FAQ

Can you index my book?

Probably! It will depend on several factors, including the subject matter and whether I can fit your project into my current schedule. I’m happy to discuss whether I’m the right indexer for your book. You can get in touch with me through the contact page.

What do you charge?

I generally charge by the indexable page. My rates vary from $3 to $7.50 per page, depending on the book’s audience (trade or scholarly), the subject of the book, the density of the text (how many words per page), the complexity of the material, and how fast the turnaround is.  If you would like to discuss rates for a specific project, please contact me via the contact form.

My manuscript is finished; can you get started now?

I find it works best to index from the final page proofs. When I work from manuscript pages, I generally end up spending a lot of extra time changing all the locators (page numbers) once the text has been typeset and any major changes have been made. That extra time translates to additional cost for you, so it’s best to wait until the book is in proofs. Many publishing houses also prefer to have the index prepared at the same time as the proofreading, though usually not by the same person. However, you can (and should) try to schedule your project as soon as you know when the page proofs will be ready, since I often book projects several months in advance.

Why do I need a human indexer? Can’t a computer do the job?

If what you mean is, can indexing be done automatically by a computer, the answer is no. At this time, even with recent advances in AI, no software is sophisticated enough to read and analyze the text and make the informed decisions that a human indexer must often make, keeping in mind the needs and expectations of the reader and evaluating concept or piece of information for its relevance in the context of this specific book.

There are some computer programs that claim to produce an index, but in reality they generate a concordance: a list of specific terms that appear in the book, and which pages they appear on. This can lead to entries with over 100 locators without subheadings, which isn’t very helpful to a reader. Programs of this type can also fail to include important discussions of a topic where the given search term did not appear on the page (a failing shared by search functions.)

AI programs such as ChatGPT use predictive text to produce an “index,” rather than analyzing the content of a specific edition of a specific book.  This can lead to significant errors and “hallucinations” (otherwise known as making things up.) For example, in 2023 an indexer tested the software by prompting ChatGPT3 to produce an index for Darwin’s Origin of Species. The resulting “index” included several scientists not mentioned at all in Darwin’s book, including one well-known 20th-century scientist. The document also contained subject entries for topics not found at all in Origin of Species, while failing to include a number of topics and species that are covered in the book. The page numbers were randomly assigned and did not correlate to any specific edition of the book. And the document only went through the letter P. In other words, ChatGPT3 produced what it predicted an index of Origin of Species might look like, not an actual index of the material in the book.*

It’s also worth noting that due to copyright concerns, publishers are understandably reluctant to allow their works — especially not-yet-published works! — to be used in training Large Language Model (LLM) AI systems. Some publishers have begun including in their contracts language prohibiting the indexer from using generative AI at any stage of creating the index.

Further reading:

*I’d like to thank John Magee, Director of Metadata Services at Cengage Gale, for his excellent presentation on his research into ChatGPT at the 2023 ASI Conference. 

But you use a computer, don’t you?

Yes, we do. Thirty or forty years ago, creating an index meant writing each entry on an index card, sorting and filing those cards manually, and then typing up the index from the boxes and boxes of index cards. Thanks to computers, we no longer have to deal with index cards. Indexers today use dedicated indexing software programs that take care of the “grunt work” of alphabetizing, sorting, and formatting the entries. This allows us to focus our time and energy on the skilled aspects of the job: reading and analyzing the text, creating the overall index structure, and choosing terms—deciding how to phrase each entry and subentry so it is succinct, clear, and easy to find.

There are four major indexing programs: Cindex, Macrex, SKY Index, and Index Manager. Think of them as the indexing equivalent of word processing and database software combined: they can’t create the content, but they can help organize and format it. All four tools are flexible, powerful, and specifically designed for indexing. Using one of these programs, an indexer can quickly reformat an index from indented to run-in format, for instance, or switch the alphabetization style from word-by-word to letter-by-letter. Once the index is complete, the software can then generate an index file in Word, RTF, or any of several other formats, ready to send to the book’s editor. Almost all professional indexers are proficient in least one of these programs; I use SKY Index.

My question isn’t covered here.

I would be happy to answer any other questions you have. You can get in touch with me through the contact page.