every way. Your level of commitment is strictly up to you.

[Tim Cornelis]

I'm perhaps willing to join if you'll have me, though I'm not sure yet, and in what way I could help.

You need to ask yourself a few questions, though. Maybe you've asked them already, perhaps not. Writing a newspaper is fun for yourself, but ultimately you want visitors. Why would they come to you? What unique do you have to offer? There is a lot of competitors. And why would they come back to you. The best thing is to have actual 'ground reporters' who can give more details you would otherwise get from primary sources.

Most (online) newspapers recycle news from Associated Press or Reuters, you can do this as well, but having people 'on the ground' gives you a more unique flavour. For example, as a Dutchman I can give details about Dutch politics you wouldn't get from Reuters (now, Dutch politics is quite boring, so that's not particularly helpful but you get my point).

When I and others tried to do this it essentially was, write something and upload whenever you want, but this eventually, I think, lead to it bleeding out. On the other hand if you do it only weekly (perhaps only at first), visitors are less likely to return. Perhaps similar to libcom you could provide more than just 'news' and have an accompanying forum, or archive (although with the Marxist Internet Archive this is unlikely to succeed).

[Positivist]

Its a shame that this idea wasn't raised earlier as it will be difficult for students here with school approaching. That was our problem last time with the paper Tim was referring to. None of us really had anytime to commit to the project due to school. But hey maybe we could make it work this time. Glad to see that you are considering joining Tim I was planning on messaging you about this.

[Tim Cornelis]

I think this could be more successful than our previous attempt. For example, we named it 'The Global Communist' which is an incredibly small niche, and therefore more difficult to garner a following. The name 'communist' may drive away some left-wingers because they associate it with Stalinist terror.

If there is a good plan, instead of a hastily established news resource based around spontaneous order (as we had with the TGC), it could be more successful.

One unique feature I was thinking about, since many 'think tanks' have various indexes such as Democracy Index, or Economic Freedom Index,etc. this new project could have a 'Class Struggle Index' including information on recent strikes and protests, the popularity of far-left parties, and a Class Struggle Index category so one can immediately see how extensive (or not) class struggle is in each country.

[Positivist]

Yeah anytime you say communist without saying "is evil" after it your raising yourself for public dismissal.

News projects are always hard because we can't just sit around all day and track what it happening the way professional sources can. But if we amass a large enough team it is possible. And your absolutely correct about 'boots on the ground' reporting, we don't just want to recycle whatever CNN throws at us and display it as something new.

[Positivist]

Check out this project too Tim; http://www.revleft.com/vb/outreach-and-communication-t174335/index.html?p=2496704

This one is getting a lot of input too and is based on permanent critiques rather than current event ones so with enough work I have no doubt it could work. Its basically about promoting class based, and materialistic analysis through major social media cites.

[The_Red_Spark]

I'm perhaps willing to join if you'll have me, though I'm not sure yet, and in what way I could help.

You need to ask yourself a few questions, though. Maybe you've asked them already, perhaps not. Writing a newspaper is fun for yourself, but ultimately you want visitors. Why would they come to you? What unique do you have to offer? There is a lot of competitors. And why would they come back to you. The best thing is to have actual 'ground reporters' who can give more details you would otherwise get from primary sources.

Most (online) newspapers recycle news from Associated Press or Reuters, you can do this as well, but having people 'on the ground' gives you a more unique flavour. For example, as a Dutchman I can give details about Dutch politics you wouldn't get from Reuters (now, Dutch politics is quite boring, so that's not particularly helpful but you get my point).

When I and others tried to do this it essentially was, write something and upload whenever you want, but this eventually, I think, lead to it bleeding out. On the other hand if you do it only weekly (perhaps only at first), visitors are less likely to return. Perhaps similar to libcom you could provide more than just 'news' and have an accompanying forum, or archive (although with the Marxist Internet Archive this is unlikely to succeed).
I would be excited to have you Tim. No pressure to join but I think your insight is excellent and very important to consider. I have considered some, but not all of your points. I have a fairly well developed plan in my head and with each new member and insight it gets more and more defined.

My idea is in accord with much of what you have said. I want to see that each news article is from a writer or has a supplemental summary of the article if it is from another news agency. I also want to have writers from each area of the world to give it the flavor that you referenced. I do disagree with you on Dutch politics however;). Pim Fortuyn's assasination a long while ago, the closing of parts of the red light district, and the debate over immigration are just a few I can think of that make good topics and require Dutch insight to fully understand. I strive to see this local insight and it will become more of a reality as things grow and take form.

I also plan a good marketing effort to insure that all of the subscribers to other blogs of similar content are included as subscribers. This will include Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and a bunch of other ideas to build a large readership and subscriber base. The more subscribers the more contributors is how I feel it will develop. A timeline is something hard to pin down but I think a slow, steady, consistent and patient approach is fine. We will start small but work to build it up.

What I am proposing, and I think it will be agreed on in principle by everyone in the group, is that we will have three or more types of writers. One will be a staff writer which will incorporate assigned topics and regular deadline oriented assignments, which will be the base of our periodical. The second kind will be a regular contributing author. This will be people who are not held to assigned content or deadline oriented pieces and who will contribute on a higher level than the third category but less than staff writers. The ideal amount for this category is two to three articles a month. The third category will be people who only submit when time allows and submit what they want on an undetermined basis and level of commitment. This category has the ability to make it full of interesting material and full of unique and interesting content and analysis.

With that concept in mind I think it will yield an approximate number of at least 12 staff articles, 10-20 regular contributor articles, and 5-10 third category contributor articles, for a estimated grand total of at least 27 articles and a rough high estimate of a possible 42 articles per month. I think that is pretty substantial while remaining conservative in the estimate. If we can promote it to other people of like mind it may yield much more. It all depends on the level of participation of the leftist community here and in general. The more support we get the more this will grow and the more impact it will have.

[The_Red_Spark]

Everyone who is interested in writing needs to join our group. We are working on developing the idea there and need participation for a scheduled vote on Monday. The vote will probably be strictly on the renaming of the group, the naming of the periodical, and the categorical structure and format of the periodical. Participation is what will make this work and so far we have had a good bit of participation in the development that is made up of an International group. We need everyone to vote as a minimum. Democratic processes need participation in order to be effective.

This is the group here... http://www.revleft.com/vb/group.php?groupid=1019

[Münchhausen]

I'd be interested as well, but I'm not sure I'm qualified... I do like writing, but i never actually participated in any kind of publication. Also I'm not sure wether I'm able to contribute interesting subjects... I'm going to join the group for now if that's ok and see if i can make myself useful.

[The_Red_Spark]

I'd be interested as well, but I'm not sure I'm qualified... I do like writing, but i never actually participated in any kind of publication. Also I'm not sure wether I'm able to contribute interesting subjects... I'm going to join the group for now if that's ok and see if i can make myself useful.
I am sure we can help you with editing and we would like to have you join us in our group. We have been working on developing some ideas and I hope to hear your thoughts on everything.

[Jimmie Higgins]

Need any illustration work?

[Aussie Trotskyist]

I'll put my name down again, give me a PM when you have something for me.

[Omsk]

Are you interested in articles which deal with history? (I wrote about the Bulgarian ortodox ML's and about the Albanian revolution, and about Lazar Kaganovich, mainly, some 24 articles about those subjects.)

[The_Red_Spark]

Need any illustration work?
Yes we do. We have two people on our design team right now and they are working on designing a logo. They have presented some excellent ideas so far too. We want to have it finished for presentation and a vote at the beginning of next week. You can read more on it in the group thread on Organizational matters. We would love to have you working with us on the project.

We are voting on a few topics tomorrow. We are deciding on a final name for the group and periodical and we are voting on the category format for the articles. All of this is being discussed today and all ideas will be voted on tomorrow. The vote will be held over a 24 hour period so that everyone can vote and so that the timezone differences won't interfere. I hope to see you there.

[The_Red_Spark]

I'll put my name down again, give me a PM when you have something for me.
I will send you a PM. I responded to your post in our group. The post about covering Australian news stories. I may not have made it specific enough however. It was the one referring to writers from several continents. I hope you will be participating in our vote tomorrow too. I am sorry for not replying directly to your post. I will PM you later today.

[The_Red_Spark]

Are you interested in articles which deal with history? (I wrote about the Bulgarian ortodox ML's and about the Albanian revolution, and about Lazar Kaganovich, mainly, some 24 articles about those subjects.)
Yes, I think we can incorporate the subject of history into our format. Are there any articles that show a relation between the historical aspect and it's relation to current conditions or events? That would be ideal. I want you to join us in our group. I am sure we can incorporate your writings in some fashion.

[Omsk]

Thanks. Of course, the writings about Bulgarian anti-revisionists are related to modern day Bulgaria, and the Bulgaria of Todor Zhivkov.

The articles about Albania are connected to the question of national-self-determination, and the modern day problems of the post-Titoist republics which were destroyed by capitalism and nationalism.

The writings about Lazar Kaganovich are mostly about his life and defending him from lies.

However, the translation will be a huge problem.

Let's stay in touch, all right? I will join your group, do you have a web-site?

[jookyle]

I'm very interested

[DrZaiu5]

This seems like an excellent idea and I would love to help.

[Omsk]

I am going to start some work on an introduction article abut the life and work of Enver Hoxha, the most consistant anti-revisionist Marxist-Leninist right next to Lazar Kaganovich. This i will send you as soon as it is finished, i expect it to be about 2 pages long. Is that all right?

[The_Red_Spark]

I am going to start some work on an introduction article abut the life and work of Enver Hoxha, the most consistant anti-revisionist Marxist-Leninist right next to Lazar Kaganovich. This i will send you as soon as it is finished, i expect it to be about 2 pages long. Is that all right?
Yes, you can write as short or long as you wish. We will review it and assist you with any needed editing. It will be published once we have everything in order and it will be worked into our publication as a scheduled update of content. I also hope you will join our group. The link is posted several times in the thread.

[La Peur Rouge]

I'm willing to help, editing/writing/whatever.

[The_Red_Spark]

I'm willing to help, editing/writing/whatever.
Excellent!! You should join our group and get involved in the discussion there. We have some important things to resolve over the next several days and want as much input as possible before the votes are held. You can find the group here...http://www.revleft.com/vb/group.php?groupid=1019

[The_Red_Spark]

This seems like an excellent idea and I would love to help.
Great!!! Join our group if you want to work on the development of the project. There are several threads and one that is a memo for the writers. We would really like to have you on our team.

[The_Red_Spark]

We have made tremendous progress in less than a week. Our developmental vote is to be held on Tuesday. Any writers that have an interest in participating should begin to write now and I strongly encourage participation on the developmental process if you can. We will be ready to publish our online periodical in about ten to fourteen days. This should give our writers the chance to develop their article before we publish the first articles for our project. To stay in the loop and receive notifications you should join the group.

[Comrades Unite!]

Bumping this for the writers who didn't see it first time around.
PM Me and I'll put you in the group.

[The_Red_Spark]

This project is now a reality. We have a site and a format. We need anyone who wants to contribute to the periodical to join the group or contact us to submit a article. Our first published articles should be up any day now.

http://ifr.iblogger.org/

[Omsk]

Sory comrades, i am ill, so i apologize.

Best regards.

[Positivist]

Sory comrades, i am ill, so i apologize.

Best regards.

Get well soon comrade.

[Камо́ Зэд]

I'm interested in this project. I wonder if maybe you wouldn't need the contributions of a visual artist, perhaps?

[The_Red_Spark]

I'm interested in this project. I wonder if maybe you wouldn't need the contributions of a visual artist, perhaps?
The link for the group is on this page fourth down from the top I think. Join us there.

[Камо́ Зэд]

The link for the group is on this page fourth down from the top I think. Join us there.

Thank you, comrade. Let's work well together.

[Comrades Unite!]

Good Comrade!

[ComingUpForAir]

Comrade, I have an article that I would love to contribute on the topic of Routine Infant Cirumcision. If you feel this might be something appropriate, please let me know and I can submit right away!

[Peoples' War]

I'm interested.

[The_Red_Spark]

I'm interested.
Then join our group and read the post/thread on Subjects. The link is in this thread several times. You can read up on things there and learn how we plan to work on this. Then you can let us know what you want to write on and post it in the subjects thread. When the article is ready you can submit it by email and we will publish it after any necessary editing and corrections on grammar etc have been made. I look forward to working with you comrade.

[Lolumad273]

I'd be interested, I'm alright at writing, but I'm not sure what you'd want me to write about. PM me with some details, and I'm pretty down for it!

[Radikal]

I'm interested. I can do a little editorial maybe, or something else. PM me with an idea, if you got space.

[The_Red_Spark]

I'm interested. I can do a little editorial maybe, or something else. PM me with an idea, if you got space.
I will PM you later this evening when I have time to PM. I am just checking in right now. Thanks for the interest and I look forward to talking with you about the project.

[The_Red_Spark]

I'd be interested, I'm alright at writing, but I'm not sure what you'd want me to write about. PM me with some details, and I'm pretty down for it!
I will PM you this evening about topics. We help with the editing and we can help with the topic if anyone needs a topic. You should join the group that is linked several times in the thread and look at the threads there to get an idea of what we are doing and the scope of the project. I will talk to you later my friend.

[Radikal]

I will PM you later this evening when I have time to PM. I am just checking in right now. Thanks for the interest and I look forward to talking with you about the project.

Me too!

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

I'm writing a dissertation this year on the topic of the end of feudalism/beginning of capitalism, would be happy to contribute some work. PM me some info.

[Binh]

Sign me up. Also would like to repub stuff and collaborate via thenorthstar.info as well.

[Comrades Unite!]

Ok mate, Send me a PM.

[The_Red_Spark]

We have now posted 6 articles to the periodical and hope to have several more posted by the beginning of next week. Anyone who wants to help with the project should PM or join the group for details. We hope to get as many writers as possible and there are no required levels of commitment so that everyone can contribute as time allows.:)

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

Very interested. PM me please with any further details. Which group?.

[The_Red_Spark]

Very interested. PM me please with any further details. Which group?.
This is the group http://www.revleft.com/vb/group.php?groupid=1019
I will send you a PM with more on the topic

[The_Red_Spark]

We need articles on current events and editorials too. We also could use some science and tech, movie and music reviews, world news coverage, and local news coverage. Basically you can write about anything you would see in a news periodical. Just watch using too much rhetoric and write your own material. For more details see the link in the post above this one!!!!!