How I Drew A Map and Sold Three Books And A World

If you want a blow-by-blow description of how a working writer developed a project that moved her to a new publisher for bigger money and made her first solo overseas sales, this is where you start. My agent was telling me I needed to do bigger books -- not longer, but bigger in scope and scale. I didn't know how, but I knew that in bigger books, the lives of individual characters affected not just each other but the existence of the entire world. I needed a world to affect before I could create characters who could affect it. Click the image of the map on the left and follow the links through and I'll discuss how I got exactly the world I needed. (A small black-and-white reproduction of this map is printed in the front of Diplomacy of Wolves, but this is the only way you'll be able to see the full-color version.) All maps and text Copyright © 1998, by Holly Lisle -- All Rights Reserved
Map of Matrin in parts -- with discussion
Western Third Of Matrin

Western Third Of Matrin (Click image to see large map)

80 kb

Central Third of Matrin

Central Third of Matrin (Click image to see large map)

68 kb

Eastern Third of the world of Matrin

Eastern Third of Matrin (Click image to see large map)

51 kb

Below you'll find a map of the entire world of Matrin. This is a big map, and if you're on a slow connection, will take some time to load. You're free to tromp around on the world and look at all the neat stuff if it interests you, and you can see how all the pieces from the three sections above fit together, but you won't be missing any of the discussion above if you decide that you don't want to invest the time it takes to look at it.

Complete Map of Matrin
All of Matrin... so far...

All of Matrin... so far... (Click image to view large map)

481 kb