Is book indexing right for you?
Guest on Jul 06 2009 | Filed under: Business, REAL WORLD, Uncategorized
Kath here. Like many families in this economy, we supplement our two-income household with a secondary source of income; in our case, freelancing work in the writing profession. My husband, a librarian, also creates indexes for non-fiction books.
When people ask us about it, they are surprised that such an opportunity exists. Inevitably they ask a barrage of questions. The No. 1 comment is: “I didn’t know book indexers existed!”
They do. And they get paid for it.
Book indexing is not for everyone. As much as I love to read non-fiction, I’m not sure I could read a text for organizational structures and the plain hard work and tedium of detailing an index. But for those who are curious, I thought I it would him to lift the veil a little.
On the fringe of the writing profession exists a pocket of freelancers known as indexers. Indexers create indexes for a variety of formats, including monographs, journals, and web sites. The most common form of the index can be found at the back of a non-fiction book.
Like many freelance occupations, book indexers can either work full-time or as a sideline to their day job. A large proportion of indexers are librarians. Whenever I tell someone that I create book indexes, the first comment is usually “I thought computers created indexes.” It’s true that Microsoft Word has an index function, but the end product is a concordance, not a true index. Building a useful index involves creating sub-headings, cross-references, and classification schemes based on common reader expectations. Relying on Word instead of using an indexer is analogous to relying on Word’s spell/grammar check instead of using an editor.
The ultimate responsibility for an index lies with the author. The index is the very last task of the non-fiction book publishing process – the index can not be created until the pagination has been completed by the publisher. Typically, an editor will tell the author that they have three weeks to submit an index. Since most authors are sick of their own text by this point, they turn to freelance indexers. A 300-page index takes approximately 10 days to complete and can cost between $1,000-$1,500, depending on the complexity of the text.
For more information about the world of freelance book indexing, visit the American Society for Indexing to learn more.
Kathleen Bolton
Therese Walsh
Ann Aguirre
Porter Anderson
Brunonia Barry
Carleen Brice
Sarah Callender
Keith Cronin
Anna Elliott
Jane Friedman
Robin LaFevers
Donald Maass
Juliet Marillier
Sophie Masson
Jael McHenry
Jan O'Hara
Debbie Ohi
Barbara O'Neal
Crystal Patriarche
Ray Rhamey
M.J. Rose
Chuck Sambuchino
John Vorhaus
Yuvi Zalkow
Sharon Bially
Anne Greenwood Brown
Tracy Hahn-Burkett
Suzannah Windsor Freeman
Kristan Hoffman
Jeanne Kisacky
Erika Robuck
Lydia Sharp
I bet book indexers would know lots of interesting facts about random subjects.
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Oh cool, I didn’t realize this was freelance work. I figured publishers had people in-house who did it. Very interesting!
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I wonder if this takes the pleasure out of reading the book? Or if you even remember what you’ve read after looking so closely at specific words?
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Livia, the last book my husband indexed was a how-to on chinchillas. He’s doing a book on Russian soccer teams now. It’s very random.
Kristan, freelance book indexers are more cost effective for publishers. Sometimes the author wants to DIY, but they are so sick of their book by the end of the revision process, they hire an indexer.
Suzanne, one word: YES.
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It doesn’t take the pleasure out of reading the book, it’s just a different kind of reading. It’s kind of like a slow, in-depth skim. If it’s an interesting book, it makes for interesting skimming. And vice versa.
It’s a great way to broaden a reading base. I never would have read a book about alcoholism in Sri Lanka or the role of glamour in literature or the mating habits of lizards, but now I have.
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I learn something new every time I visit WU. Now that I know what an indexer does, I was just curious as to the qualifications for this position.
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There is no real qualification standard but it does take some training in order to be a successful indexer. There are several courses offered, probably the most popular is offered by the University of California, Berkeley as an extension course. This course offers training in creating indexes, using indexing software, and running your own business. There is a lot of information about indexing as a career on the American Society for Indexing web site.
Probably the most important qualification is extreme attention to detail. Entering information about hundreds of Russian (or Dutch or Arabic, etc.) names without making a single mistake is challenging.
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