Deadlines (or The Fairy Jobmother's Visit)

Deadlines ... a word that strikes a chord with all freelance professionals. Its a word we both love and loathe. If you have a deadline, chances are very strong that you also have work ... which is why we love the word. If you have a deadline, chances are very strong that you have work that needs to get done ASAP ... which is why we loathe the word. Managing deadlines is really an art in itself. If done correctly, the artist (or author) will never have two or more major projects competing for their time. That's great, in theory. However, due to the "feast or famine" nature of the freelance profession; we cannot guarantee when jobs will come our way. It seems that the jobs only come in if we have one job in hand first. When we don't have work, the phone never rings. With the wave of the Fairy Jobmother's magic wand, you go from sitting alone in the corner hugging the wall to being the belle of the ball with everyone clamouring to get a dance. Sadly, this little analogy isn't far from the truth, you go from having no work to having a lot of work in the blink of an eye. Additionally, there is no rhyme or reason as to when work is going to come your way. You can't count on it. You can't plan for it. It just happens!

Well, as it happens, I have five illustrations due at the end of the month. So I better get back in the studio and get back to work on them. As I don't have another illustration job on tap following this project, I'm hoping for a visit from my Fairy Jobmother soon. If you happen to see her, please send her my way.

Thanks,
:) DeDe