Our promise to readers
Away Notes publishes greeting card designs, message-writing guides, and occasion-specific etiquette. Everything we publish should be useful and free of filler. If a sentence on this site could appear on a competitor's site word-for-word, we treat that as a sign we wrote it lazily and rewrite it.
Card designs
- Original to the site. Every card design is made for Away Notes, and a person reviews each one before it goes live. Designs that don't hold up get sent back.
- No stock art. We don't pull from stock photo libraries or clip-art packs. Each card is made for the specific occasion it's meant for.
Writing and blog content
- Named authors. Blog posts carry the author's byline (currently Casey Brennan, founder).
- Original message examples. The card messages we publish as inspiration are original. We don't copy from existing card sites, Pinterest boards, or Wikiquote.
- No filler. We don't pad articles to hit a word count. If a topic needs 200 words, the article is 200 words. We won't pretend you need 1,500 to get the point.
Etiquette and how-to guidance
Our etiquette recommendations (when to send a card, how much money to include, what to write for different relationships) are based on three sources: established etiquette guides (Emily Post Institute, Miss Manners archives), published reporting from outlets like The New York Times and The Atlantic on changing card norms, and our own customer feedback over time. We don't cite sources inline for every assertion — this isn't an academic site — but the guidance is grounded in real conventions, not invented for SEO.
Corrections and updates
If you find an error — factually wrong etiquette advice, a broken link, a card design that has an issue, anything — email hello@awaynotes.com and we'll review within a few business days. We note substantive corrections at the bottom of the affected article, with the date of the update.
Advertising and affiliate disclosure
- Ad placements. Some pages on Away Notes display ads via Google AdSense. Ads don't influence what we publish or which cards we feature. We don't accept payment to promote specific cards on the home page or in editorial roundups.
- Affiliate links. Gift suggestions attached to cards may use Amazon Associates or similar affiliate programs. We earn a small commission when a recipient buys through a link, at no extra cost to them. We only recommend products that fit the occasion.
- Sponsored content. We don't currently publish sponsored articles or paid card placements. If that changes, we'll label every sponsored item as sponsored.
Data and privacy in editorial decisions
We use anonymized aggregate data (which cards get sent most, which occasions are searched for, which blog posts get the most reads) to decide what to publish next. We don't read individual users' card messages, search histories, or recipient lists to inform editorial coverage. The full policy is on the privacy page.
Who's behind this
Away Notes is a small independent company based in San Diego, California. Casey Brennan, the founder, makes the editorial calls. We're not part of a larger media company. We don't have investors pushing growth targets. The standards on this page are the ones we hold ourselves to.
Read more about the company on the About page, or reach out via the contact page.