Wanting to Write A Tarot Book

Kat Moon

Have any of you all written a tarot book? Did you use your own art for the deck? How was the process of working with an artist?

I would LOVE to write a book to go with a deck. Something more then just a basic tarot book. One that would be in depth with each of the individual cards. But the issue is, I am so not artistically inclined. Making my own deck is so out of the picture. Where could I find a tarot deck artist that is looking for some one to write an in depth book to go with their deck?

Thanks
xoxo
 

NatKat

Maybe post you are looking for someone in the Deck Creation threads???
An art college?
 

Pipistrelle

There may be more opportunities to write a companion book (one written to accompany a specific deck) - there are many tarot artists and I imagine not all relish the thought of writing the book (and also they might not be the best person to do). The downside is that you are then writing about one particular representation of the cards, and that may not exactly reflect your card knowledge or allow to fully explore everything you would like to about each card.

On the other hand, there are far too many "generic" tarot books available which contain card-by-card meanings and it would be hard to get another published (or, if published, stand out from the crowd) unless you had a really unique angle. That said, it's not impossible.

My advice (if I may put on my published author's hat for just a mo):
1) Write down ideas - every idea. This is the best way to strike gold. You may be wondering about how fish relate to tarot one day - which fish would be the Emperor? ;) It seems sily but write it down...you don't know what it might turn into (tarot and food?) You may also think of books you wish someone else had written during the course of your tarot use.
2) Read "The Shortest Distance Between You and a Published Book". I would not be published without it.

Also, you could consider existing decks which either don't have a book or for which the existing book is woefully inadequate. You could write to the publisher and offer to write a companion book for it - but it would to be a deck you know really well and you would need to write a proper pitch (see point two).
 

Kat Moon

Maybe post you are looking for someone in the Deck Creation threads???
An art college?

I did but no bites yet. I didn't think about an art college. What a great idea
 

Kat Moon

There may be more opportunities to write a companion book (one written to accompany a specific deck) - there are many tarot artists and I imagine not all relish the thought of writing the book (and also they might not be the best person to do). The downside is that you are then writing about one particular representation of the cards, and that may not exactly reflect your card knowledge or allow to fully explore everything you would like to about each card.

On the other hand, there are far too many "generic" tarot books available which contain card-by-card meanings and it would be hard to get another published (or, if published, stand out from the crowd) unless you had a really unique angle. That said, it's not impossible.

My advice (if I may put on my published author's hat for just a mo):
1) Write down ideas - every idea. This is the best way to strike gold. You may be wondering about how fish relate to tarot one day - which fish would be the Emperor? ;) It seems sily but write it down...you don't know what it might turn into (tarot and food?) You may also think of books you wish someone else had written during the course of your tarot use.
2) Read "The Shortest Distance Between You and a Published Book". I would not be published without it.

Also, you could consider existing decks which either don't have a book or for which the existing book is woefully inadequate. You could write to the publisher and offer to write a companion book for it - but it would to be a deck you know really well and you would need to write a proper pitch (see point two).

Yes, I am really wanting to write a companion book. One that works directly with a certain deck. Like you mentioned there are way to many generic books on the market, and even more information online. And I like the idea, of being able to really dive into the deck for a reader.

Thanks for the ideas. I have actually written and published books. But I will still look into the book you mentioned. Learn something new every day.

The idea about using existing decks is great. Trying to find someone still in the process of making a deck has been hard. I will look into that (to bad all of my current decks have the big book lol)

Thank you for the thoughts and time :)