Thanks for the input on this. I am pretty certain all of us here agree, we are after all a bunch of cartographiles (that should be a word).

Whenever I'm mapping I'm often imagining events unfolding on the terrain I am creating. What historic moments transpired here? I imagine a hero sneaking through or crossing over the river I am painting. It may all go back to my pen and paper gaming days of creating worlds and adventures but when I behold a map within a book I do the same thing.

I can't imagine writing a book without having some kind of a map. Brandon Sanderson who is an excellent Science Fiction writer of our day certainly supports nice maps. Check out his "The Way of Kings" prologue. Saweeeetness!

Anyway, I support your message and for those authors who poo-poo the idea of a map they should realize that just because we are readers doesn't mean we don't ultimately embrace sight. I can't tell you how many books I've picked up just because the cover looked good and how many I ignored because I hated the cover art. (I know, it's shallow but really with so many books out there I have to have a reason of some kind). The next thing I look for after the cover is to see if there is a map. A great map and I'm very likely to take that book home with me.

I'm currently in a great series of books that has a rudimentary world map but it's barely functional. The books are so good that the map is kind of embarrassing. I feel somewhat motivated to show the author some love and create a real map for it but I haven't found the elusive "free" time.