Work the close dates

Two deadlines rule every issue. Space close: the last day to reserve the page, the commercial deadline. Materials close: the last day to deliver the press-ready file, the production deadline. They are days to weeks apart, both printed in the media kit's editorial calendar, and every dollar of your timing leverage lives between them.

Lead times by frequency

Monthlies conventionally set space close one to three months ahead of on-sale; prestige books plan further out, and their biggest issues effectively sell out seasons in advance.^[2] Weeklies run space closes measured in weeks or days. The planning rule at this desk: pull the actual calendar from the kit (Step 01), put the closes for your target issues in your own calendar, and work backwards; creative production time is yours to add, and file rejection at materials close is the schedule risk that costs real money.

After the close

Space close is firm for normal buys, and it is also when unsold pages become someone's problem. That is the remnant window from Step 04: a standing standby offer with ready materials can put you into an issue after its official close at a price the card never mentions. The buyers who win that window are the ones whose files were finished last week.