Whether you are an author, editor or publisher, I can provide your
readers with the key to your work in the form of a professional,
user-friendly back-of-the-book index.
I provide back-of-the-book indexes
- In English or Dutch
- For academic and non-academic works
- For books on diverse topics,
including linguistics, literature,
history, art, sociology, anthropology, biographies, etc.
Why hire a professional indexer?
Gain a reader’s perspective
I'll read your book cover to cover (I don't skip the footnotes either!) to get a good understanding of your
readers’ needs and expectations from the index.
As a bonus, I will make sure to forward any typos or inconsistencies found during my read-through
in time for the next round of proofs.
Leave the technical details to the nerds
Don’t concern yourself with figuring out indexing standards
and publisher stylesheets, but leave it to me! I love finding the optimal, user-friendly structure
of entries and subentries, getting the formats of locators for pages, tables and figures just right,
and fiddling with the font and alphabetization until everything looks perfect.
Peace of mind
Delegating this final job gives you the freedom to focus on finishing the manuscript
(or take a well-deserved holiday) while your book is being prepped for publication!
“The index looks excellent to me – very thorough indeed, thank you. I read through it with a sense of relief that I didn't try to do it myself, as there is no way I could have done it so well!”
Author testimonial
The indexing process
- My work starts when the final proof arrives, typeset and
paginated, preferably corrected, and complete with figures, tables, frontmatter,
appendices, etc. It is important to avoid further changes in the content
at this point that cause page number shifts, because this could lead to
extra adjustments to the index and possibly delays. Typically, the publisher
decides which proof is suitable for indexing.
- I will read the entire document (yes, including footnotes,
tables, figures, appendices, etc.!). Becoming intimately
familiar with the work is the best way to anticipate the
reader’s needs and expectations, and it allows me to determine the most
important concepts. These index terms along with their page
numbers are transferred to my indexing program.
- I will edit the index to make it highly user-friendly for the
reader. This includes: creating hierarchical structures with
sub-headings; adding cross-references between related subjects;
adding double entries for synonymous terms for ease of look-up
(e.g. Second World War and World War II); inserting qualifiers
to explain or differentiate terms (e.g. Carmen (novella) and
Carmen (opera)). I will make sure that the layout of the index
complies with industry standards, the publishing house stylesheet
and/or author preferences.
- The index is sent to you for review and approval.
If there are any requests for changes, I prefer to make the changes myself
as I know exactly how the index is structured and have specialized software at my disposal.
Up two hours of editing are included in the fee; for more changes I charge an hourly rate.
“I appreciate the fact that you have thoroughly read through every detail and taken the greatest care to provide such a comprehensive index.”
Author testimonial
To receive an estimate, please send an email to magickeyindexing@gmail.com.
