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"Rice is great when you're hungry and want 2,000 of something."
Mitch Hedberg (1968-2005) For Previous Just The FAQs, click JTF Archive.
To set your mind at ease...your heart at rest...for all those pressing greeting card writing questions you've wanted to ask, but never did...
Dear
Sandra:
Hello Michelle--
I read your email carefully and then briefly checked out the
company's website. The product you refer to is really not an uncommon
one in the U.S. You see, issues like this are very cloudy and you're
right--there really isn't anything you can do about it. This
company could very well have had the product in question in the works
for the past 18 months to 2 years. The timing of your sending the idea
9 months ago and their development and launching of it could
simply have coincided. This happens frequently. Companies do studies
to see how a product will perform and it often takes a year or two for
them to go with the product. Yes, there's always the possibility they
saw your product suggestion and "took" it, but I really doubt
that--it's not in their best interest to do so. No matter what I say,
if you're convinced they did take it, you'll never submit to them
again--plus in forums or communications with other writers, you're
more than likely to talk about your negative experience. Companies
that rely heavily--or solely--on freelance contributions, are very
sensitive to that and will go out of their way not to have the public
perception that they take individual ideas or product concepts without
paying for them. My opinion--and it is an opinion--is by the time you
suggested this product, they already had it in the works. I
understand you will be leery of submitting anything else to them--and
that's certainly within your right to feel that way. I hope, however,
it will not put you off in continuing to submit your work to other
companies. Anytime in the future that you have an entire concept, you
would probably be more at ease to first register it with your
copyright office. Best, Sandra Miller-Louden
Dear Sandra:
I’ve just finished reading your book, Write Well & Sell: Greeting Cards. The information and tips you reveal are priceless. Really great stuff. I’ve been writing, submitting and selling humorous alternative cards for a couple of years...
I have a question and a problem you may be able to help me solve. The question is, do greeting card companies have a website where they report writers who do something stupid? And do they blackball the ones who do? Apparently I have done something dumb...
In a batch of ideas, I included a gag idea, which I thought was funny. Well, apparently {the card company} didn’t think it was funny—they thought it was gross. When they mailed back the batch, someone had written the word “disgusting” on that particular card. I was shocked! That gag was [comparable to] the stuff this company publishes.
Why do I think they had me blackballed? I’ve mailed out card ideas to other publishers, some of whom I sold card concepts to. Not only did they not mail back my work, they also didn’t respond to the letters I sent them asking about the [status] of my work.
Doesn’t that sound like I’ve been cut off?
[Name Withheld] New York
Hello New York:
It sounds more to me like, in one person’s opinion, one idea of yours was “disgusting.” They let you know that, not so much to insult you (although I admit no one wants to hear their ideas are “disgusting,” “dumb,” “moronic” or any other negative adjective) as to help you in what lines not to cross if you hope to sell ideas to them.
While similar paranoid feelings have found most writers if they write for any length of time, editors don’t have the time or the inclination to “report writers” to other editors. The only real writing sin in most editors’ eyes is plagiarism; if an editor finds out a writer has knowingly plagiarized from her company’s line of work, then the writer can expect some sort of backlash. However, even that will not likely include a blacklisting. More than likely, the writer will receive an email or phone call telling her not to bother to submit to the company again.
So while your experience obviously was an unpleasant one, I wouldn’t extrapolate that experience to include an industry-wide conspiracy to exclude your contributions. Editors are notorious for having piles of paper on their desk; your letter is at the bottom of some pile or awaiting a reply from an editor who’s just had a baby, had a vacation or had five pressing deadlines in a row. Relax—and if I were you, throw the offending idea away.
Have a question for "Just the Facts?" Simply send an email to Just the FAQs and you may see your question chosen for Sandra to answer! Questions may be edited for content or length at the discretion of Greeting Card Writing DOT com. Inflammatory or derogatory submissions will not be considered.
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