| Is it Night Charm, NightCharm or Nightcharm...? How do you write it?
It's Nightcharm.
What's the ethos behind Nightcharm?
(1) Sex as a metaphor for communion and "immersion" with the Beloved. Or God. Or Goddess. (2) A sense of community and family for our visitors. Because sex is such a paradoxical force--ubiquitous but usually guarded and secret--we wanted to create an online milieu for people to visit, hangout, read thoughtful, well written erotica, relax, have fun and feel loved.
How did this site come to be?
Philosophically speaking (and with tongue firmly in cheek), Nightcharm's birth was mythological, generated by the gods of necessity. A material by-product of our perpetual annoyance and disappointment as we searched the Net for a queer/porn site grounded in cheek, sophistication and respect and affection for its visitors.
We like to think of ourselves as a rest stop for the weary pornhound.
Historically, our story is a common one: Within three weeks of our original launch, during the summer of 1997, we clocked over 20,000 enthusiastic visitors. We were promptly dropped by our ISP. So we took a year to recalibrate our intentions, consider our options. We toyed with the idea of becoming a pay-per- view site, but later considered membership or the AVS approach limiting and contrary to the spirit of the Internet.
In the end we decided to take a financial risk by securing a spot on a commercial server that offers reliability (and a hefty charge for transferred bandwidth). Which leads to the following question.
I like the idea of a free site. How can I support Nightcharm and keep it vital, fresh and growing?
(1) We're sorry to use a cliche, but visit our sponsors. Unlike other sites we feel 100% comfortable in making this request, and trust you'll agree with us.
We've tried to minimize interruptions in your viewing and reading pleasure by strategically placing advertising in natural breaks within your flow through the site. We depend on the revenue generated by the banner ads to maintain the heartbeat of the site. Without it we're doomed.
(2) Email. We enjoy love letters, feedback, suggestions, criticisms, ideas, testimonials, detailed recountings of epiphanies and unbridled tremors of bliss and satiation.
What about your sponsors? Are their services any good?
The net and pornography are strange bedfellows. On one hand we've a perfect opportunity for citizens to express their sexual curiosity and virtuosity, but then, on the other hand (and because porn remains such a fringe subject within our culture) we have a "wild, wild west" sort of outlaw mentality dominating commercial ventures. In short it's become a veritable shark's nest and we're tired of all the fucking bullshit. Consequently we visit, explore, and report on every sponsor we feature in Nightcharm. Be wise while visiting and considering pay-per- view membership sites. Two important caveats and pointers:
1. Always evaluate carefully the terms of agreement listed for any membership site you visit. And make sure the company's contact number is easy to access.
2. The web's best source for consumer tips is Jane's Reviewed Adult Links. (Bookmark it now). Jane and Jim's site offer detailed reviews and consumer tips on a wide array of adult web oriented subjects. A veritable arsenal of practical information for any stalwart porn aficionado.
Should you have complaints or concerns about any of our sponsors please contact us immediately via e-mail. We want to know, and may be able to help you resolve your dissatisfaction.
Are you hiring?
Our artistic mission and vision includes outside collaborators. Photographers and writers, primarily; although if you're a good psychic we'll talk to you too! So, yes, we want to hear from you. We pay, either with money -- rates vary -- and/or link trades, banner placements, publicity, always combined with unmitigated outpourings of love supreme. Pitch to us what you've got!
Erotica writers: please read our erotica submissions and payment guidelines.
Non-fiction writers: got any great ideas? We are especially interested in video reviews.
Photographers, digital artists: please contact us before sending samples of your work.
For Nightcharm's Inner Circle, we are hiring models in the Seattle area. If you are between 18 to 35 years old, comely and feeling frisky, please contact David K. for more information regarding our professional erotic photography sessions. ;-)
How do you make Nightcharm?
All of my tooling and designing takes place on a 400MHz Power Mac G4. Why a Mac? Well, you're probably familiar with the debate regarding PCs and Macs and have grown weary of the rhetoric, but I think it bears repeating, especially if you're considering purchasing a new computer.
I prefer purity of design (usability), not just a tolerably usable implementation (read: Windows). Simply put: the Mac is still easier to use, its interface has an ineffable intuitive feel about it. The Mac also has superior multimedia capabilities. Plus it makes computing more fun. Mac users aren't concerned with market share, they're concerned with quality. We do like to shatter myths though, so go ahead and compare for yourself.
That said, spend some time comparing the housing of various computers next time you are out shopping around. Most PCs are butt ugly. I mean, when was the last time you came across an industrial design book that catalogs the various design shifts of a computer's casing? Well there's one out there on the twenty year history of the Apple and Macintosh line. Macs are pretty to look at and nice to have around your house. Purchase one soon.
Here's the software I use to build Nightcharm:
Graphics, pics and type treatment:
Adobe Photoshop 5.5, Fractual Design Painter, Macromedia Fireworks 2, Extensis Photoframe, GraphicConverter, Kai's Photo Soap, GIF Builder, ColorBox
HTML and FTP stuff:
Adobe GoLive, BBEdit Lite, FontBuddy, Quicknailer, Fetch, Web Devil
Font Houses:
Emigre and Chank
Can I advertise on Nightcharm?
Nightcharm offers its advertisers quality traffic from the Web coupled with brand name association rather than millions of hits per day. Our ad rates are established by monitoring unique impressions to the site and cost one-half cent per impression. At this time, with close to 150,000 visitors a month, we are able to offer new advertisers excellent first-time trial rates. Please contact our sales manager for further details: master@nightcharm.com
I'm really smitten with your site. Do you have a banner for Nightcharm I can put up on my website? I'd like to let my visitors in on your charm.
Sure. Thanks. Go for it...
If you'd like to make money AND promote Nightcharm, please become a member of our Nightcharm's Inner Circle Partners Program. You can read all about it here.
Any special acknowledgments?
You betcha. Cliffie "da man"...one of the original founders of all things Net-smutty spectacular! We couldn't do any of this without him. Hetero or bi-guy horndogs shouldn't miss his erstwhile, but oh so groovy site Erotic.com. "For all the naughty things we love so much!"
Our friend Brian with Sex Linx has been an invaluable source of inspiration and assistance throughout the process of building this site.
And Jim and Jane Duvall who have gone beyond the call of duty working with a newbie webmaster; I'm proud to have Nightcharm within their roster of high-quality sites.
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