Is Indexing The Career For You?

Most people who get a B.A. in English do not think of indexing as a potential career. This is because the positions, at a professional level are sparse. However, if there's one thing we've learned, it's that all jobs these days are hard to acquire.

As far as indexing goes, the most popular field is that of the freelance indexer. This is where a publishing house sends a book to an indexer and they work on a book to book basis, with no contracts. Cheryl Lenser, the indexer at Pearson explains the career in detail in her publishing career blog.

In the article she describes two different types of indexing jobs. The first is called, "embedded indexing," this is where the indexer puts tags in a book before the final page number is set. The second is, "standalone indexing," this is where the indexer receives a hard copy of the book and writes the index from there.

The ASI (American Society of Indexers) notes that the four P's of indexing are; persistence, patience, practice, and a positive attitude. This will gain you the most success in this field.

*Helpful article by Cheryl Lenser
http://publishingcareers.blogspot.com/2008/02/are-you-interested-in-indexing-by.html


By
Brittany Barron