Indexing

Back-of-the-book indexing brings together my core skills – a keen eye for detail and "seeing the bigger picture", which is all about identifying and understanding a text's key concepts, themes and patterns. And I'm used to getting up to speed on new subject areas quickly – that's a useful trait in an indexer.

I've recently completed the University of Berkeley's online Indexing: Theory & Application course. This is an award-winning course that teaches "the fundamentals of writing, editing, and delivering back-of-the-book indexes to publishing clients." It also covers embedded and web indexing. The content includes many challenging assignments and projects (I achieved a c. 99% average mark). The course prepared me well, and I'm excited to be building my client base and gaining experience.

My editing experience means I'm naturally well-prepared to index books on finance, economics and a wide range of industries. I'm also interested in culinary arts, child development, psychology, health & fitness, education, travel, entertainment and the environment. If your book's subject area isn't mentioned here, that doesn't mean I can't index it – let's talk.

Indexing projects have included subject areas such as business management, the history of Indigenous storytelling and memoir. I recently completed the index for Timothy Caulfield's upcoming book, The Certainty Illusion, to be published by Penguin Random House in January 2025.

Contact me to discuss your indexing needs and get a quote.

Member of The Indexing Society of Canada.

What is an index?

The veteran indexer Kate Mertes described it best:

"Here’s the simple answer: you know those columns at the back of the book where you look stuff up? That’s an index. Here’s the more complicated answer: an index is an intellectual analysis of the text, broken down into topics a reader is likely to search for, arranged in an objective order (usually alphabetical, but on occasion numerical, chronological, or geographical), and supplemented with alternative terms that provide multiple points of entry into the text."