Funny. Face-saving, too. And such a simple, direct statement. Suited to situations most of us encounter more often than we'd care to admit. That's why these lines grace a best-selling greeting card.
It seems there are cards today for almost every situation. We've handed over the hard job of expressing ourselves to folks who make a career of writing greeting card verses.
Do I mean to tell you there are people who make a living writing little snippets like the lines that opened this article? Yes, indeed.
Hallmark, the world's largest manufacturer of greeting cards (eleven million cards printed each working day), employs about eighty full-time writers and editors at its headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. Hallmark executives say that their writers come from journalism, advertising, and television scriptwriting backgrounds. However, the opportunity is there for anyone who can pass Hallmark's writing test.
Secondhand emotions
But you don't have to be chained to a desk to cash in on the appetite for secondhand emotions. Many of the firms that feed the 7.1 billion annual market rely heavily on free-lancers. It may sound like the come-on pitch from a matchbook cover, but it's true--you can, in the comfort of your own home, earn money writing sentimental, inspirational, or humorous little blurbs for the greeting card industry.
Which is not to say that it's easy. The work requires a clever turn of mind, polished skills, and cultural awareness.
Cultural awareness? To write greeting card verse? Yes, more so today than ever before. The days of mushy, flowery, "roses are red, violets are blue" verses are just about over. Also, special occasion and holiday cards are being rivaled by a host of nontraditional messages. Some are suggestive, some are risqué, and some are downright insulting.
"The trend in the last fifteen years is toward nontraditional, everyday cards," says Hallmark spokeswoman Barbara Miller. "Humor is increasingly important. There is lots of demand for good jokes and punch lines. Many cards address situations like mid-life crisis--and they are much more open and teasing."
Cards have become a fundamental means of communication today, Miller says, particularly between women. In fact, women send 90 percent of all cards, accounting for 50 percent of all personal mail in the United States today.
It's a highly competitive field, and there is quite a demand for writing talent. So...do you have what it takes to be a great communicator in the greeting card industry?
"We want people who are in touch with the world, who know what's going on, who can use the relevant language," says Miller. "We want people who have lived enough to know how someone else feels."
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