BREAKING INTO THE ANTIQUE/COLLECTIBLES MARKET by Scott E. Green

For freelance writers the antique and collectibles segment of the publishing industry represents an opportunity to build sales and develop lasting relationships with publications. You do not have to be either an expert in antiques or an avid collector in order to break into these markets.

Publications in this field are looking for freelancers as a source of articles in the following three categories; covering antique shows, covering auctions and doing profiles on prominent local dealers and/or collectors. You do not have to intimately know the field but you should bring to the story a compelling need to ask question after question.

The best way to get a handle on what publications are looking for, as well as the style, is to read the publication. You can find free copies of antique/collectible publications at your local antique shops, auctions and shows. The bigger the show or auction the wider the range of publications you are going to find, both those with national distribution and those with strictly regional or even local distribution. Some times you cannot tell by the name. For example, the MAINE ANTIQUE DIGEST is a nationally distributed tabloid that many consider to be the NEW YORK TIMES of antique publications, while a publication like the AUCTION EXCHANGE might have an impressive title but has little distribution outside of the state of Michigan.

For the last several years there has been some consolidation in the industry. Krause Publications and Antique Trader Publications have merged. Between these two firms they control ten regional, national and specialty publications. This publishing giant, known as Krause Publications, has cut down on the number of freelancers it uses and relies more heavily on in-house writers and a smaller group of freelancers who also do self-syndicated columns. Another major publication in the field, ANTIQUE WEEK, was recently bought by a British firm and gone on a buying spree of acquiring antique shows. It also uses far fewer freelancers.

Still there are regional and local publications that do buy articles from freelancers. The payment range is from $50.00 to $200.00. Listed below are some of the independent publications that actively buy articles from freelancers. While their needs may vary they always have a need for good writing.

NEW YORK-PENNSYLVANIA COLLECTOR
73 Buffalo St.
Canandaigha, NY 14424

UNRAVEL THE GAVEL
9 Hurricane Rd., Apt. 1
Belmont, NH 03220
https://www.thegavel.net/

SOUTHERN ANTIQUES
P. O. Drawer 1107
Decatur, GA 30031

MidAtlantic Antique Magazine
P. O. Box 5040
Monroe, NC 28111
MAINE JOURNAL OF ANTIQUES AND COLLECTIBLES
71 Church St.
Belfast, ME 04915
A large list of antiques and collectibles publications are listed at these sites:
Also, there are many web sites, as you can imagine that are devoted to antiques and collectibles. One that includes many links to publications is https://www.cjeans.com. It is a useful way to explore some of the publications in this field.

Scott E. Green currently does market columns for the web page of the National Writers Union/UAW 1981 and STAR*LINE the newsletter of the Science Fiction Poetry Association. He is President of the Science Fiction Poetry Association. Scott has also been active as a poet in the sf/f/h genres for over 20 years. His work has appeared in newsstand and small press publications. In 1989 , Greenwood published his reference work on genre poetry; SCIENCE FICTION,FANTASY AND HORROR POETRY: A RESOURCE GUIDE AND BIOGRAPHICAL DIRECTORY. For many years he was the publisher-editor of RISING STAR, a newsletter which covered paying markets in the science fiction/fantasy/horror and related genres.