In need of advice from SFF self-published authors

Is it possible for the readers to work out the meanings from the context? (If not, that may be an Issue; not every reader will want to bother flipping back and forth for your glossaries to understand what's going on. You might lose readers, even seasoned fantasy readers, if they need extra reading material to get through your story. I know I rarely, if ever, interrupt reading to check in with in-book glossaries and such; I save that for when I'm done, if I care.)

Otherwise... if 300ish pages is only 25-30% of the book, I'd suggest doing the LOTR thing: chop that manuscript into two or three parts. That way, your first "book" would have any appendices, forewords, and such that you want.

JMHO, though...

I second BrightDreamer's suggestion. Perhaps you can split it up and that way you can put the glossary at the end of each part rather than worry about putting it at the beginning or the very end.

I suspect, based on the large amount of extra stuff you want to put in the back and the overall length, that your book is longer than it needs to be. It may be just that it's several books in one (this could easily be a trilogy at that length). It may be that you've made it a lot lengthier than it needs to be for the story. The good news is that series do very well in self-publishing, so turning it into a series is likely to mean you earn more.

As for all the extras, put them in the back. If the reader needs to have memorised them to understand the story, you have a problem with the text of the story. I'd also consider if readers are really going to need things like a character list and a description of the worldbuilding. It's tempting to want to explain all the things, because you did all the research and want to share, but it can quickly become overwhelming for readers.

To me it sounds like what you have is much like 'Dune' by Frank Herbert. I read that book as a kid and never once looked at glossary or any of that stuff.
With that said, I second what Polenth said: make it a series of three novels that are 100K-ish words each, and put the informational stuff in the back.

Good advice to rethink it as a trilogy as an e-book and print; that gives you plenty of room for a glossary. Besides, you may have little choice since CreateSpace has printing limits based upon format/page count (actual size of a physical book). You should look into that before you commit to a strategy.

If it's not crucial, consider moving material from the books to your Website.

If its just explaining certain words critical to the story I'd put it in the back. Even in ebook format I would hate to have to swipe through a tun of pages just to get to the start of the story.

Although...if its a lot of extras...you could always pull a GRRM and publish a stand along book about the world/language.

AW Admin said:

If it's not crucial, consider moving material from the books to your Website.

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What I did with my latest novel. I was inspired to do so by Jo Rowling's Pottermore website. It has lots of interesting stuff that would not have fit in the books, and is popular because the stuff is so interesting in its own right. So the books sell the website, and the website sells the books.

I'd say that as soon as a writer becomes serious about their career they should create a website. Something simple and easy to create and read, not something ginormous, at least not until you master the art and tech of creating and keeping up a site. Best to have a site early, before you really need it, so start small and simple.

I would definitely consider putting that information on your website. All you'd need is a link to your site at the beginning.

I've considered doing the same with some maps for my own work.

For the sample chapters, I wouldn't include anything but the text, itself. Readers who want invented words and huge scope might enjoy a book of this size. Who knows?

If your original vision is one, big book, with a glossary of invented words at the end, go for it. The great joy of self-publishing is you can maintain your own vision intact, and not have to worry about the ways publishers would generally do things. I encourage you to stick to your guns about what you would want if you were a reader of this kind of story.

A website might be nice, in general. I wouldn't lose any sleep over a writing sample that didn't have a glossary. If the chapter outline at the very beginning includes mention of a glossary, people will see that there's a lot more going on, there, and they'll just pick up from the context what's going on.

That said, with a book of this size and verbal complexity, I do strongly advise hiring an editor if you have not already, who has some experience with this sort of material. Phil Athans comes to mind. He used to be the managing editor of Wizards of the Coast's book publishing line, and now he freelances. I don't know his rates, and I do know there are others who can help you who are also skilled with this sort of material. I don't believe you mentioned if you had hired an editor or not.

Best of luck!

rwm4768 said:

...I've considered doing the same with some maps for my own work.

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Good point. Maps are a good addition to a site. They're visual and can be colorful and so catch and keep the eye.

There are two kinds. I've put both on my web site.

One kind is existing maps on the web. Check permissions, but a lot of maps are either public domain or free if you attribute them. When I do the second I put the attribution first and very clearly. The people who gave us permission to put their art up deserve all the attention we can give them. (Plus it encourages them to put up more good stuff!)

Google maps are a bit tricky. Embedding COPIES you've made of them is a no-no. BUT they do allow you to embed the actual maps. Doing so leads you back to their site. They even have detailed instructions on how to do that.

An example of what you can do is at this link: https://laercarroll.com/shapechanger-tales/marys-journeys/

My book Shapechanger's Birth has four trips on which my heroine travels in 1860s Ireland. Events happen on them which are crucial to the story, so my map has labels for those places. You can click on them and get more info - all via Google's facilities so you don't have to program anything.

(This works because the story is in a parallel universe very close to the real thing.)

Another kind are maps of unreal places that you've made up. A lot of maps of this kind are either simple to the point of trivial, or so cluttered and complicated our readers will have to work to understand them. A few mapoholics will try, but most people won't.

If you do decide to add maps make sure you get a real artist to create them, one able to get the right balance between too simple and too complex. Also able to create something attractive, with good use of color and shading and creation and placement of overlaying text.

Here is a map for one of my books. I traded my computer expertise for the artistic expertise of a friend who was a commercial artist before she started her own (currently very) successful business. To me this was just the image I wanted.