Finding Help Fixing Maps

Papabear

I am coming out with a Medieval-themed Fantasy novel in October 2013 and naturally (Medieval-themed Fantasy remember) I need a couple of maps. I completed one that shows the main island country where the action for book one of the series will be held (oh yeah, it will be a five book series). It is Black & White since that is how it will be printed. I did an okay job, but I know it could be cleaned up some and made to look more authentic. Where does one go to find someone who might be interested in cleaning it up. Part of the problem is that with paying for an editor and other things related to publishing, my funds are nearly depleted (one reason I am doing the map myself rather than paying an artist). So any thoughts, feedback, suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and I used the July 2013 Annual to create part of it, along with some of the standard CC3 symbols.

BlindMapmaker

Well, posting it here and asking for suggestions and fixes should be acceptable. You just need to make it clear that you want to put it in a commercial product and all changes would become your property. Just because you publish a book doesn't mean we automatically assume you're rolling in money (believe me, I know what I'm talking about). I'd be willing to give it a shot for free, but my time and skills are limited. Also I'd like to see what we're talking about. If you don't want to post the maps on a public site, things become a bit difficult. Most people are reluctant to take on jobs whose difficulty they can't gauge.

You might also want to try the cartographersguild.com, but as far as I know people there often don't use CC and expect payment.

Papabear

Thanks for the feedback BlindMapmaker. I recently posted a PNG of the map on the book series website (I did not post it at high resolution as it wasn't necessary for the purpose of teasing my readers). I don't know if this helps. Here is the link http://dragoncalled.com/map-of-taran-draft/ I can easily put up a much higher resolution somewhere, if someone is interested or even send them the FCW file (with a couple of PNG imports I created).

pdj

Looking at your draft, the only problem I can see is that the rivers are a bit messed up.
You can find excellent guidelines on how rivers work both on this site and at Cartographer's Guild.

Apart from that, I think the map works very well and looks just right.

Good luck with your book!

Peter

ps I didn't mention the font because I recall you were addressing that issue in an earlier post

BlindMapmaker

First things first: I think that is a very nice map for a beginner. You have created a nice look that doesn't look too Tolkieneque. That was my main fear when you mentioned the July Annual.

I agree with pdj about the rivers. Some of those seem to go through the whole continent and some waterways even connect to both seas. That is a big no-no. Tributaries should also connect to the main river angled towards downstream (at least most of the time). You can see what I mean here. The rivers also should connect to the see completely and not leave a space in-between the coast and the end of the river. However, rest assured that those aren't the worst rivers I've seen - not by far. A couple of simple corrections should make them fit just fine. If you want to post the FCW, I'll try my hand.

I assume this map is going into a regular pocket book as a two page spread, right? For that it's a bit densely packed. I would see about eliminating a couple of tributaries and minor roads. I would also enlarge the labels for the smaller terrain features somewhat and change the font of the larger features to something a bit more decorative to keep the distinction. Even if this is going to be a luxurious big hardcover, I'd enlarge the smaller labels, at least if they show important places. Small means unimportant, not only few inhabitants. You can still indicate size by symbol size.

Speaking about symbols. I guess you didn't find any that fit your needs when it comes to the symbols for towns and cities. You asked about those in the other thread (just checked if it really was you). If you post the FCW, I might be able to give you an alternative look. Although personally I think the map looks fine without special town symbols. Sometimes castles and houses are just distracting.

Papabear

Thanks BlindMapmaker. I have the FCW ready to go up, but I don't have a FTP site to dump it. So if you know of a place where I can put it or e-mail it, then I can send it out. I got the font issue working and have the free TTF that I used that I can upload. Plus the images I used for the three main kingdoms are PNGs I imported along with a couple of things (like the sea monster) that I converted to greyscale and also included as a PNG import. I have both of these sets in FSC files. I could reincorporate these if need be, but I would REALLY not want to have to do all the text again, so the TTF is important to use. I also have a short doc explaining the purpose of some of the areas on the map. So, again, if you know a way I can get these things to you I would really appreciate it. Thanks again.

JimP

I can host it, I do that for several folks here. Or a nice freebie site, only a small 21 pixel text banner. http://www.cwahi.net/

If you want me to host it on my Crestar site, just whisper to me and I'll let you know my email address.