How to Find Greeting Card Companies that Want to Buy Freelance Humor Writing

So you've decided to try becoming a freelance greeting card humor writer! Perhaps you read my introductory article on the subject (click my name, above, for an article list), or perhaps you heard about this unusual, but rewarding market niche elsewhere. Whatever it was that piqued your interest, if you are ready to get started, the first thing you have to do is locate companies that want to buy freelance humor.

There are three basic ways to do that:

1. Search for guidelines on the internet. Many greeting card companies put their guidelines, which are information sheets for prospective freelancers, on their websites. You could do a general search on phrases such as "greeting card guidelines" or "greeting card freelance."

Or you could go browse cards in brick-and-mortar stores (something you should be doing anyway, as an aspiring card writer!), and when you see a card that you like, look on the back for the company name. Then, when you are at your computer, you can search for the company directly and see if they have any info for freelancers.

Doing an internet search as a way to find companies that accept freelance work has the advantages of being quick and free. However, the process is random and you may miss a lot of the possibilities.

2. Use Writer's Market. "Writer's Market" is a huge book of market information for all types of writers that is published annually by Writer's Digest Books. They used to have a chapter devoted to greeting card companies, and traditionally, this was the way that most freelance card writers got their information. Unfortunately, several years ago, for unknown reasons, they stopped publishing the greeting card chapter, at least in the print version of the book. They still have that information online, though.