Hit your deadline

Missing a deadline has repercussions for people up and down the publishing food chain. Publishing houses work in seasons and art directors pull together entire catalogues of new titles for sales and marketing meetings. The more they can show off your cover, the more the sales team can utilise it to get the book in front of buyers, who in turn get it in front of readers. If the book does well, readers want more of the same, which means more commissions. However, miss your deadline, that prep doesn’t happen, and the book may flop. “Meet the deadline,” says Irene Gallo, “and it’ll go a long way to ensuring a second one.”

You really have to want to do this. It’s not an easy life for the person with the skills, persistence and creativity required

viserys Karla Ortiz rendered this image of King Viserys Targaryen on the Iron Throne, for Tor’s The World of Ice and Fire.