Need map(s) for book(s)

[Brand]

Greetings!

PAID Commission

I need to commission a map. I’m pushing to have a book ready for publication by Christmas, and one of the items outstanding is a map. I’ve spent some time going through tutorials here and working to build my own for use in table top RPG campaigns and I think the wisdom and skills of this community is amazing.

That said, since I am publishing this book, I’d like to leverage a professional to make my map. Sadly this is a "free time" project and I am supporting a family of five; likewise, the map had to come after editing, cover art, and website work, so I’m low on available funds. This will be PAID work, but I can only offer $50 USD. I do believe in offering payment for services but I recognize at that price point, I can't afford most cartographers. If it's not enough, I totally get it. I know your time is valuable. I’ll just have to cross my fingers and hope what I’ve learned here is enough to not embarrass myself.

What I can also offer is a link to you posted either near the front of the book or on the page with your map so others can see and reach out independently, as long as said link doesn’t obscure or take away from the map itself.

I also will be starting on the second book in the series, which will involve more maps, and I’d like to keep the same cartographer where possible to maintain look and feel. Depending on how the book sells (i'm not overly optimistic since it's my first publication), there may be an increase in commission for future maps (and certainly no decrease even if book 1 goes nowhere…). If you have other pricing considerations or ideas, I'm open to being creative.

Subject

I definitely need 2 maps, potentially 3 if you are super ambitious and inspiration seizes you. I’ll give enough detail here to spark imagination, but if you want to pursue this commission, there’s some additional details regarding specific needs.

Map 1: The Kingdom of Nolia

Nolia is set in an enormous crater that has long filled with water. The crater has walls higher than the water level, so it has the appearance of being at the bottom of a giant pit.
The kingdom is a series of hamlets on a dotting of islands within the crater. Likewise, there are hamlets on landmasses at the edges of the crater. Islands are of varying size and shape. Towns may span several islands if the islands are particularly small. Many of the islands are connected by magical bridges.

In general, the crater has excessively steep walls. There are two real ways of getting in and out of the crater: There is a long path wide enough for about 10 horsemen across that winds its way down to the base (called the Gully). The second way is a town on the far side of the crater built into the walls that extends all the way up via an intricate series of scaffolding and magically animated lifts. There may be other ways, but none widely used.

Map 2: The City of Arvanth

Capital city. This is by far the largest of all the communities in Nolia (probably 2/3 to 3/4 of the population resides here). The city was built up over the source of magic in the world, and as such has artificially expanded beyond what it should have. Several islands have been conscripted into service, others have been magically constructed to become part of the city.

Map 3: Optional: City of Gyapor

The cliff city described above. This is a “nice-to-have” but not really needed. It would appear about halfway through the book to break things up once the town became relevant.

Style

The primary goal of these maps is to help speed along imagination for people reading the story. There will be a few major locations I’d want to call attention to, but there’s not a lot of need for exacting detail. Map 1 probably has 4-5 locations of note. Map 2 probably the same. The maps are present to call attention to the big features of the setting (Map 1: Islands on a lake in a crater; Map 2: Magically propped up city that wouldn't have worked without the magic)

I’m open to features you put on there that add to artistic value. Even if they don’t get touched in this book, they could easily be added as small dialogue references or show up later.

Quality & Size

This is going to be sized for a book; ideally to fit on a paperback book page or a single kindle screen. As such, I know real estate is going to be tight. I do like color and will use it if possible, but the reality is that I may need to have something that looks fine in black/white since that may be how it prints.

Time Constraints

Since I’m trying to publish December, I’d like the map(s) complete by November 1st.

Copyright

I will likely use this in multiple books and as such would like to own the copyright, but if that’s a concern I’m happy to link to the creator. I will need rights to unlimited production. I’m certainly fine with the creator having rights to display within his/her portfolio.

Contact Details

You are welcome to PM me, reply to this post with your contact and any samples, or just email me directly at: lordbrand A+T gmail.