Mini Maps of Novel Locations

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JustKia

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Some authors include a mini map of the fictional location in which their novel is set.

Jilly Cooper has a map (and cast list) in the beginning of each book in her Rutland series.
Fiona Walker has an area map and village map in the beginning of her Oddlode series books.

I'm sure there are more. Do they draw their own maps? Is there a map creating place/website/agency/association/etc.?

I love finding these maps in books. I would love to include one in mine. However, I am rubbish at drawing such things.
 

MakanJuu

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George RR Martin brought this up somewhere once. He, apparently, makes a general guideline map & sends it to a professional artist to finish. Although, I don't know if everyone does that, or not.
 

oooooh

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I love it when authors include maps, makes it easier to follow journeys and such. I think a lot of them, if they don't draw their own, hire an artist to do so.
 

Tepelus

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I've thought about drawing a map for my historical fantasy. The names of towns and cities and the borders of countries in Eastern Europe were different back in the 15th century than they are today. I may know where and what they were, but the reader may not know that Hermannstadt is the German name for Sibiu, Romania, and that's what it went by back then since it was a German city at the time. But I haven't drawn it out yet, and who knows, I never may.
 

jjdebenedictis

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I read fantasy, but I have never, ever, ever looked at the maps. I just don't care, usually. I expect the prose to sweep me along, and I don't need a firm idea of where everyone is going.

That said, I did finally take a peek at the map in the last George R. R. Martin book, and I found myself really enjoying understanding where everything was located relative to each other.

It may be a side effect of the depth of those books, however. Lots of characters, lots of politics, lots of places, and plenty of movement between those places.

In most stories, the movement takes the characters between two major places, and there are a few minor ones along the way. I don't really need to understand where all the locales are relative to one another because it's a narratively linear journey, if not a physically linear one.
 

Drachen Jager

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I think the author generally draws the maps and the publisher has an artist do a nice rendition of them.

If you want to self-publish, or you just want to make nice-looking maps, you could try the following list of software (some are free, but if you're serious, $40 isn't a huge investment).

http://rpgvirtualtabletop.wikidot.com/mapping-software
 
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JustKia

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Thank you, I'll have a look at the links.
I wonder if it may end up the artist route for me though as I haven't really any world building to do - based in a fictional modern day English village.
I'm looking to just flag up: this is where MC lives, here's the post office, the pub, the duck pond, the school, the chippie, homes of key characters. That kind of thing.
 

beck_magruder

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I love maps in books. I once took all four of the regional maps from The Lord of the Rings and re-drew them as a big map for me to look at as I re-read it. Then I did the same thing for Beleriand when I read the Silmarillion. I even colored them. :) I plan to make my own map for my novel.

As a contrast, I started reading A Song of Ice and Fire as a pirated Kindle version that didn't have the maps (and it's kind of annoying to flip back and forth to maps in a Kindle version anyway) so I couldn't look whenever there was a geographic reference. It was frustrating to me. Now I've sort of gotten over it and skim over the location descriptions because, ultimately, it doesn't matter enough and I can get what I need to know from context (e.g. la-te-da it took Jaime six days to reach blah-blah-blah).

But it sounds like you just need a map of the town. Are you sure that's necessary? I feel like generally maps come more in handy when the story spans a very large area. Of course, there was a map of the Shire in the Lord of the Rings, but even that was larger than just one town. If I were you I might hesitate to spend the time/money working on a map until your agent or publisher requests one. You might go through a lot of trouble just to have them throw it out.
 
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Debbie V

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In some cases, having a map may be the idea of the book designer. And yes, the editor or designer could also decide not to use the one you made up.
 

Bufty

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I use scribbled fantasy maps but they are for my benefit in keeping track of multiple locations and distances and probable travelling times. I don't see they serve any real purpose beyond that.
 

WriteMinded

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I need to feel situated and always appreciate maps in books. I'll be making my own. Doesn't look that hard. BTW, thanks for the link, Drachen.
 
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