How many indexes does a book need? And is there any any benefit to creating separate indexes? When I wrote a couple of weeks ago with a proposal for how I would index Taiwan Travelogue, a novel by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ and translated by Lin King (Graywolf Press, 2024), I received… Read More »How Many Indexes Does a Book Need?
I’ve never indexed a work of fiction before. I once came close, for a novel which was part of someone’s creative dissertation, if I remember correctly, but that fell through. I also don’t often think that I want an index when I read a novel. When reading fiction, I am… Read More »Indexing Fiction: A Proposal for Taiwan Travelogue
Two Saturdays ago I co-presented a webinar with François Trahan, for the Indexing Society of Canada/Société canadienne d’indexation (ISC/SCI). The topic was best practices. We drew upon our experience serving together on the ISC/SCI Awards Committee, which administers the Ewart-Daveluy Award. We had an excellent turnout. Many thanks if you… Read More »Incorporating Indexing Best Practices
Welcome to another Q&A, on this last Tuesday of the month. Today’s question comes from Winona, and references a previous reflection I wrote. Winona asks: In your post on the subjective side of indexing, you write that two indexers can produce different indexes for the same book, but that there… Read More »Q&A: How to Quantify Subjectivity Across Indexes?
You’d think after freelancing now for about fifteen years that I’d be better at turning down work that isn’t in my wheelhouse. It is not that I can’t figure out how to index such books; I’ve indexed enough diverse subjects that I kind of think I could index most anything.… Read More »Help! Indexing a Book I Don’t Understand
Welcome back to another Q&A on this last Tuesday of the month. Today’s question is a little different in that it comes from a subcontractor I work with. The question was asked in response to a specific piece of advice that I gave for a previous project we worked on… Read More »Q&A: When to Draw Indexable Terms Directly from the Text?
What is required to write an excellent index? I mean, what does it actually take? Indexing is governed by a lot of rules and conventions. Every indexer, including myself, tend to have their favorite strategies and style preferences. These are important for shaping and refining the index. But is that… Read More »Fundamental Principles for Writing an Index
It’s time to dig into cross-references again, picking up where I left off two weeks ago. If you missed that first reflection, you can read it here. I had a lot more to write than I initially thought about how I use, or don’t use, cross-references, which is why I… Read More »How I Use Cross-References (Part 2)
Some time ago a client asked me how I decide when to use cross-references and why certain arrays have cross-references and not others. Which is a good question. I decided to sit down and outline all of the different scenarios in which I use—or don’t use—cross-references, and, well, the list… Read More »How I Use Cross-References (Part 1)
I’m currently indexing a history of nuclear reactors. It is about 300,000 words. Meticulously researched and written, with a strong narrative. It is a big book, and it is taking a while to get through. It is also not the only large volume I’ve indexed this year. I feel like… Read More »Indexing Big Books