One of the best ways to cut down on editing time is to make sure your index is the right size in the first place. Not all clients will give you a length requirement to fill, but when they do, it’s easier to have an index that’s the right size than to have to edit […]
Indexing and Editing as You Go
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 […]
PI Partner Profile: Jessica Freeman
We are happy to report that we have a new PI Partner in Jessica Freeman. We’d love to have you get to know her through this blog interview! Your Business PI: How long have you been doing indexing? I’ve been indexing since 2015. I started out indexing as a side hustle and transitioned into indexing […]
Main Headings in Indexes: The First Priority
Yes, please, main headings. Pretty please? This is the index user’s plea, although they may not know how to describe it. What users want is a collection of both more general and more specific topics or names that are significantly discussed in the text. And ideally, most, if not all of these will appear as […]
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, […]
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 […]
