As I’ve decided to rename my new book series – Silent Sea Chronicles – I think it’s time to get serious about the map making business.
Personally, I don’t take much interest in a map when I start reading a book, but plenty of other people do. As I approach the final stages of editing Book 1 – The Lost Sentinel with a view to publishing in the next few months, I need to focus on how I want my world to look on paper rather than just how it appears in my head. My beta-reader suggested a map could really help the reader visualise the Silent Sea, so I’m taking her advice and sitting down to plan this out over the next few days.
I’ve bought ‘Fantasy Map Making’ by Jesper Schmidt on the kindle. The book only has 1 review in the UK, but I know what that’s like!
So far I like the style of the book and it’s already got me thinking about my wish list for the map I want to create. Hopefully I’ll be able to review the book in the future and give this author a boost, we’ll see how it goes.
My lovely beta-reader gave me a book as a late Christmas present (thanks Lou). Journeys of Frodo – An Atlas of J.R.R.Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings. It’s been years since I read the books, but I’m looking forward to studying this account by Barbara Strachey published in 1981.
I am a complete novice when it comes to maps, so this is going to be interesting!
I would like to ask your advice on what to do, what books to read, what software I can use etc. Any tips will be a big help.
Thanks and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Suzanne Rogerson Fantasy Author 
Sadly I can’t offer help with the maps (I have the same outlook as you on them) but I will be looking into this map book you listed. I, too, know the pain of your book only having a few reviews so anything to help others 🙂 plus, this book looks like it could give my writing a boost
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope you enjoy the map making book. It does feel good to help out other authors in the same position as us. I’ve found such a lovely community feeling in the book blogging world.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am new to the blogging world but, in the short time I have been doing it, I have experienced the same. Bookish people really are the best people 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
I totally agree.
LikeLike
I use the free program paint.NET to do my title cards, and I’ve started making a map of my setting of Burus with it as well. There are examples of both on this blog post of mine: https://aetherealengineer.com/2016/07/06/wip-it-wednesday-july-6th-2016/ . There is more specialized mapping software you can buy, but in addition to costs… like anything you’ll need to take time to learn how to use it. Places like https://www.cartographersguild.com/content.php could help you there, or you could seek out and commission an artist, like http://www.maxsmaps.com/.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great, thanks. I’ll look into those.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like to draw fantasy maps too
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m hoping I’ll enjoy the experience. It’s just whether it’s good enough to share at the end of it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi! If you are somewhat comfortable with Photoshop of GIMP, these tutorials helped me out a lot. Just scroll down a bit on the page and you’ll see the ones for Photoshop map making. You make the program generate terrain randomly at first, but from there you can tool around with it and shape it to fit your world.
http://worldbuildingschool.com/the-authors-guide-to-drawing-maps/
LikeLiked by 1 person
Brilliant, thank you. I’ll have a look at that. I’ve not used it before but it sounds good with the tutorials.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Awesome! I made a pretty good map with it once for a fantasy series. Glad to help 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi,
I wish you all the best with your map making.
I have just finished my own map today, it is a random one I thought up and not tired to any story I have.
It is a fun process, but time-consuming. 🙂
From
Ru
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. The map is coming together as I edit, which is great. It’s also helped me work through a couple of little errors in the story timelines.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi,
Good to hear, mapping can help with how far someone has travelled!
From
Ru
LikeLiked by 1 person
As a amateur/semi-professional map-maker myself I would suggest that the Cartographers Guild be one of your first destinations (https://www.cartographersguild.com/content.php). The community spans the gamete between industry professionals and rank novices. There are helpful discussions regarding map-making software and software that can be used to make maps. There are heaps of map-making tutorials for a wide variety of programs.
In terms of software, if you already own Photoshop it’s a great program that will do the job admirably. If not, GIMP is free but has a steep learning curve (https://www.gimp.org/). However there are quite a few tutorials over at the Guild that can help you find your way. Krita is another great free application for painting and drawing (https://krita.org/en/).
Best wishes on your new adventure!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Brilliant, thank you. I haven’t got very far on my own, so I will check out your suggestions. Thanks again.
LikeLike