Thursday, April 15, 2010

Greeting Cards and Sunshine

Greeting Card Contest
 
The Hallmark Greeting Card Contest  is looking for anniversary card entries. The winner receives $250 with an additional $250 if they decide to put the card in stores nationwide. Deadline is April 26, 2010. See the site for official rules and guidelines.

Have you ever written for a greeting card company? I know that a few of you have. What tips would you share for success? Whether you've written for a card company or not, what do you look for when purchasing a greeting card? Have you ever gone through the racks, looking for the perfect card, only to think that you could write a better one yourself?

Sunshine Commenter Award

Laurel, of Laurel's Leaves supplied a lovely surprise by awarding me the
Sunshine Supportive Commenter Award. Thank you, Laurel, I needed some sunshine this week. Laurel's blog is a fun and helpful stop on my blogroll.

I pass this award along to all of my faithful followers and regular commenters. Your  kind thoughts and input are always an encouragement. Feel free to post this on your blogs and pass it along if you wish. If not, please know that your support and friendship bring sunshine to my life.

Don't forget to share your thoughts about greeting cards. We're all ears, and ready to buy your card if you win the contest!

Blessings and Happy Weekend to all! :)

27 comments:

Jessica Nelson said...

Never wrote a card or thought I could do better than what's in the stores, but for that kind of money, I'm tempted to try! LOL
Thanks for the info and congrats on the award. ;-)

Carol J. Alexander said...

Never wrote a card but frequently encourage my son to try. His one-liners are sooo funny I'm sure he could do it. Would love to read tips from others for him. (He's only 15.)

Susan said...

Hello Karen! I "almost" had some greeting card verses accepted. But at the last minute, the company changed their minds and I was bummed. But your encouraging post might be the oil to get the wheel turning again. Thanks, Karen. Sincerely, Susan

SusanU said...

My husband, an illustrator of children's books, has come up with his own line of cards called PopDowns. We have a site up and running at www.popdowncards.com and have one store that has purchased some, but now that the design and plan for production is in done, it's an uphill battle to market them. We're in the process of producing a good point of purchase display and will just hit every specialty card shop we can find in our area. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Karen Lange said...

Jessica,
It is a great incentive! If you enter, let us know how you make out:)

Carol,
I bet he would do a great job. There's info on writing greeting cards in "Writing for Quick Cash" by Loriann Hoff Oberlin if you are interested.

Susan W.,
You should give it a try! Let us know how things go, okay?

Susan U.,
Nice to meet you! The line of cards sounds interesting. Maybe we'll get a few ideas to help you out.

Thanks to all for stopping by and commenting.
Blessings,
Karen

Sassy Granny ... said...

Great questions! I used to stand and read greeting cards for minutes on end. Some made me laugh aloud; others touched my soul.

I've never written for a greeting card company, and more-and-more I buy fewer cards, except for the grandchildren. They've gotten so outrageously expensive that I often write my own sentiments in a notecard instead.

But the ones I used to like were those that made me smile.

Blessings,
Kathleen

Karen Lange said...

Kathleen,
The cost is getting up there, and if you have many to buy for, it is easier to write your own notes if you have time.
Thanks for coming by.
Blessings,
Karen

Victoria Dixon said...

These days, we could all use some sunshine. Thanks for spreading it! I appreciated you dropping a note at Laurel's blog earlier and thought I'd drop by. I'm glad I did. Your site looks full of wonderful things. I'll be sure to pop back in. :)

Karen Lange said...

Victoria,
Thanks for coming by, and congrats again on winning Laurel's contest.
Have a great weekend,
Karen

Maria I. Morgan said...

This looks like a fun contest! I have a friend who would be good @ writing greeting cards although I've never given it much thought. Congratulations on your award - I whole-heartedly agree with Laurel on this one! You are definitely a supportive commenter!! Have a great weekend and God bless!

Elana Johnson said...

Wow, what a cool contest. I've never thought about writing greeting cards, but I do know that sometimes I can never find the perfect one. So maybe I should...

Congrats on your award!

covnitkepr1 said...

Sorry...My comments in the tag below.

Warren Baldwin said...

Be fun to try. Thanks for posting about opportunities like this (and your previous post). wb

Barbara Frank said...

What a fun contest! Years ago, I had a book from Writer's Digest about writing for greeting card companies. Wonder what I did with that book......?

Have a great weekend :)

Barb
www.barbarafrankonline.com

Karen Lange said...

Maria,
You ought to give it a try; I bet you'd do well. Thanks for your comments:)

Elana,
Maybe you should! If you do, let me know:)

Covnitkepr,
Thanks for coming by!

Warren,
You are welcome. You should give it a try!

Blessings to you all,
Karen

Karen Lange said...

Barbara,
Maybe the book will turn up one of these days...:) Thanks for coming by.
Blessings to you,
Karen

Terri Tiffany said...

I have about 10 cards under contract with Blue mt but it seems it takes 1-2 years before I will know if they pass market approval!

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Karen -

I submitted to Blue Mountain cards a few years ago. They weren't impressed.

Blessings,
Susan :)

T. Anne said...

That sounds like a lot of fun. I think I entered one of their contests years ago. I guess there's tuff competition out there.

quietspirit said...

Karen:
In 2007, I attended the Midwest Writers Workshop in Muncie, Indiana. A friend of mine and I received mention in a greeting card writing 'contest'.I inquired about the possibility to write for them. I had to take a test to see if I could write the way they wanted. I didn't send it in. But I will think about this contest.

Jen said...

Congratulations on the award! What a beautiful contest I'll be thinking about it!

Happy Weekend!

Karen Lange said...

Terri,
Give us a shout when they do. I'd love to look for them in stores! Maybe I'll have you autograph one for me:)

Susan,
Well, maybe novel writing is more your thing:) I am sure that whatever you wrote for them was nice, just not what they were looking for. Oh well, lots of other markets out there.

Cecelia,
You should give this a try; you never know what might happen. You've written poetry, haven't you? That could be a plus.

Jen,
Hey, you never know, it might be worth a shot. Thanks for coming by.

Blessings to each of you,
Karen

Patti Lacy said...

My mother has a set of greeting cards designed after a series of bird pastel paintings.

I LOVE beautiful cards and could spend a fortune buying them!

Thanks for sharing.
Patti

Tiffany Marcotte said...

Hey Write Now... I'm the Write Stuff! Love your blog :) Keep up the great work!

Karen Lange said...

Patti,
Your mother's cards sound lovely. I too, love cards, and could spend $$ like crazy. Some of my favorites are the blank ones with Monet paintings on the front:)

Tiffany,
Glad that you stopped by! Thanks for becoming a follower. I'll hop over and take a peek at your blog. Thanks for the compliment:)

Thanks and blessings to you both,
Karen

Lindsey Edwards said...

Wow, cool contest! Writing a greeting card would be pretty cool, although sometimes I wonder if cards are going to the wayside as everything is all digital now. : (

Karen Lange said...

Lindsey,
You may have a point. But I think that there's still a place for a card that you set on top of the gift. Easier than setting the computer on top of the gift:)
Thanks for coming over!
Karen