Map for a fantasy world/novel

[Whisper]

Hello everyone

I found the Cartographer's Guild via Google search. I would like to enlist an enthusiastic and imaginative cartographer to condense my world into a map; this will help me greatly as I work on my fantasy novel.

My world is a place full of chaos, magic and wonder; I am only looking to turn a single continent into a map with reference points, outlining some of the most important locations that concern my story.


I know that "Middle Earth" sounds like a cliché to the extent that I probably deserve to be shot for saying this. However, this piece of work really did set the precedent in terms of quality cartography and story-telling. If you are comfortable drawing mountains, forests, deserts, swamps and bits of nothing in between, garnished with the odd chasm, cliff, fjord, floating island and a few coconut trees, then you will probably find this request well within your comfort zone.

The only thing I would say is that I'd like this map to be a little more cartoony than the "norm".


I have created a draft (a very rubbish draft) of what the continent could in theory look like. I can send to you a few images that outline the general layout of the borders; where forests are; location of mountains; towns and villages; etc. I will rely on your experience as a cartographer to turn these drafts into a map that doesn't look like a 5-year old's school project (which is precisely what my drafts look like at the moment).


I have looked through various commissions on the web and I came across a few where the commissioning party offered $50. I realise that some professionals charge a lot more, but I am not sure I can afford to spend a great deal more at the moment. If you feel this is reasonable please show me examples of your work and let's start a private discussion about how we can go about this.


I am not sure if my instant messaging will work, as I've only been a member for a day or two, but I would suggest you email me (with samples of your work) at:
weballergy[at]live.ca


I look forward to hearing from you!


Warm regards

[jwbjerk]

A Middle Earth style map is one of the more labor-intensive styles. I wish you well, but you'll probably have to settle for a low-quality implementation, and/or switch your request to a different style of map.

[J.Edward]

Hey Whisper - you have to have 5+ posts before Private Message works for you.
I'd add that the request would generally cost you more than $50.
I understand that people have budgets they need to stick to.
You won't likely get a lot of offers at that commission amount.

Here's an example - if the map took 20 hours to produce, $50 would become $2.50 per hour.
Not many will work for that. The map might take more than 20 hours.
Say it took 40 hours. Now that becomes $1.25 per hour.
So if it took 20 hours and they charged a fair amount, yet still low, of $10 per hour... you're at $200.
I think that provides a fairly good example of commission cost.

[Whisper]

Many thanks for your replies guys = )

The $50 request was less due to a budget constraint and more due to not knowing the difference between a cartographer and somebody who can sketch trees! I think I asked the wrong persons for advice on the subject, but I'm a fast learner

Pleased to report that a fantastic cartographer from this Forum emailed me and explained the difference. We had a back and forth of messages discussing my requirements and what these would cost. I thought I was going to be a pain in the neck with my requirement for rivers and mountains to make geographical sense, but it turns out that this is exactly how a good cartographer would work anyway.

For reference I agreed to commission the cartographer $300.


We can mark this as "taken" now.

Thanks guys

[J.Edward]

That's good Whisper. Glad it worked out well.
Cheers, J

[Wired]

Hah, nice that this was resolved so quickly and amicably! Good luck with your novel, Whisper!