Greeting Card Markets

Greeting Card Publishers

Types of Greeting Cards

There are two main categories of greeting cards -- Seasonal and Everyday. Card sales are split approximately 50/50 between these two types.

The most popular Everyday cards are

Birthday (60%)
Anniversary (8%)
Get Well (7%)
Friendship (6%)
Sympathy cards (6%)

The most popular Seasonal cards are:

Christmas (60%)
Valentine's Day (25%)
Mother's Day (4%)
Easter (3%)
Father's Day (3%) cards. 

(Source: The Greeting Card Association)
 

Greeting cards can be further categorized according to whether they are:

Traditional: this verse is usually rhymed.

Contemporary Prose: incorporates soft, realistic writing, that is conversational in tone.

Studio or Humorous: joke and gag cards.

Alternate: those carrying alternate themes. Alternative cards use both contemporary prose and humor to get their message across.
 

See www.greetingcard.org/pdf/GCA_Writers_Guidelines.pdf for a further explanation of these types of cards.