The Ladder Club is back! This is an ‘in a nutshell’ one day seminar about greeting card publishing, aimed at would-be, newbie and emerging publishers.
The 2025 Ladder Club seminar will take place 9.30am-4pm Wednesday 19th November, at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, Lancaster Gate, London. £95+VAT
What is The Ladder Club?
The Ladder Club was founded over 25 years ago by Jakki Brown, co-owner of the Max Publishing group (which includes PGBuzz) and GCA Council Member, and the late Lynn Tait to provide information and advice to new or would-be greeting card publishers.
The packed agenda at the one day event covers all the rudiments of greeting card publishing – avoiding the common pitfalls, how to price your cards to make sure you are making money, production quandaries, how to get your cards to market, what retailers want, what makes agents tick, making the most of trade shows as well as where licensing, export and brokerage come in.
I can’t quite believe it’s well over 25 years ago that my dear friend Lynn Tait and I launched The Ladder Club with the mission of helping would-be or fledgling greeting card publishers climb on to the greeting card ladder by avoiding the common pitfalls while enjoying embracing the sense of camaraderie that is all pervasive in our industry.
Although lovely Lynn sadly passed away in June 2017, her legacy lives on in The Ladder Club, which has played a part in hundreds and hundreds of publishers’ business journeys and industry friendships. It is great to have a date, venue, speakers and sponsors all lined up for the November 19 event.”
Jakki Brown, MD Max Publishing
The Ladder Club is supported by key trade suppliers, existing card publishers, retailers, agents, the GCA and other industry experts who all give up their time to speak at the seminars and offer support.
The many, many publishers in The Ladder Club alumni include Paper Salad, Wrendale Designs, AfroTouch Design, Lola Design, Heather Trefusis, Megan Claire, Bewilderbeest, Lil Wabbit, Tache, Bird & Co, Marina B, Wendy Jones-Blackett, Rush Design, Arrthi, Jessica Hogarth, I Drew This, Jessie Maeve Studio, Lucy Driver Illustration, Max Rocks, Badgerbee Design, All Shades, Go La La, Stoats & Weasels, Louise Mulgrew and Happy Street
The Ladder Club is a must-do for anyone serious about building a greeting card publishing business. Bring a notebook – there are so many top tips, and also it’s a great opportunity to meet others starting out in the industry
Amanda Fergusson, GCA CEO
This year’s Ladder Club event
The Ladder Club sponsors for 2025 include GCA, GF Smith, The Imaging Centre, Loxleys and Enveco. Danielle McCarthy, GCA’s events and marketing coordinator, and Karen Wilson, owner of Paper Salad and incoming GCA President will also be there.
Among the wealth of speakers already confirmed are Ben Hickman, co-owner of Brainbox Candy, who will take attendees through how to cost out their cards and other stories; Sally Matson, owner of Red Card in Petworth, will explain what she as a leading indie looks for in publishers and their products; Ian Bradley will give an insight into what makes agents tick. The Imaging Centre’s Adam and Bob Short, Loxleys’ Toni Lorimer, GF Smith’s Gareth Davies and Enveco’s Lucy Glover will cover a myriad of production aspects from why you need to start with your envelope to the power of paper, digital v litho printing and lots more.
Former Ladder Club ‘graduate’ Karen Wilson, owner of Paper Salad and incoming GCA president will share her knowledge while Danielle McCarthy, the GCA’s events and marketing coordinator will highlight all the help that is at hand from the GCA. Having attended The Ladder Club in 2003 and 2004 just prior to launching Paper Salad, Karen Wilson is keen champion its merits:
“I have very fond, vivid memories of attending The Ladder Club all those years ago. I was so excited, having lapped up all the advice from having attended for two years running, I clearly remember the feeling of excitement and the urge to get going!”
Karen Wilson, owner Paper Salad
The cost of attending The Ladder Club 2025 seminar is £95 (+VAT) – a light lunch and refreshments are included. To book your place at The Ladder Club 2025, head to the dedicated secure site max-tickets.net or, you can contact Jim Bullough of Max Publishing (who is looking after the bookings for The Ladder Club this year) on jimb@max-publishing.co.uk or call him on 07734 111633.
For more Information about The Ladder Club see PGBuzz, contact PG’s Tracey Arnaud on traceya@max-publishing.co.uk or call her on 01234 740051/07957 212062, or email Jakki Brown on jakkib@max-publishing.co.uk or call her on 07525 634405.
