What a fantasy map costs in 2026
Real commission prices from working cartographers, what drives them, and the licensing cost most authors only find out about later.
slug: how-much-does-a-fantasy-map-cost title: What a fantasy map costs in 2026 description: Real commission prices from working cartographers, what drives them, and the licensing cost most authors only find out about later. publishedAt: "2026-09-23" keywords:
- fantasy map cost
- fantasy map commission price
- how much does a fantasy map cost
- fantasy map for a book
- commission a map for my novel
The honest answer is that a custom fantasy map for a novel costs somewhere between $150 and $500, and most working cartographers sit between $200 and $400 for a single region or continent.
That range is wide for a reason, and the reason is almost never quality. It is scope, turnaround, and one thing that catches people out: whether you are allowed to sell books with the map in them.
What people actually charge
These are published prices from cartographers open to novel work, checked on 20 September 2026. Prices move, so treat this as a snapshot rather than a quote, and check before you budget.
| Cartographer | Starting price | Commercial rights |
|---|---|---|
| Fiverr, low end | around $25 | varies, often unclear |
| Etsy custom maps | $36 to $160 | varies |
| Mountain & Myth | $125 to $375 | +75% |
| Feed the Multiverse | $150 to $350 | reuse fee applies |
| Tiffany Munro | $150 to $350 | included |
| Cartographybird | from $195 | in the publishing package |
| TA Maps | from €280 | in the publishing package |
| Dewi Hargreaves | £280 to £330 | +20 to 30% for copyright |
| Pivots Cartography | $300 | included |
| K.R. Solberg | $300 and up | included |
Two of those are worth flagging. As of that date, Dewi Hargreaves and K.R. Solberg were both closed to new commissions, and several others were quoting two to three months. A published price you cannot buy is not really a price.
The number that is not on the list
Look at the right-hand column again, because it is where budgets break.
Several cartographers price the map and the right to publish it separately. If a map is $200 and the commercial license is another 75%, the real cost of putting it in a book you sell is $350, not $200. Authors compare the headline numbers, pick the cheapest, and find the second invoice at the end.
It is not a scam. Illustration has always worked this way, and a cartographer who licenses separately is being conventional, not sharp. But it means the sticker price of an illustration is not comparable across vendors the way the price of a printer is, and you have to read what each one includes.
Three questions settle it before you pay anything:
- Can I sell books containing this map, in any format, without paying again?
- Can I use it in marketing, on the cover, on merchandise?
- Does the price change if my book does well?
If the answer to the third one is yes, you are buying a license, not a map. That may still be the right deal. Just know which one you are buying.
What actually moves the price
Scope, more than size. A sprawling continent and a single island take roughly the same amount of work once you count the thinking, which is why some of us charge one price for both. What genuinely changes the job is going from one landmass to a whole world with many regions that all have to agree with each other.
Label density. Twelve place names and ninety place names are different jobs. Ninety labels that all stay legible is mostly a typography problem, and it is slower than drawing the mountains.
Revisions, and when they happen. Moving a coastline while the layout is still rough costs nothing. Moving it after the detail pass costs a day. Any cartographer who stages reviews is doing it to protect you from that, not to slow you down.
Rush work. A compression fee of 25 to 50 percent is normal across the market. Ours is 35 percent, and it exists because a rush job displaces someone else's week.
Changes after delivery. This one is rarely priced anywhere, and it should be. Manuscripts move. You rename a river in edits and the map and the text now disagree. Ask what a post-delivery change costs before you need one.
Turnaround is a cost, and nobody quotes it
This is the part the price tables miss.
Most cartographers taking novel work are quoting two to three months. Several of the best are closed outright. If your launch date is fixed, a cheaper map that arrives after your cover reveal is not cheaper, and a map you cannot book at all has no price.
So when you compare quotes, compare three numbers, not one: the price, the weeks, and whether the person is actually open. A $200 map in twelve weeks and a $300 map in one week are not the same product.
Is a $25 map ever the right answer?
Sometimes, genuinely.
If you want a rough map to think with while you draft, or something for a newsletter, the low end of the market is fine and you should use it. Nobody needs a commissioned plate to work out how long the army takes to cross the pass.
Two things to know before you put one in a book. The resolution is often too low to print, which you will discover at formatting, not at purchase. And the rights are frequently unstated, which is a problem precisely when the book starts selling.
The same goes for drawing it yourself. Inkarnate is about $25 a year and the tool is genuinely good. If you enjoy it, do it. Plenty of published books have author-drawn maps and readers do not mind. What you are buying from a cartographer is not access to the software. It is the hundred small decisions about what to leave out.
What we charge, and why it is one number
$300 for a map. One or two continents, full color or parchment, your choice, delivered in seven days. A whole world at full detail starts at $450, agreed before anything begins.
One price for most jobs is deliberate. Charging less for a small island would only mean doing it worse, and tiered pricing mostly exists to make the entry number look lower than the real one.
Included, with no separate license and no upsell:
- Full commercial rights. Print, ebook, audiobook, cover, marketing, merchandise.
- No credit line required, no royalties, no expiry.
- A black-and-white version alongside the color one.
- Three rounds of changes while the map is in progress, plus one at the end.
- Delivery in seven days.
Extra maps in the same world are 25 percent off, because keeping a series consistent is much easier when the same person drew all of it. Changes after delivery are a flat $50 against an agreed list.
The short version
Budget around $300 for a novel map from someone open and working. Read the rights terms before you compare prices, because a cheaper map with a separate commercial license is usually not cheaper. And ask when it will actually arrive, because in this market that is the number most likely to hurt you.
Need a map for your book?
One or two continents, full color or parchment, drawn in a week for $300. The map is yours to use however you like.