I have had a couple of reviews placed on Amazon for The Spiral Tattoo suggesting that I need a map of the city. Now I would have happily obliged and I have at various points hand drawn maps, and looked for some free piece of software to help me draw a map. But nothing has worked well enough for me to put up here or pass to the publishers to include in the story.
My lovely partner has suggested that I run a competition. Send me your best map of Delvenport and I will, ummm, get it included in the next version? Include your name in the next book? Send you a free copy of The Oaks Grove when it comes out?
So I need advice. What can I use on no budget to produce a good map? Or what would be a good prize for a competition?
The Worlds Of Michael J Parry 
I love making that sort of map, but it’s time consuming and I have no time.
You’re right, though, it really COULD use a map.
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I know – so many things to do so little time, and it’s not something I am drawn too 🙂
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What s/w did you try? A graphics package? Best bet for free mapping is probably QGis – It’s a reasonably well featured GIS package I have used on occasion.
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Thanks I will check that out 🙂
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I have used AutoRealm for mapping. The user interface has its annoyances, but it does a reasonable job. You can see a sample on my blog: http://csidemedia.com/gryphonclerks/
It’s free, but PC-only.
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Hi Mike…
Thanks I will check that out. I have been playing wiht GIMP and following the tutorials on the which was suggested to me by Nathan Lowell 🙂
Cheers
Michael
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Hi Mike
couldn’t you just hand-draw and then take a digital photo?
If a graphics package is required, Inkscape is open source.
– which would be a better format to create a map on than Gimp, being that Inkscape is a vector program.
(I can’t vouch for it though, I use Illustrator)
Loved the post about The best Spam ever bTW!
kind regards
Kura
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Hi Kura
Thanks for that suggestion. I did try to do a hand drawn but the result was pretty bad 😆
Cheers
Michael
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I’ve used Inkscape a lot, it’s good and easy to use. Wouldn’t be my first choice for drawing a map, necessarily.
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