www.inkthinkerblog.com — I am privileged to belong to a nice-sized greeting card writer’s and artist’s group. We meet, greet, whine, and share in a private forum on Absolute Write. We’ve all gleaned a wealth of information from Jenna Glatzer’s book Sell the Fun Stuff. On this Greeting Card forum is where most of us met.
As we converse through posts and private messages, we learn from the experiences of others, and develop great friendships. We openly share our submissions, rejects, and often times, long waits for responses from companies. We discuss the “business” of writing and illustrating, as well as sharing a few personal notes.
As greeting card writers and artists, we all toil away for days and days, weeks upon weeks, writing, submitting, editing, supporting each other and….trying to endure the long waits for any response from the editors of the greeting card companies.
Summer 2006 presented us with exceptionally long waits for some unknown reason. We are left to consider that a few editors may have disappeared. Where have they gone? Is there some type of summer hiatus to which they all scatter to discuss and poke fun at our creations? Is there a tropical island called Editorial Escape? Some one needs to let the world know where these editors have gone.
We wait and wait and wait, and finally without any word on our precious submissions, we have to whine and bore holes in our computers with our eyes as we stare at our email, just waiting for the little mail flag to pop up. Of course acceptances are the best, but a few of us have reached the limit….just give us an answer…even a reject.
I know one company that has held submissions of mine for over seven months–seriously, does it really take that long to say, “Oh yeah, this is great?” After all this time, I believe they really don’t want the submissions (but I dare not give up hope totally-because you just never know). I have to assume they are just too busy with other submissions or maybe vacationing on Editorial Escape Island, to let me know.
The ultimate insult is when a writer waits and waits on a submission, giving ample time beyond the guidelines, and then reluctantly sends a status query. One of three things usually happen; a standard form reject-pow right back ‘atcha’; a nice letter saying, “Your submissions are still under consideration, no decisions have been made”; and the all time low down yucky one, no response at all. What’s a greeting card writer to do?
- Perhaps locating Editorial Escape Island would prove to help the situation-picture a frenzied group of stressed writers and artists tossing papers and index cards at editors as they lounge by the pool.
- Of course we can just quit! Stomp feet, pout, and fold arms across chest and announce to the world “I’m no longer writing greeting cards” (Yup, like that always works…for about ten minutes).
- Ask for mercy. Whom will you ask; the editors are on the island?
- Whine with your greeting card friends-they always understand. That’s doable.
But the biggest and best thing frustrated greeting card writers and artists do? Continue writing and keep submitting-we can’t help it. Because one day (and it better be soon), the acceptances will come rolling in. The email announcement will be music to our ears, and we will have finally gotten an acceptance from the company we have wanted so badly. It will happen-we just know it!
Bottom line…greeting card writing and art gets in your blood. Every comment you hear, every song you sing, every visual you see — it all becomes a potentially accepted card. We’re obsessed, we know it, but it doesn’t matter. It has now become my personal quest to find the map to Editorial Escape Island. You can bet two acceptances, four rejects, and dead air space, that I’ll share that map with the world.
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Dana Smith-Mansell is a published poet, freelancer, children’s author, illustrator, and nonfiction author living in Pennsylvania. She is the author of the children’s book Stop Bullying Bobby! As Dana waits patiently for responses on her greeting card submissions, she continues working on other creative projects to continue her creative focus.
Although this article was published by Kristen King, the original author retains all copyright and should be contacted for reprint requests.
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