At our 2017 ASI conference, I had so many great workshop choices that for once, I was glad to come home to an indexing project and put what I learned to practice. Usually, after a conference (and a 6 am flight home), I like to have a few days to recover and catch up on […]
Negotiating Rates
Setting rates is often up to indexers — we get a query about a project and respond with a quote. Sometimes, though, it works the other way around, and we get approached with a rate from a potential client. When the rate is just fine, our answer is mainly determined by our schedules and our […]
Special Topics: Indexing Cookbooks
While we’re definitely advocates for indexes in nearly all nonfiction books, there’s one genre in which an index is indispensable: cookbooks. Culinary pioneer (and indexer!) Julia Child wrote in The Way to Cook, “A reference or teaching book is only as good as its index.” Imagine trying to find a recipe without even a rudimentary list of titles? As in other subject areas, […]
Making the Most of the New Year
It’s unavoidable in January. Along with sending kids back to school, tax prep, and for many, snow, the start of a new year brings with it a chance to evaluate ourselves and our businesses. Articles on goal setting and resolutions are everywhere, with advice on topics from losing 20 pounds to gaining 20 new clients. My own goals are still […]
Working with PDFs: Custom Stamps
As our name suggests, most of what we do here at Potomac Indexing is, well, indexing. However, we also do copyediting and proofreading, providing you with a single point of contact for a whole batch of production tasks. This is especially helpful with websites and book series, ensuring consistency of style. One of my favorite tools to use for copyediting […]
Help! My Index Doesn’t Fit! Shortening an Index Without Sacrifice
So there you are, sighing in relief and stretching your shoulders, because you care about ergonomics. You’ve just typed in the last entry from the last page, and you’ve done all your basic editing tasks (spelling, deleting unnecessary subheadings, checking acronyms, you know the drill). It’s time to check the length against your client’s specs. You’re […]
