Greeting card companies are looking for freelance writers to supply them with verses and jokes for the ever-growing greeting card industry – over 7 billion greeting cards are sold each year in the United States alone.. The challenge is that they have high standards and your contributions need to not only be good and appeal to their particular market but they also should clearly meet their writer guidelines. If you have the ability to write engaging prose and express emotions and sentiments in a way that the consumer feels he or she cannot or you are able to come up with a funny few lines, then this might be a great opportunity to put your writing skills to good use. All you need is a computer and creativity to make some extra money from home.
Follow these steps to break into the greeting card writing market.
Research Different Publishers
There are many different companies that make use of freelance writers. Each greeting card company has a different approach to the greeting cards it produces. Well known greeting card companies Hallmark and Blue Mountain have very different styles and look for quite different things in their writers. Spend some time reviewing the cards from different publishers. Get a feel for their particular type of writing, the voice of the card, and find those that you feel an affinity with and that you believe you can produce the right sort of work for.
The biggest buyers of greeting cards are women aged between eighteen and fifty. This means many greeting card publishers target this market with cards that express sentiments such as love, friendship, success, relationships and inspiration. However the alternative and issue-driven greeting card market is growing and this may provide a good niche for a new writer. Humor is also a popular ingredient for greeting cards. Short, witty, easy to understand messages are in demand. Companies will be very clear in their submission guidelines about the type of humor they want.
Get the Full Submission Guidelines
Each greeting card publisher has a set of specific writer guidelines that you need to follow when you write greeting cards. You can contact the publishers through their websites to get hold of their guidelines. Make sure you fully understand the guidelines and have a clear idea of the type of writing style they are looking for. Spread your net wide to increase your chances of finding a market for your writing. Start with smaller but reputable companies and develop your writing skills while creating a good portfolio. If you make a number of submissions make sure you keep a good record of what has gone where. Create a good filing system
Find Support and Help
You can join greeting card writer forums online. Search on the internet for greeting card writer message boards and freelance writer communities. These can be a very useful source of help and advice and provide a good opportunity to network for freelance writing jobs.
Find out more about how to write greeting cards for extra income at Writing Greeting Cards
Julia Derby has many years experience working in small business development. She left formal employment to be a work at home mom and has successfully started and developed a number of home businesses. Her free website My Home Business Ideas provides good ideas and practical advice for people who want to enjoy all the benefits of making money at home.