Irene Gallo Interview

Irene Gallo is the art director of Tor Books. She is certainly one of the biggest supporters of illustration in the publishing industry.
This interview originally appeared on Fantasybookspot.com

damon: I was finally able to get in touch with Irene, as she has a very busy schedule. This interview was all prompted from meeting Irene at last year's New York Comic Con where I think I interrupted her lunch. Being the courteous person that I am, I figured I would let her finish lunch and track her down a bit later. That bit later took some stalking on my part and some annoying emails. I think Irene ended up finishing this interview just so I would not bother her anymore. All joking aside though I am very happy to introduce Irene Gallo, the Art director for Tor, Forge, and Starscape Books. I also want to thank Nicole Cardiff, one of my favorite young fantasy artists, who helped me with the questions for this interview.

Question: Let the readers know what you job consist of? What sort of work does being an art direction consist of?

Irene: It's my job to get all of Tor's book jackets created. I juggle the concerns of the Editorial department and the Sales & Marketing department to try and come up with a jacket that everyone likes. It's a lot of management work, but I'm always working with creative people and ideas. There is a lot of illustration used in science fiction and fantasy and by far the most enjoyable part of my job is working with the illustrators.

Question: Where did you go to art school?

Irene: Cooper Union. I was very lucky. Foolishly, it was the only school I applied to. I wanted to go there because it was considered and excellent art school, located in downtown Manhattan, and free. Once there I took a typography class on a whim and found that I really loved the problem solving of design.

Question: Do you find yourself not being able to enjoy art because it is your job?

Irene: Not at all. In fact, if anything I enjoy it even more. I have a much more intimate reaction to art knowing some of issues these guys struggle with. I think things are even more magical when I have a little insight into how they are made and knowing how difficult it is to make something seem effortless.

What _is_ unfortunate is that between Tor and volunteering at the Society of Illustrators I don’t have the time to read as much as I used to. I skim the first handful of manuscript pages and then something else is overdue and needs attention.

Question: Do you have to go out and find new talent or does it find you.

Irene: Both. I spend a whole lot of time looking for artists -- in bookstores, annuals (like Spectrum), online forums (like Conceptart.org), conventions, magazines, wherever I can. When I see a book cover, I want to know who did it -- whether I like it or not, I want to know who’s out there and what they are doing.

I also get lots and lots of mail. When I first started I would get portfolio drops a few times a week, nowadays printing has become so cheap that people send me tons of postcards and other mailers. Sometimes I get unsolicited email but that is fairly intrusive. It might lead me to their website, but only if I am really trying to avoid work.

I find a surprising amount of artists through recommendations by other artists. It’s a very supportive and giving community.

Question: What does a normal mail day for Irene look like when you are in the office?

Irene: Normal? You know I work at Tor, right?

Actually, it is all terribly normal...just with more interesting people than your average office. Lots of meetings, lots of figuring out deadlines and then complaining when they are not met, tons of email with artists. Begging editors for information. Begging artists to meet deadlines. Slinking away from Sales when I don’t have a cover ready.

Question: Do you read the book?

Irene: We publish hundreds of books each year so, unfortunately, I cannot read them. I rely on a series of conversations with the editors to get a sense of the book. Author blogs are a big help to get a feeling for someone’s work. Once I feel like I have a handle on the tone of the book I’ll pick a few artists and then talk to the editor and see if I’m heading in the right direction. Some artists like to read the books, and that’s a big help. Sometimes an editor will talk about the most pivotal scenes that may not be the most visual.

Question: How hard is it to match the author's vision of a character to the book? What about the people that say that's not what the character looked like? What would you say is the best cover matching story artwork?

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