This free email course will demystify the indexing process. In seven daily lessons, delivered to your inbox, you will learn

⁃ What an index is and is not

⁃ The five basic components of an index

⁃ The formatting ground rules

⁃ The types of information that goes into your index

⁃ How to structure your index for clear navigation

⁃ Tips for readability

⁃ And finally, a step-by-step process for writing your index.

In addition, each lesson will include short exercises to help you pre-plan your index and start thinking like an indexer. 

About the Instructor

My name is Stephen Ullstrom, and I am a professional indexer. I have written over two hundred indexes so far in my career, which started with my first index in 2011, and kicked into high gear when I quit my job in late 2012 to start freelancing. In 2014 I even won an indexing award. 

Indexing is the job that keeps giving new and exciting books to read. Books I have indexed have ranged from environmental history and World War I pilots, to ballet and Cantonese opera, to hiking and bird watching guides. 

In addition to working with a lot of authors and editors, including people like you, I have also met a lot of authors and editors who want to write their own index. For some, it is because they cannot afford to hire a professional indexer. For others, maybe they are concerned that no one else will be able to accurately translate their message into the index. Others are simply interested in tackling a new challenge. 

Whatever your reason is for wanting to index, I want to empower and support you to do just that. I believe that indexes are vital for making the contents of nonfiction books accessible, and that indexes which readers return to time and again require thoughtful craftsmanship with the reader in mind.

This email course contains the knowledge I have accumulated so far, distilled into seven lessons that will give you the building blocks you need to get started writing your own index. I look forward to seeing you inside.