A Guide to Freelance Indexing

A Guide to Freelance Indexing

You may never have heard of freelance indexing before and I have to admit that I hadn’t either when I first began my new career. For this reason it is often an area that people come to include in their job after they have begun freelancing rather then the reason for the career change to begin with. I would advise anyone to have a look into freelance indexing to decide if it may be suited to them as it can often provide a good source of income.  

What exactly is freelance indexing?

Essentially freelancing indexing is where the information for something like a book or a journal is read through and then the key terms arranged systematically in an index. This helps whoever wishes to find something within the book or journal to locate it quickly and easily. I know that this can sound confusing but it needn’t be and you will find that once you get going it is not as hard or as complicated as you may think.

When you begin freelance indexing you will most likely be asked to look at the final proofs of a book or journal and then come up with a sensible and easy to understand index for this. Often this will mean you will have to read through the text and as you do so, jot down any terms that you feel will form part of the index. Once you have completed this you will need to construct the final index, proof read it to make sure that it all makes sense and that there are no mistakes and then send it to the client.

How to find work as a freelance indexer

If you feel that this is something that you may be interested in then you will need to know where to look for work and if there are any qualifications needed prior to this.

You may find that you will be more likely to obtain work if you have adequate experience or training in indexing. For many they will have worked in an industry that requires indexing and can therefore use this to help find work. However if you like the sound of freelance indexing but do not have experience then I know that you can find a number of different workshops and courses that will help get you up to the level required.

In the main I know that many people find work either directly from the author themselves or from the publisher of the book or journal. If you know of publishing companies then you may wish to contact them and ask if they use freelance indexers and obtain further information this way. You will also find that there are several sites online which will be used by the author or publisher requesting the services of an indexer as well.

As with all types of freelancing careers you may choose to set your own rates but remember that it helps to be flexible with these from time to time.