However, I don’t spend a lot of time tossing my hat into the ring with hundreds of other applicants for advertised writing positions.  I’ll do it occasionally when a particular call for a writer really appeals to me, but it’s not my preferred way of generating business.

I know there are plenty of writers out there who would really like to be busier, so I thought I’d talk about an approach that has worked for me.  It’s not revolutionary or anything, but it doesn’t seem to get as much attention as other strategies.  I like creating my own gigs.

Here’s the plan, in its simplest form:

• Find someone who has a great product or idea–something that’s right in your wheelhouse or in which you see remarkable potential.
• Think about how your skills could help them.
• Pitch them.

Example One: Occasionally, I’ll watch press releases roll along the river of a popular distribution site’s RSS feed.  I’ll look for releases that involve interesting topics or ideas.  I’ll pay close attention to those that evidence a need for a much better copywriter.  The contact information is right there on the release.  The pitch is simple in terms of offering them more effective releases and it doesn’t take long to investigate their web presence and to see what else they might need.

Example Two: Have you ever been searching for something that you wanted or needed and then discovered a real diamond in the rough of a website?  Of course, you have.  When I find these sites, I will follow up with the owners, telling them how we might be able to work together to improve their business.

I know.  It’s pretty simple.

But here’s the interesting thing…  It works.

You might think that the percentage of contacts that turn into business would be minimal.  That’s not the case.  The conversion numbers are surprisingly good.  I’m relatively sure that my contact/conversion rate in these situations is higher than most people’s success rate when responding to “writers wanted” ads.

I believe that one reason writers aren’t in higher demand is our collective shortcoming in marketing our gifts and their value.  We have a tendency to wait until people see a need for us when we should be telling them why we’re so damned valuable.  When you’re rainmaking, that’s exactly what you’re doing.

The trick, of course, is the pitch.  You need to be able to show value to the prospective client.  You need to demonstrate an understanding of what they seem to be trying to accomplish as well as a vision for what they should be trying to accomplish.  You need to make yourself accessible and to let them know that you’re friendly, helpful and something other than a moneysucking mercenary with a keyboard.

I generally make contact with an email.  I’ll follow up with a phone call.  It’s not a chore.  It’s fun.  After all, I’m not hoping to find an ad for a job that would be tolerable.  I’m isolating opportunities that interest and excite me.

Give it a shot.  Take some time to find someone who isn’t necessarily looking for you but who could really use your skills.  Pitch ‘em.  See what happens.  You might be surprised.

Brett Giddens has a slightly less dramatic secret life.  Then again, he’s a real person.  He’s an Oklahoma high school basketball coach by day who spends his nights singing in small casinos as an Elvis impersonator.

I have a secret day/night life, too.  Mine doesn’t rival the Angel story and it isn’t as fun as Giddens’ tale.

Sometimes, in the evening, I write things that pay next to nothing.  And I do it just for fun.

Tonight, I noticed a content writer on a forum who mentioned that she was struggling with a deadline and had some overflow work to do.  I couldn’t resist.  Within an hour I was composing a series of six SEO articles on an incredibly uninteresting topic.  I just finished them moments ago.

Last night, I signed up for a little-known content writing site that supplies material to webmasters who believe the road to awesome SEO is paved with short keyword-heavy articles.  I actually wrote one of the entry-level articles for a rate that would make even the staunchest content mill supporter blush.

When I’m done with this post, I might take a minute to write a “Top Five” list at ListMyFive.com, which may or may not produce more than a dollar in annual ad share revenue.

Brett swivels his hips for Oklahoma grannies willing to take a break from the slot machines.  Angel scoured the sad streets of late night LA for tricks while avoiding murderers.  I check forums and search out low-rent content sites.

I don’t spend much time on these endeavors–just an hour or or so here and there.  Sometimes, I’ll do a little something as a break in the action between my everyday work.

Why?

Why would an honor student become a hooker?  Why would a seemingly normal guy want to paste fake sideburns to his face and singe “In the Ghetto”?  Who knows?

Okay, Angel had to do it to make ends meet.  North Oaks was an expensive school.  And lots of people dig Elvis.  I suppose I do need more of an explanation than they do.

Here’s why I maintain my secret life:

• I’m buying my neighbor’s 150cc Tank scooter and I don’t want my wife to find out.  Thus, I need secret cash.  That’s not really why I do these things, but it will be fun to buy it without anyone knowing how or where I got the dough.
• It’s a nice change of pace from the rest of what I do.  I guess it’s sort of like those perfectly normal people who have an inexplicable love of a stupid sitcom or who spend hours reading the worst romance novels you can find at a granny’s garage sale.  It’s a mental break.  I turn the brain off and play with words for awhile.
• It’s a zero pressure situation.  I don’t need to sweat every word.  I don’t need to play with multiple title variations or fix that inadvertent use of the passive voice in the third paragraph.  It’s a liberating kind of writing because, quite frankly, almost anything goes.
• I meet cool people.  Many of the folks I’ve met doing things like this turn out to be good buddies and great people.  Some are new writers who are just getting started.  Some are experienced content writers who grind out articles on the side.  Some have no idea of what in the hell they are doing–but they’re still cool.
• Occasionally, real opportunities emerge.  Occasionally, you’ll accidentally kick open a door that leads somewhere more interesting and more lucrative.  It doesn’t happen most of the time, but it does happen.  In other cases, I’ve been able to do something for someone and then convince them to do more/better/different/etc.  That’s always fun!

How about you?  Do you have a secret life?  Do you do things that would make Angel blush?  Maybe you impersonate Elvis Costello instead of Elvis Presley?  Are you churning out Associated Content articles under a pen name?  Watching sitcoms?  Are you racing me to find these stray gigs at odd hours?

Prohibitive technology costs and connection speed limitations made graphic-rich pages a gamble.  The idea of communicating with video was laughable.

Now, even cheap laptops come with installed cameras.  Phones and other portable video devices are dirt cheap.  Server space is more than plentiful and those old slow, dial-up connections are rapidly becoming the online version of 8-track tapes.

Video is gaining ground.

Many extremely successful online businesses have virtually abandoned traditional text in favor of video presentations.  Video content, video sales pages, video blogs, video, video, video.

Speaking of which, here’s a video I put together for this post:

This whole video thing really isn’t bad news for writers.

I doubt that the increasing popularity of video will have a negative impact on the amount of writing work available for quite some time.  The size of the overall marketplace for content and copy of all sorts is growing so quickly that more video us shouldn’t have a huge impact on the ability of freelance writers to secure opportunities.

It also creates new opportunities for those who can work with video, whether they offer complete solutions or know how to write effective scripts, etc.

Nonetheless, I think video’s gains are important to those of us who make a living with words.  Even if it’s not influencing our space much today, I can’t help but to think that it eventually will.

Personally, I haven’t done a great deal of video to support my business.  I should probably do more.

Unfortunately, I’m more than a little bit camera shy.  If I could convince myself that I was extremely photogenic, I’d probably do short video blog posts once in awhile along with a few other things.

I can toss together slideshow-style videos very quickly–the one above took about fifteen minutes, top-to-bottom.  No, it’s not Oscar material, but it’s something.  When I spend time on a project, I can actually create some fairly attractive and effective videos.  I do them for a few clients with some regularity.

I think I should develop my video skills, invest in pro-grade video creation and editing software and find a way to overcome my camera shyness.

I’m curious.  What are you doing on this front?

Are you playing with video?  Are you updating your blog with little clips of you chit-chatting directly to your audience?  Are you peppering your site with video?

Are you providing video services to your clients or do you regularly collaborate on video projects?

—

Note:  If you’re still seeing “Obama Girl” bikini as the video’s preview, it wasn’t part of that “use a bikini shot as the preview to drive traffic to your video” strategy.  It was purely accidental.  And it’s been changed.  It just takes YouTube some time to make the thumbnail switch.

In 2010, the work is there, provided you take the time to look.

Over the past few days I’ve had the opportunity to research submissions guidelines from a variety of markets. I think we have something for everyone here. Some of these markets have been featured in the submissions guideline section of our daily freelance writing jobs section and some are making their debut here at Freelance Writing Jobs.

50 Submissions Guidelines Pages

Anthology

1. Chicken Soup for the Soul – Pays $200
2. Cup of Comfort – .05 – .09/word

Children

1. Cicada – Payment varies
2. Cricket- .25/word
3. Highlights - $25 – $150 and up

Hobby & Lifestyle

1. AARP – Pays $1/word
2. AskMen.com - Pays $50/article
3. Back to College – $50 -  $80/article
4. Love of Quilting – $200
5. Make - $25 – $100
6. Quilting Arts, Cloth Paper Scissors & Stitch – Unspecified pay
7. Yoga Journal - Unspecified Pay
8. Zora & Alice – Pays $20 – $100

Literary & Poetry

1. The Missouri Review - Pays $30/page
2. Blackbird - Unspecified pay
3. One Story – $100/story

Miscellaneous:

1. Funny Times – $60
2. Orion - Will be open for submissions in June
3. The Sun – Pays $300 – $2000

Outdoors

1. Backpacker – .60 – $1.00/word
2. New Jersey Outdoors - Payment to be determined
3. Sierra Magazine - Unspecified pay

Parenting

1. Mothering Unspecified pay
2. Innovative Kids

Science Fiction, Fantasy & Mystery

1. Abyss & Apex - Up to $75/story
2. Analog - Up to $600/story
3. ClarksWorld - .10/word
4. Dark Wisdom – pays .05/word
5. Escape Pod - Pays $20 – $100
6. New York Review of Science Fiction – $10 – $25
7. Strange Horizons – $50/story
8. Beneath Ceasless Skies – .05/word
9. Neo-Opsis – Up to $125 CDN
10. Jim Baer’s Universe – .25/word

Travel

1. Abroad View – $25/story
2. World Hum - Payment Varies
3. National Geographic Traveler
4. Traveler’s Tales - $100/story

Writing

1. Women On Writing - $50 – $150
2. Writer’s Digest – .30 – .50/word
3. Write from Home – Pays $25/article – $10 for reprint

To be continued….

Like these? Want more? We have more submission guidelines coming. In the mean time, maybe you’ll find these posts listing guidelines and markets useful:

• 75 “Write for Us” Pages
• 11 Cooking, Food & Drink Markets
• 19 Parenting Markets
• 15 Greeting Card Markets
• 21 Poetry Markets
• 40 Freelance Writing Markets Paying $100 or More
• 40 More Freelance Writing Markets Paying $100 or More
• 11 Environmental Markets

Have you successfully queried one of these markets? Please feel free to share in the comments. We have plenty more markets and guidelines coming up!

We’re sharing cooking and food markets for you at Freelance Writing Jobs today. I researched each market to the best of my ability and as of February 2010, these are accurate and current. If I found a link to current guidelines, I included them. Otherwise, I listed contact information so you could request current submission guidelines from the market. I only posted a market if it was indicated that they’re accepting freelance submissions at this time.

Please be sure to familiarize yourself with back copies of the various markets and read all guidelines thoroughly to be sure you’re a good fit for the market and you can provide the right voice and slant.

1. Bon Appetit: Pays $100+. 50% freelance written. Query editors for full guidelines.
2. Chile Pepper - Pays $600 (minimum). 70% freelance written. The focus is on spicy foods. Contact editor@chilepepper.com for complete guidelines.
3. Food Safety Magazine - Unspecified pay. Please see online guidelines.
4. Fresh Magazine – Supermarket chain-based magazine. Payment varies and stories are assigned four to six months in advance. Please see online guidelines.
5. QSR Magazine – A magazine for those in the quick service restaurant (read: fast food) industry. Unspecified pay. Please see online gudielines.
6. Relish Magazine – Food magazine insert found in newspapers. Payment varies. Please see online guidelines.
7. Sauce Magazine – Looking for food-related essays. Unspecified pay. Please see online guidelines.
8. Southern Food Magazine – Unspecified pay. Please see online guidelines.
9. Tea A. Magazine - Pay is negotiable.  75% freelance written.  Query for complete guidelines.
10. Wine Enthusiast – Pays $750 – $2500. 40% freelance written. Please see online guidelines and editorial calendar.
11. Wine Press Northwest – Pays $300. 50% freelance written. Contact Managing Editor Eric Degerman at edegerman@winepressnw.com for complete guidelines.

If you successfully query any of these markets or wish to share pitching or querying tips, please sharein the comments.  Don’t miss our other posted markets:

• 11 Environmental Markets
• 19 Grants for Writers and Other Creative Types
• 15 Greeting Card Markets
• 19 Parenting Markets
• 21 Poetry Markets
• 40 Freelance Writing Markets Paying $100 or More
• 40 More Freelance Writing Markets Paying $100 or More
• 43 Places to Find Freelance Writing Jobs
• 50 Places That Hire Freelance Writers
• 47 Places to Find Telecommute Jobs

Lots of good luck to you!

Today we’re offering up some parenting markets.

We’ve been listing magazine markets and other writing guidelines this week and many valid questions are being raised. For example, how do I know these markets accept freelancers, and also, how do I know the pay rate is what they say it is?

It’s simple, I did some research. Research that’s easy enough for every single freelance writer to do if he or she wishes to write for certain markets. I looked up many markets on the web and, also, backed them up with a copy of the Writer’s Market – the 2010 edition. If some of the markets were still a little fuzzy with the details, I emailed or called to verify. If the market accepts freelance pitches, they’re more than happy to email current guidelines.

If you query any of these parenting markets and learn my details aren’t correct, please let me know so I can make any necessary adjustments. However, as of January 2010, these markets appear to be accurate.

When researching markets online, always consider how long ago each market may have been posted. If you’re unsure of whether or not they’re current, go to the library and confirm by checking the current Writer’s Market or contact the editors for up to date guidelines. If you’re reading this two years from now, the parenting markets listed here will offer a starting point.

As always, familiarize yourself with several back issues before querying any market.

19 Parenting Markets

1. BabyCorner.com - Parenting Web Magazine – Pays .02 – .04 per word. Online guidelines.
2. Bay State Parent - . Pays $60 – $100. Hyperlocal market only. Query: editor@baystateparent.com or spetroni@rcn.com at least two published clips.
3. Brain Child - Pays a “modest” fee. Please see online guidelines.
4. Charlotte Parent – Pays $15 – $75. Freelance contributions welcome. Please see online guidelines.
5. Chicago Parent – Pays $25 – $300. 60% freelance written. Query for current guidelines at chiparents@chicagoparents.com.
6. Children’s Advocate - Pays $225 – $450 for assigned articles. 60% freelance written. Contact for complete guidelines.
7. Dabbling Mum – Pays up to $120.00
8. Family - Pays $10 – $200. For Central NJ parents. 75% freelance written.  Contact for full guidelines.
9. Hudson Valley Parent – Pays $25 – $120. 75% freelance written.  Please see online guidelines.
10. Island Parent – Pays $35. 98% freelance written. For Vancouver parents, please see online guidelines.
11. Kid’s Life Magazine – Pays $20 – $25. Query for guidelines at kidslife@comcast.net
12. Indy’s Child – Pays .10 – .12/word. Please see online guidelines.
13. Mothering – Pays $200 – $500. Please see online guidelines. Accepts unsolicited submissions.
14. Parent Guide - Pays $25 – $150. Please see online guidelines.
15. Plum Magazine – Pregnancy publication for women over 35. Pays .75 – $1.00/word. 90% freelance written.
16. San Diego Parent - Pays $22 – $90. Query for full guidelines. 100% freelance written.
17. Sonoma Family Life – Pays .08.word. Please see online guidelines.
18. Today’s Parent: Pregnancy & Birth – Pays up to $1/word. 100% freelance written.  Please see online guidelines.
19. Working Mother – The only guidelines I can find are from 2009, with no mention of pay. I’m still waiting to hear back from the editors, but you can try on your own using the online guidelines in the mean time.

As always, let us know if you successfully pitched any of these markets. If you have any tips for the FWJ community, please post them in the comments. If you like these markets, maybe you’ll also enjoy some of this week’s other offerings:

• 19 Grants for Writers and Other Creative Types
• 40 More Freelance Writing Markets Paying $100 or More
• 21 Poetry Markets
• 75 “Write for Us” Pages
• 16 Greeting Card Markets
• Plus don’t miss our regular Monday Writing Markets.

Image via stock xchnge

19 Grants for Writers and Other Creative Types

Many organizations offer grants for writers to help them to complete their projects and education. What follows is a list of some of the available grants for writers and some details about each.

Please keep in mind, these grants are unsearchable. I found this information via research conducted online and at the library. Unlike our series on the various markets, I didn’t make any calls to verify any of these grants. However, as you can see, they’re all current.

1. The Haven Foundation - Stephen King’s foundation provides assistance to writers and artists who, through tragic events and no fault of their own, are unable to work. Awards up to $25,000.
2. Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting - Set up by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scientists this fellowship awards to authors who have previously earned less than $5000 writing for film or television.
3. Arch & Bruce Brown Foundation- Awards $1,000 grants to gay and lesbian playwrights and screenwriters.
4. Authors League Fund – Provides loans or assistance to writers who are in financial distress due to emergency situations.
5. Artist Trust - Their Grants for Arts pr gram awards up to $1500 to help fun artist generated projects.
6. Brown University – Awards a $45,000 fellowship to an established international writer or poet who is being creatively stifled in his/her homeland.
7. John Jones Literary Society – Awards $10,000 to help fund an unpublished writer who has a work in progress.
8. Kentucky Arts Council – Awards $7500 to three Kentucky poets or writers annually.
9. Library of Virginia Literary Awards – Awards three prizes of $3500 each to Virginia writers and poets who were published the year before.
10. Robert Bingham Fellowship for Writers – Offers $35,000 to first time authors who are deemed to have achieved an outstanding literary effort and “suggests great promise.”
11. National Endowment of the Arts – Offers a variety of grants to writers.
12. Academy of American Poets – Awards and fellowships ranging from $1,000 to $100,000
13. The Furthermore Program – Grant to help fund non-fiction book projects  range from $5,000 to $15,000.
14. Demand Studios – Offers one $1,000 grant each month to help fund writing projects within their community of writers.
15. Pen American Center Writers Emergency Fund - Offers funding up to $2,000 for writers in need.
16. Voelker Foundation - Fly Fishing Fiction Award – $2500 for one outstanding fishing writer each year.
17. AAAS Science Journalism Awards – Pays $3,000 to outstanding science writers.
18. Arts Writers Grants Program - Awards $5,000 to $50,000 for a variety of writing.
19. Witter Byner Foundation for Poetry – Awards poets $1000 to $3000.

More resources:

• You also might be interested in this post at About Freelance Writing where Anne Wayman linked to blogs that make it their mission to report awards, grants and fellowships for writers.
• C. Hope Clark’s Funds for Writers is the best online resource for learning about grants, fellowships and other awards for writers.
• Poets and Writers’ database is an amazing resource for anyone seeking funds.
• Michigan State University has something for everyone on this list of prizes, grants and fellowships.

We’ve also been exploring some writing markets this week. Check out:

• 75 “Write for Us” Pages
• 40 Freelance Markets Paying $100 or More
• 40 More Freelance Writing Markets Paying $100 or More
• 16 Greeting Card Markets
• 21 Poetry Markets

If you apply for any of these grants, have successfully applied for grants in the past, or just have some tips you’d like to offer to the writers in the FWJ community, feel free to talk to us in the comment.  Your feedback is more than welcome!

Members of the FWJ community remind me we’ve been spending so much time talking about writing for the web and private clients we’re neglecting other types of freelance writing jobs.  We”ll be exploring some of the less talked about markets in the next week or two. Hopefully you caught yesterday’s post featuring 16 Greeting Card Markets plus tips for pitching those markets. Today we’re going to explore poetry markets, and we’re in for a treat. Our friend and poet John Hewitt of PoeWar is a poet well versed in what it takes to sell a poem.

General Submissions Guidelines for Poetry

One of the nice things about poetry publications is that they are relatively easy to submit your work to. Unlike magazine article queries or book publisher queries, with poetry publications you simply submit your poems. You don’t have to spend a great deal of time convincing the publication to look at your poems. You just send them with a brief cover letter explaining who you are, and that you think your poems would be appropriate for their publication. You cover letter serves mainly to provide a list of the poems you have submitted, so that the editor can easily keep track of your submission.

Before I get to the basic rules of submitting poetry, I want to emphasize that you should always try to find a publication’s submission guidelines. I am only providing general guidelines. The deciding factor for any submission is the publication’s submission guidelines. Submission guidelines are important because in many cases they can prevent you from sending types of poems that the publication does not want. Most publications have a specialty or emphasis. A particular publication may only seek poems in a certain form (such as villanelle) or poems about a narrow range of subjects. Even if the publication in general publishes a wide range of poetry, they may be seeking particular types of poems for an upcoming issue. If you submit poems that the publication does not want, no matter how well they are written, you are wasting their time and yours. Another benefit of reading the submissions guidelines is that they will tell you where to send your submissions and who to address those submissions to.

That said, the general guidelines for submitting poetry are as follows:

Poem Guidelines

• Only include one poem per page.
• Poems should be single spaced. Use a triple space between the title and the first line. Use a double space between stanzas.
• Do not split stanzas across pages.
• Include your name in the upper right-hand corner of each page of poetry. If a poem has multiple pages, add the page number and a short version of the title along with your name on pages after the first page.
• The standard format for poems is left justified for the title and the poem. If your poem relies on a different format, such as using indented lines, format your poem to look exactly the way you want it to appear in the publication.
• Do not make duplicate submissions. Never submit the same poem to multiple publications or at the same time. You should submit a poem to a new publication only after it has been rejected by the previous publisher.
• Unless otherwise specified, limit yourself to three to six poems per submission. The longer your poems, the fewer the number of poems you should submit. If your submission runs over ten pages, it is probably too long.
• Include your name and contact information following standard letter format or using letterhead.
• List the titles of each poem you are submitting.
• Include a single paragraph biography that may include any previous publications and educational background.
• Include a positive sentence or two about the publication. Don’t gush, just show that you know who they are and appreciate what they do.
• Do not include

Cover Letter Guidelines

Include your name and contact information following standard letter format or using letterhead.

· List the titles of each poem you are submitting.

· Include a single paragraph biography that may include any previous publications and educational background.

· Include a positive sentence or two about the publication. Don’t gush, just show that you know who they are and appreciate what they do.

· Do not include

o   A self assessment of your skills

o   Apologies for discussion of your lack of experience

o   Sob stories. I can’t emphasize this enough. Don’t do it! Let your work speak for itself.

Mail submission guidelines

• Use white, standard-sized paper for your submissions.
• Use an envelope that is large enough for your poetry to lay flat rather than be folded.
• Use standard postage.
• Include a self-addressed stamped envelope for return of your poetry. This envelope can be smaller.
• Your email can serve as your cover letter, but should include the same information as a standard cover letter. Don’t use email as an excuse to be casual.
• Use standard file formats such as .txt, .rtf, .doc or .docx for your poems or simply include them in the email.

Email submission guidelines

John Hewitt is the publisher of poewar.com, a web site about writing and poetry. Every September, poewar.com runs 30 poems in 30 days, which includes articles and prompts for poets. His ebook of poetry, Extended Stay, is available for download at poewar.com.

Deb’s note: There are plenty of non paying or $1 per poem literary and web markets. I didn’t include them here.

21 Poetry Markets

1. Agni - Pays $20 – $150. Contact for guidelines.
2. Alaska Quarterly Review - Pays $10 – $50. Contact for guidelines
3. Antigonish Review - Pays $30/page. Please see online guidelines.
4. Antioch Review – Pays $15/page. Online guidelines.
5. Arc – Canada’s National Poetry Magazine – Pays $15/page.
6. Black Warrior Review - Pays up to $75. Contact for full guidelines.
7. Boulevard Magazine – Pays $25 – $250. Online guidelines.
8. Clean Sheets -Pays .03/word (erotica)
9. The Capilano Review – Pays $50 – $200. Online guidelines.
10. Dreams and Nightmares – Pays $10. Online guidelines.
11. Electric Velicipede: Pays $15 for poems under 100 lines. Online guidelines.
12. Grain Literary Magazine - Pays $40 – $70 – See online guidelines for more details.
13. Chatahochee Review - Pays $50.  Online guidelines/
14. Island – Pays $60. Online Guidelines
15. Leading Edge – Pays $10. Snail mail submissions only. Online guidelines.
16. New Myths – $15. per poem. Online guidelines.
17. Orion Society – Pays $100/poem. Contact for guidelines.
18. The Pedestal Magazine – Pays $40. Online guidelines.
19. Ploughshares – Pays  $25 – $250. Online guidelines.
20. Poetry - Pays $150/page. Online guidelines.
21. Three Penny Review – $100/poem. Snail mail submissions only. Online guidelines.

As always, let us know if you successfully sell your poems to any of the markets found here…and don’t forget to check out our regular Monday Writing Markets.

Image via stock xchnge

With all our talk about writing for the web or writing for the magazines, we miss out on what can be some very lucrative markets. Today I thought we’d explore a market we haven’t much discussed here at Freelance Writing Jobs, the greeting card market.

As you can imagine, greeting card people aren’t looking for anything more than a verse or a good joke. Clarification: They have to be good. They’re looking for people who can talk to their market and grab them with a few words. Here’s your chance to put all that tight writing you developed for Twitter to good use.

The average person will decide in less than ten seconds if he wants to buy a particular card. The folks who buy greeting card slogans are looking for eye catching prose. They want writers who can speak to the consumer and express thoughts the buyer might have difficulty expressing on his own. Sympathy cards must be sincere, while pick me up cards are to put a smile on the recipients face. The instant gratification must be apparent.

So how does one pitch a greeting card market? I did a little digging and made a few calls, and here’s what I found out:

Go shopping

First things first. Each different greeting card company has a different mission. Hallmark and American Greetings look for entirely different things from their writers. Go shopping. Spend an hour or two at the card shop and look at the different displays for the different brands. read a selection from each brand and take notes. You might notice one brand tends to display more flowery prose while another brand prefers salty talk. Which voice suits you?

Request guidelines

Like magazine and web markets, each greeting card manufacturer has a specific set of guidelines. Take some time to contact each market to learn theirs. Start small. A company such as Hallmark doesn’t accept new greeting card writers off the bat. Try a lesser-known, smaller budget brand to get your feet wet. Blue Mountain Arts advertises for writers often and pays a very respectable rate.

Ready to try?

16 Greeting Card Markets:

1. American Greetings: Doesn’t accept unsolicited material. Request guidelines and query your ideas first. Currently, they’re only looking for funny stuff, and trust me, it has to be good.
2. Blue Mountain Arts: Pays $300 for greeting card slogans. Follow link for guidelines.
3. Designer Greetings: Follow link to guidelines.
4. Ephemera, Inc. – Pays $50/slogan. Looking for irreverent, provocative material. Follow link for guidelines.
5. Gallant Greeting Corp.- Pays $45/slogan. Contact for guidelines.
6. Kalan: Pays $60 – $150. Contact for guidelines.
7. Marian Health Greeting Cards: Contact for guidelines. Looking for positivity – no snark.
8. Moonlighting Cards - Pays $25/slogan – Looking for “love” cards for all occassions. Stress that you must read their guidelines before querying.
9. Novo Card Publishers: Read online guidelines.
10. Oatmeal Studios: Looking for funny stuff.  See online guidelines for submission information.
11. Paper Magic Group: Manufacturer of boxed Christmas cards. Contact for guidelines.
12. Papyrus Design: Looking for unique slogans. Contact for guidelines.
13. Recycled Paper Greetings: Contact for guidelines.
14. Rockshots: Pays $50/gag. Looking for gag lines of an adult nature.
15. Snafu Designs – Pays $100/slogan or idea. Contact for guidelines.

I didn’t include Hallmark because they’re currently not accepting freelance submissions. I’d like to thank my friend Dawn who asked that I not use her last name. She’s a greeting card artist and helped me with this information.

I’m currently researching more of the specific markets and will have more good stuff for you in the upcoming weeks. Good luck and if anyone writes for greeting cards and has tips to share, or if anyone landed a sale through the information here, please let us know as well.

Good luck…and don’t miss our regular Monday Markets.

Image via stock xchnge.