Addendum

That old sailor is a sea god, but you won't find that out for a few books, or maybe in an interview.

Number One Reason to Include a Map in Your Book

Your characters can flip to it if they get lost. Nobody wants to wait fifty pages while they try to remember what they heard about stars once from an old sailor.

Truly Avant-Garde Fantasy

The book contains a map, but not of where the story takes place. Daring! Cheeky, even!

Mapmaking Dos and Don'ts

DON'T: Put in an ocean.
DO: Put in a star ocean. Space is where it's at, buddies.

Fantasy Map Tip

Before you start sketching out the plates and wind patterns of your world, ask yourself this: "Does this world even have this junk?" Advice about fantasy maps always starts with denying the fantasy part, which is sometimes desirable but not always.

The Future of Maps

Map design is stagnant, and nature abhors a mummy. Here are the maps soon to come.

Scratch and sniff (each country smells different)
Dual-screen ebooks that keep a map up at all times
VR map so you can pretend to be Godzilla
Audiobook where a smooth-voiced guy describes the map to you
AI that draws a map for you
A map printed in exactly one copy, and the buyer who gets that one can charge everybody else to look at it