front matter maps: yay or nay?

I love maps. Be it LOTR, War and Peace, or Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, I get much more out of a book if I can follow a map. But ask your agent; he or she will have a much better grasp of current trends than I will.

On the books I have read that have included one I do use. I figure the writer must have felt that I needed to know just where everything was located. I think it depends how much area your story involves.

Yes, love the maps! Especially if the characters travel a lot or there are countries at war, or references to significant geographical features. It helps my imagination put it all together.

I find a map is one of the first things I make when starting a new story.

Liz

I painstakingly draw detailed maps of settings but only to keep myself consistent. When I'm done, I discard the maps.

As a reader, I don't want a bird's eye view of a secondary world. Most such worlds are populated with people who themselves have no idea what their world looks like. Exact mapmaking is a very recent development.

But most published fantasy fiction has maps.

It really depends on the setting's scope. Does your character cross a lot of political borders or different geographic features, during the story? You'll need a map to keep things straight, just for yourself. But if it's an extremely small setting, your publisher might not want a map. If an agent likes your work, then you could mention visual aids.

The fantasy-reading community has Tolkien's maps as a cultural baseline, and they're still fashionable. Lynn Flewelling drew a continent-wide map, later re-drawn professionally, for her 'Nightrunner' and 'Tamir' series. Sherwood Smith, working for over 50 years on intricate worldbuilding, uses a blow-up beachball and permanent marker to plot out the entire planet on which both her YA and adult novels are set. Terry Goodkind's self-drawn maps were hyped in interviews, when his 'Wheel of Time' books appeared in the late 1980's.

Once you have a map, ask yourself if it makes sense. Could the geography work? Terrestrial map sites can help you extrapolate how your own world works, and maybe add plot devices you didn't consider. They don't have to look like USGS maps, either. Hand-drawn map societies offer some really great examples online.

When I started writing, many helpful people offered variations of 'Oh, fantasy's easy, all you have to do is make stuff up.' Quite often, I can tell when a fantasy or paranormal romance isn't going to work for me, because the map makes no sense at all.

Filigree

Yep, I love maps in fantasy books.

knight_tour said:

Yep, I love maps in fantasy books.

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Me too I love making them myself too.

I definitely love the maps. I'd rather see it on paper than have to configure it in my head: where this is or that, or how far away it was from some other place. I like drawing them, too. If I'm reading a book where some one travels, I often find myself going back to the map for reference. Yep, love maps.

I prefer maps in books where the MC travels alot and so on (like LOTR). I'm not big on making a map in my own head, so it's great when the book includes one.

I've been told off for this before, but maps are the first thing I look for in a fantasy - even before the blurb.

I get a feel off the map, so an intricate, interesting map is a strong attractor to a book. There's also a practical reason, though. For some reason, in fiction, I always have a sense of which way the directions are. So if, for example, a city is on a coast, I need to know which coast it's on. If the book doesn't tell me, and there's no map, it'll be whatever coast it ends up being - but if the book later specifies a coast, I won't be able to change it, and for the rest of the book the directions will be messed up.

If a book has a map, I always refer to it while reading.

So, that's a 'yay' for maps.

If you don't include a map in the books themselves, you can later publish one seperately and make even more money.
Hey, it worked for Pratchett.

If the book has a map, I will look at it at some point but I never refer to it as I'm reading. I shouldn't need to. That goes doubly for any glossaries/family trees/background material in the back of the book.

Well, except for Clockwork Orange...

A question:

If the agent/publisher thinks the book should have a map (even though the author didn't provide one), is it common for the publisher to hire someone to make it?

Aerial

I love maps in books!

I haven't actually heard of an agent or publisher suggesting a map - so I think usually it is the author's idea and the author draws the map (and then maybe has an artist tidy it up or pretty it up - or perhaps the art department of a major publisher would do that if you were a big name...)

I don't know....be interested to hear of experiences of this sort!

I love maps. Every fantasy work I've ever written I've drawn a map for. Also the best fantasy books I've read always had maps.

I love maps. Especially if there is a lot of moving around or wide-ranging locations. I'm also a fan of diagrams and floorplans if keeping track of movements/locations are required for the story. Like mysteries set in big old houses, or historicals where the castle is being infiltrated, or military stories where the base is over-run. It's useful to have a quick reference. The writing should explain the action, but if it's complicated, or spread over a lot of book, as a reader, it's nice to be able to spot-check your visualisation.

i like the maps but i have it when i need to reference them to keep up...
having=good
needing=bad

I don't know how to quote it, but Robert Jordan wrote "The Wheel of Time."

As far as I know, yes, maps are hired out to an internal artist. Brandon Sanderson talks about his experience with this somewhere on his website. Isaac Stewart -- a very talented artist -- has done the internal art for most of his books.

I never look at the maps in stories. I don't have a problem with them being there. But, if the writer has done their job well, I don't really need the map, do I?

Maps - essential for secondary world fantasy IMHO

I think maps are critical for the writer if you are writing something akin to epic fantasy where there are political and economic machinations in the story. Geography plays a large roll in how countries and people interact and it plays a large roll in cultures. I just finished

So, having a map in the front of a book as a reader can be very cool. You can read the whole story without ever referring to the map, but it's also cool to be able to refer to it to see where the characters are and how they got from A to B. But, it must make sense too. It can't just be a random blob.

Aerial said:

A question:

If the agent/publisher thinks the book should have a map (even though the author didn't provide one), is it common for the publisher to hire someone to make it?

Aerial

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Yes - if they want one, they will probably want to hire a professional. Not a bad idea to have a rough idea, but if you are not a professional illustrator, not sure it's worth the time to try to make one.

MJNL said:

One note on this, though. I know with children's books publishers don't want the author to attempt to illustrate anything. They find the artist and don't want the writer butting in. I fear the same principle might apply to maps and illustrations for adult works, but I don't know for sure.

I’ve heard author’s illustrations should only be included with a clear statement that lets the agent/publisher know that they’re there just to give them and “idea” of what the pictures might look like-- but it can also be seen as amateurish. (Again, directly related to my knowledge on children’s books).

So, just something to keep in mind for personal research.

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Yup. So, if for your own edification, sure. Or even as a sample to show the publisher eventually. But I wouldn't spend too much time on it.

And know that it's possible that the publisher will say, sure, you can have a map, but you have to pay for it. Often special extras come out of the author's pocket.

~suki