I recently received the longest list of terms from an author that I have ever received. The list was so long that I immediately contacted the publisher and explained that even with the extra space I had already asked for and received for the index, there was no way that… Read More »Dealing with Authors and Their Lists of Terms
Indexing is so often about following the rules, but today I want to write about breaking the rules. Specifically, the alphabetical sort that is often the basis for organizing entries. Force-sorting is when an entry is deliberated taken out of alphabetical order and placed elsewhere in the index. This can… Read More »Do’s and Don’ts for Index Force Sorting
Subheadings are, I would argue, essential for a good index. Not everyone would agree, apparently, as evidenced by the indexes one finds with long strings of locators with perhaps the odd subheading tacked on at the end. But as a way to deliver additional information to the reader, and to… Read More »Index Subheadings Q&A
When I first began to freelance, I did not know how to set a price for my work. Instead of being proactive, I accepted what my first few clients offered me, as what they offered seemed fair, I had no prices for comparison, and I was simply thrilled to receive… Read More »How to Set Prices that Sell and Earn Profit
Words matter in the index. This may be stating the obvious, but I think it is worth repeating. The terms and phrasing used need to be readily understood by the user of the index. The text, of course, is the first place to look for terminology that can be transposed… Read More »Translating the Text for the Index
Last week I tried to puzzle my way through the concept of editing the index while the entries are being created, as opposed to saving most of the editing for the end of the indexing process. As I wrote, some indexers say that they save a lot of time by… Read More »Editing the Index on the Go Redux
With our income as indexers often proportional to the amount of work we can complete, efficiency is key. I want to consider today a practice that I know some indexers use, which is editing as the index entries are created. In theory—and I have heard some indexers say they manage… Read More »Editing the Index on the Go
I have been reluctant to write about metatopics. It is already extensively discussed by Do Mi Stauber, Janet Perlman, and Margie Towery in their books, as well as, I assume, elsewhere. Appropriately handling the metatopic is also one of the trickier aspects of indexing to master. I am not sure… Read More »Why Correctly Identifying the Metatopic Matters
It has been almost two weeks since I attended AFCon, the Ancient Faith Writing and Podcasting Conference, which took place in a little under 48 hours on June 13-15. It is a conference put on by Ancient Faith Ministries, an Orthodox Christian organization in the US which has substantial publishing… Read More »AFCon 2019 Debrief
Who is the index for? This may seem like a trick question. You are probably thinking, “The reader, obviously.” So let me rephrase the question. As the indexer, who are you trying to please? I hope you are still trying to please the reader, but when writing the index, the… Read More »Who to Serve: the Client or the Reader?