Linda
Member 
Ex-mathematician turned visual artist and touring cyclist to bike across Canada, Europe, Japan etc.
Posts: 1,426 
What I collect: Mostly Canadian and European stamps about art / science / landscape
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Post by Linda on Nov 10, 2024 16:09:54 GMT
Hello folks,
I am ready to write a How-To article about collecting pictorial cancellations from Japan Post. I need to know what to cover, in what format I should write it (more of an Q&A style? or essay style?), and what tone I should address my readers. Please comment below to give me some ideas, thanks!
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madbaker
Member
Posts: 800 
What I collect: (Mark) General worldwide collector (to 1975 or so) with a soft spot for Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia.
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Post by madbaker on Nov 10, 2024 16:24:47 GMT
Hi Linda, First off, the way that makes sense to you is the way to do it.  But since you asked... This is an area of collecting that I'm vaguely aware of, but I don't really know anything about them. So in general, what, why and how. What are they? I don't know much about why they are offered, or why one topic is offered and others are not. Do most postal administrations offer them, or only a few? Why do you collect them? I'd love to know what gets you excited about collecting them and what the cancellations signify for you. Why do you go after one cancel and not another? And how? I see you building your collection from primary sources -- you reach out to the post office directly. How does that work? Do you make up the cover and send it to them for cancelling, or are you ordering a product from the post office? Are they available for a limited time, so you've got a deadline to hit? How long does the process take? Is there a secondary market if you miss out, or want to fill in older postmarks? Does it even make sense to fill in older postmarks? And the best articles, for me, are the articles written from a personal perspective. I'd love to learn more about how and why *you* do it, rather than *most collectors*, if that makes sense. I hope this helps, even if it lists all the ways NOT to do it! |
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator 
Posts: 5,908
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Nov 10, 2024 16:26:42 GMT
Many thanks for your post, Linda. As the Newsletter Editor, I am, of course, excited that you are planning to write another article!  I am not sure I can offer much input on what aspects of the subject should be covered, but in terms of format, I like the idea of Q&A style, which you mentioned. It seems to me that will organize the article into "bite-size" pieces, which is a method I like very much. As an example, I would cite Terri's ( philatelia) first how-to article on collecting Vatican stamps, from V8.1. It isn't exactly Q&A, but the article is broken up into sections with descriptive headers, and each section talks about a specific aspect of the overall subject. I think this is quite effective, especially for a how-to piece. OK, that my two cents! Let's see what others may say.  |
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