Mystery Career #11: Who Am I? Can You Guess My Job?

I think I have the best job in the world. No matter the occasion, my job is to make someone smile, even through their tears, because with my help, they know they are loved.

Marriage. Birth. Baptism. Death. You've read my views on those subjects. Christmas and Easter. You've bought my work for those occasions. Can you guess what I do for a living?

Letting someone across the miles know they are missed. You've turned to my work for that.

When you've done something wrong and hurt someone deeply, you've turned to me to help patch things up.

When she moved away to take that important first job, you sent her my work. Before he went to college, you threw him a party. Many people joined you in sharing my views, which are our views, with him. Have you guessed who I am?

At one time or another, you've given my work to all those who have a special place in your heart. Sometimes, you've collaborated with siblings and colleagues to give my work to another.

I've made you laugh. I've made you cry. I've reached across the miles for you to help you visit a sick friend or console an aging relative.

I've wished your sister's 2- year- old son a happy birthday for you and also your 100- year- old great grandmother.

I am able to say things you cannot put into words. You give me the honor of finding the right words to express your deepest feelings. Do you know what I do for a living?

You've given my work as gifts in themselves or along with other gifts.

You've used me to poke fun at someone's milestone birthday, like 30, 40, 50 or 60! You've used my work just to give someone special a much needed, good laugh.

If you still can't guess, this last clue should give it away. I have saved every greeting card I ever received from the age of five. My favorite was a birthday card from my grandmother. It was a pop-up card that told the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel. I was so happy when I received that card. I knew I'd like to make others as happy someday!

Have you guessed that I am a greeting card writer? Congratulations! Wonderful! Excellent! Good job! Imagine what a loss for words there would be in the world without folks like me whose sentimental thoughts just pour out of our pens onto the paper! We make it easy for less sentimental types to say the right thing at every occasion!

I think it's a wonderful niche of freelance writing! I started out as a freelancer. Eventually, one of the big greeting card companies made it worth my while to work for them exclusively. That's what I've done ever since! I still get to work from home, which is perfect for my lifestyle!

Beginning greeting card writers might make only as much as $5 per card. I have been doing it so many years for the same national company that at the high end, I make around $300 a card! I tell you this to make you aware of the wide range of prices on the negotiation table.

If you think greeting card writing may be for you, one of the best places to start exploring the career is at greetingcard.org. That is the official website of the Greeting Card Association which is the American trade association of the entire greeting card industry.

The Greeting Card Association website has a volume of information for freelance writers who would like to write greeting cards. You can learn all about the industry on the site, too. It is a highly competitive market, as you will find out.

Have a nice day! Smile! Never stop chasing your dreams! Good luck in all your endeavors! Good-bye!

To read the previous Mystery Career Installment, click here

Sources:

1. 2009 Writer's Market, ed. Robert Lee Brewer (Cincinnati, Ohio: F + W Publications, 2008), p. 974.

2. Personal experience