Back-of-the-Book Indexing

A back-of-the-book indexer with over 20 years of experience, I have indexed hundreds of books on a wide variety of topics (see selected titles) and always look forward to working on each title with the goal of creating the most effective and reader-friendly index possible, delivered on time and with careful attention to detail. Email to request more information for your particular project.

What books have you indexed?

Below is a sample of some recent books that I have indexed, with links to Amazon listings where you can use the “Look Inside” feature to view the index:

• Adnan’s Story: The Search for Truth and Justice After Serial
• Beneath the Surface: Killer Whales, SeaWorld, and the Truth Beyond Blackfish
• Black Bodies, Black Rights: The Politics of Quilombolismo in Contemporary Brazil
• Finding Zero: A Mathematician’s Odyssey to Uncover the Origins of Numbers
• Gentlemen Scientists and Revolutionaries: The Founding Fathers in the Age of Enlightenment
• Heroic Leadership: An Influence Taxonomy of 100 Exceptional Individuals
• The Lost Majority: Why the Future of Government Is Up for Grabs
• Midwives and Mothers: The Medicalization of Childbirth on a Guatemalan Plantation
• People of Color in the United States: Contemporary Issues in Education, Work, Communities, Health, and Immigration  [4 volumes]
• The Persian Gulf in Modern Times
• Predictive Leadership: Avoiding the 12 Critical Mistakes That Derail Growth-Hungry Companies
• Prize Fight: The Race and the Rivalry to be the First in Science
• Racial Identities, Genetic Ancestry, and Health in South America: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay
• Recasting India: How Entrepreneurship is Revolutionizing the World’s Largest Democracy
• The Shakespeare Thefts: In Search of the First Folios

You can browse more titles I have indexed by clicking here (note to self: update lists).

Who hires indexers?

While publishing companies sometimes have in-house salaried indexers, many if not most indexers, like me, work as freelance or contract employees. We are often hired by publishers (who then may subtract the fee from the authors’ later royalties) or by the authors themselves. In either case, we create the index for a book on a tight deadline—often in only two weeks or less—at the same time that the final proof pages (typeset but not yet approved) are being given their last proofreading. I write almost all of my indexes through and with electronic files, working from a pdf of the proof pages and creating the index in Word.

See also: Why hire a professional indexer?

How do indexers set their fees?

Indexing fees vary greatly depending on the book being indexed and the experience of the indexer. Also, some indexers charge by the hour or by the entry, while others charge by the number of proof pages that are indexed.

I agree on the fee with the author or publisher before starting the project, and I charge by the indexable proof page (i.e., not including blank pages, references, and so on), usually starting at $3.50 per page for most trade or academic books and going up to $5 per page or higher for more dense or complex titles. Payment is due (by check, credit card, PayPal or wire transfer) after the index is completed and approved.

How do I contact you?

For more information for your index project, please drop me an email with information about your book and your indexing needs.