Working with Authors’ Term Lists

Something indexers often get are term lists from authors. These can range from a handful of key concepts to a complete index, with the comment that “the index is done, and all you have to do is put in the page numbers.” Many indexers, having been faced with the latter example, reject author term lists completely.

I don’t reject term lists. In fact, I even appreciate them, most of the time. The key is how I use them.

Saving time

A term list is certainly not the “indexing work all done” for me, with nothing left to do but a full-text search for page numbers. (For more information on why this isn’t how indexing works, see here and here). What is valuable to me about a term list is it lets me see what the author considers the most important points of their book. I can use it to help me figure out what the intended metatopic, or main idea, of the book is. I know what should be important before even starting to read.

This can save time. It’s frustrating to realize after two chapters that a term I ignored 50 pages ago is actually a key concept, and I have to go back and find it.

Determining vocabulary

Term lists can also help determine the preferred vocabulary. That is, it can help me decide which word to use for a particular concept. This is especially useful in a multi-authored work, where different authors use slightly different terms for the same idea. The easiest example is teenager vs. adolescent vs. youth. A term list will point me toward which one the author really prefers, and I can cross-reference from the others.

What a term list isn’t

Here’s what I don’t think a term list is. It’s not the index, all done up in a bow. It’s also not an evaluation tool for the author (learn how to evaluate an index here), or a secret decoder ring against which the index can be measured and found sufficient or wanting. Sometimes there are themes in the text that surprise even the people who wrote them, and a term list won’t catch those.

Term lists as guides

It’s a guide. It can be a helpful, welcome guide, especially when used as a means of author-indexer collaboration. It’s a peek into the author’s intent, or a handbook to terms of art. It can be a trail of breadcrumbs through the text, especially when the text is not straightforward, or has clever (rather than simply factual) headings. A well-written book is a joy to read, but isn’t always the easiest book to index.

How to present a term list

The best way for an author to present a term list is to make a note of a handful of key concepts. Things they will be upset or disappointed to see missing from the index, or the most important points they’re trying to make. But don’t go through the trouble of writing a 2-3 page “index” – this saves neither the indexer’s time, nor the author’s. The indexer follows indexing best practices, which apply to format and word choice (nouns, not adjectives, for example), as well as to content (see these posts on “passing mentions” for examples of content best practices).

How to use the term list

The best way for an indexer to use a term list is as a guide. See it as the author helping put up signposts for their book, not as the author trying to do the indexer’s work for them. I let authors know I appreciate the list, and that I’ll use it as a guide but still ensure the index follows best practices. Send the author a link to the ASI Best Practices document. And then do consider the term list. You can use it without being wedded to it. A conversation about term lists can benefit both the indexer and the author.

Finally, for those authors who really do want to write the index themselves, we have a fantastic four-part guide, A Brief Writer’s Guide to Book Indexing.