Interview With Sandra Miller-Louden
Interview by Jenna Glatzer

Sandra Miller-Louden is the author of Write Well & Sell: Greeting Cards, now in its 4th printing. Her newest book, A Few, Choice Words: Short, "Do-Able" Writing That Sells, was published in October, 2000 and covers many unusual, fascinating writing genres that many people overlook. Sandra is well-known for her 15+ years as a greeting card writer and besides being published by many greeting card companies, her work has appeared in many places, including A&E's Biography Magazine, Writer's Digest, Ohio Magazine, CATS, The Virginian Pilot And The Ledger-Star, Pennsylvania Magazine, plus numerous regional publications. 

You've become very well known among writers as the expert on greeting card writing. How did you get started in this field? 

I love to tell this story, because it's one so many people relate to. I was (and still am) a stay-at-home Mom, with two children under the age of 4. Even though I had always wanted to write and had always been a reader, I didn't have any special writing skills unique to greeting cards. I wasn't a former editor at any major company; I didn't have any insider contacts already in place when I began sending in ideas. I began the way many greeting card writers begin-- I sent in my greeting card verses "cold" and I learned by doing, from the ground up. In my book, my classes and lectures, people identify with my story, because of course, most of them are in exactly the same situation.

Where do you find greeting card markets? 

In the free tip sheet I send people for the asking, I give them a starter list of companies-- about 6 or 7. In my classes-- both "live" and on the Internet through WritersCollege.com (and soon to be on BizyMoms.com)-- I provide a more complete list of companies that accept freelance work. By its very nature, however, this list is subject to constant change; companies' policies regarding their freelance writers vary according to many factors. Finally, I always stress personal responsibility in finding companies; pounding the pavement-- either literally, by visiting stores that carry cards from the mid-size and smaller greeting card companies, or by combing the web for those card companies that many others may not be aware of. I've secured some of my most lucrative client relationships in just that way.

You won a major award for one of your cards. Tell us about that. 

That would be the Louie Award, our industry's highest honor-- which I won for Current, Inc. of Colorado Springs, for a verse that showed a mother looking at her two sleeping children, with the sentiment: "If only I could think of them as sleeping...instead of recharging." People still e-mail me about that card; a woman in Idaho recently wrote me saying she had framed it, but when they moved, it had gotten damaged and asked if I had a spare. The card itself was shown on Live! With Regis And Kathie Lee. I was fortunate enough to visit my first editor at Current in the summer of 1998 and finally held my Louie. I also had a Get Well card nominated for a Louie-it, too, contained a sentiment most people (read "women") could relate to..."There are many reasons for you to get well. Your family loves you and needs you. Your family is worried about you...(I) Your family is totally unsupervised in the kitchen! Get Well Soon!"

You don't just write greeting cards, though, as your new book reveals. You write several short-forms-- quizzes, eulogies (!), book reviews, etc. Do you need special expertise to write in each of these genres? 

If, when you flip through a magazine, you always take the quiz-- whether the personal/lifestyle type or the factual, objective kind-- you're already part way there. Having tons of trivia floating around in your brain also helps immensely. Understanding the basic types of quizzes-- among them, multiple choice, true/false, matching or the more complicated kinds, such as an acrostic, circuitous route or quizzes that have ratings to score yourself-- is also a must. As far as eulogies, they are actually not that far off from greeting card writing; I remember one student of mine in particular who wrote beautiful contemporary prose for cards and switched quite naturally to the eulogy genre. Probably the two most important factors would be a natural empathy toward people and of course, an ability to write "tight," since a eulogy generally runs between 300-500 words. If you love to read (and for most writers, that's a given), then book reviewing is also within the realm of writing possibilities. If you quickly absorb what you read and also understand what the term "well-written" means, insofar as such factors as pacing, dialogue, point-of-view, characterization, etc., then again, you most likely already have the necessary tools for this genre.

"Eulogy writing" must really raise some eyebrows. How do you promote your services in this area? 

I advise people who want to get into the eulogy writing business to, first of all, put aside any aversion or prejudice. This is a service no different from any other service given at a funeral-- from the flowers, to the organ music, to the dressing of the hair. If you have a family cleric and/or family funeral director, you would start there. Make up a professional packet, including a brochure that lists rates, the interviewing process, billing and answers 2 or 3 of the questions you assume most people would have. You should include one or two sample eulogies you've written-- I cite specific examples in my book. It is a field that is virtually untapped-- just as greeting card writing was 20 years ago. In fact, I remember a woman coming up to me after one of my workshops, who identified herself as a minister's wife. "I've been writing eulogies for our congregation members for years. Do you think I should be compensated for it?" When I asked if her husband received pay for presiding over the funeral itself, she understood that she, too, was providing a service. 

You mention that quiz-writing is very popular among editors. Where do you find ideas for quizzes? 

I look for an unusual thread of continuity among various "facts" and then weave them together, using that thread as a theme. For instance, a very successful quiz I wrote was one that used book dedications matched to their appropriate titles. I had a lot of fun with that one-I must have looked through over 200 books to find clever, unusual dedications. I sold it the first time I sent it out to a major magazine. Regional quizzes are very popular; while on vacation at The Outer Banks, I wrote a quiz, mostly gleaned from facts in the blue pages of the phone book. After I returned home, I fleshed out the quiz and sent it to one of those free newspapers you find when going into grocery stores and restaurants. (Even though it was "free" to the public, I was paid!) If you have an area of expertise or extreme interest, you probably know more facts than you even realize. Those facts are generally the foundation for a great quiz!

What are some of the different types of quizzes? 

There are two basic types of quizzes. The first type are those quizzes that are subjective and deal with topics such as romance, dieting, vacations, raising teenagers, general fitness, personality quirks ("Are you a party pooper?" type theme), etc. These, of course, have no "right" or "wrong" answers and generally have some type of score at the end-- for instance, "if you score between 25-30, you are definitely too house-bound and need a life and if you score 12 or below, you're too much of a party animal and should get to know the inside of your abode a bit more"-- we've all seen these quizzes and most likely, we've all taken them. The second type is the objective, factual quiz where we take a subject and are able to learn about it in an interesting, interactive way. When you write the second type quiz, you should cite all your sources. 

What are the pay rates like for these short forms of writing? 

They definitely vary, and I talk about each genre in regard to its "pay vs. time" ratio. Book reviewing is probably the most time-heavy; you must read the book, then write the review. Pay tends to be low; however, the savvy writer can-- and should-- try to resell the book review to different markets. Greeting cards, by contrast, are probably the least time-heavy and the most lucrative on a "per word" basis. The other genres-- the eulogies, quizzes, step-by-steps, lists, etc.-- all fall somewhere in between.

At the end of your book, you encourage readers to write to you with their questions and comments. Why do you do this? 

You know, Jenna, I have been very blessed to be able to work at what I want to do. I've held many jobs where I felt under appreciated... my talents, wasted; I dreaded Monday mornings and put my time in more like a zombie than anything else. Today, so many people write to tell me they've always dreamed of being a writer. In many cases, life simply got in the way and for whatever reason, they've now returned to that dream. They ask if I can help them get started in the right way. As there were people in my life who helped me when I needed it and since I can no longer repay those particular people, I give back in the next best way I can-- I help strangers, many of whom come to be real friends.

Is it possible to really make a living only writing short-form material?

Well, it's possible, but as I tell my greeting card writing students, I sure wouldn't quit my day job-- at least not in the beginning. Remember, besides actual writing, I developed a greeting card writing course in 1991 that I continue to update through the years. I teach this course both at our local Community College and on the Internet, I lecture, have authored two books, speak at career days in high schools and colleges, edit and critique manuscripts, etc., meaning my income doesn't come just from writing. For a freelance writer, the keyword must be "flexibility."

What's something you wish you'd learned earlier about writing? 

That is a great question. To be honest, I wished I'd learned flexibility earlier; if something wasn't working, I would continue to plug away many times in the same arena, thinking it had to work, simply because I wanted it to work. I also let a lot of "down time" slip by in my very early writing days; I'd send work out and then sit back and wait for it to be returned. In the beginning, too, I'd send out work to any company that would send me a set of writer's guidelines-- and believe me, some of those guidelines were just plain awful-- unorganized, vague, confusing. This is an area where I broke new ground-- showing my students and readers what to look for specifically in guidelines and to treat those guidelines as a "first impression" calling card. I've also talked to editors over the years, reminding them what freelance writers should know, in order to send out appropriate, targeted work. This awareness of what should be contained in a good set of writer's guidelines has resulted in many of my students selling sooner-something I'm proud of. When my students and readers sell their written work-- whether in greeting cards or other genres-- I'm doing my job. 

Anything else you'd like to add? 

I try to imagine my life without reading and writing; it would have been a bleak life indeed. I dedicated my first book, Write Well & Sell: Greeting Cards to Peter Mark Roget, who at the age of 73 (17 years before his death) brought out his Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases Classified and Arranged so as to Facilitate the Expression of Ideas and Assist in Literary Composition, which today we've simplified (Thank Goodness!) as Roget's Thesaurus. My second book, A Few, Choice Words: Short, "Do-Able" Writing That Sells, was dedicated to my first grade teacher, Opal Swisher, who taught me how to read. For me, it's always been about reading and writing.

Sandra's website, currently under construction, will soon make its debut. It is a fun, informal site dedicated to writing greeting cards and is being developed using the web talents of Creativity Stew. In the meantime, e-mail Sandra- FelshamLdy@aol.com-  with questions.

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