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Heartland Chapter of the American Society for Indexing

Writing for ASI Publications

10/28/2016

 
By Margie Towery

[Margie shared these tips in a mini-presentation at the Heartland chapter's Fall 2016 meeting.]

Beginning indexers, don’t skip this post! You don’t have to be an expert to write for ASI publications. Indeed, there are several reasons that every serious indexer should consider writing for ASI:
  • To gather information and gain knowledge
  • To share your perspective and expertise
  • To promote your indexing business
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​An easy entry into writing for Key Words (KW) and your local chapter blogs and newsletters is to gather information about a subject that you want more information about. For example, very early in my indexing career, I “wrote” a column for KW called “The ABCs of Indexing.” My premise was that I had questions and others had answers. I wanted to know about such topics as getting your first client, office equipment, insurance, training, etc. For each KW column, I picked a topic, queried 3 or 4 indexers, then collated and edited their responses. I added a very short introduction and off it went to KW. Not only did I get the info I needed but my name got “out there,” too! What are your burning index-related questions?

Right now, there is also an opportunity for all indexers to be involved in the forthcoming kohlrabi cookbook. Interested in contributing and/or testing recipes? Contact Pilar Wyman: pilarw [at] wymanindexing [.] com!

Another easy entry to this level of writing is to share your perspective through book reviews, chapter and national meeting reports, and on specific ideas, such as John Bealle’s KW article on when to index author citations and Carol Reed’s article on working with authors. Contact the KW editor to discuss the possibilities.

With a bit more commitment, you might consider serving as the editor for one of the Indexing Specialties series books. I edited the volume on history just 4 years after I started indexing. This series includes History, Scholarly Books, Psychology, Cookbooks, Law, and Medicine. There are certainly other topics that could be added. The editor’s (or coeditors’) tasks include, for example, soliciting articles from experts, editing those articles, and keeping the project organized and on schedule. This kind of writing project serves all three of the above points. Got an idea? Contact Pilar.

As you develop into an expert in particular areas, you might be asked to write for one of the specialties books or for the more recent series, Index It Right! Writing a single article is obviously easier than editing a collection, but both are helpful in getting your ideas and your indexing bona fides into the limelight.
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Another batch of ASI books are what I would call “one-offs,” that is, books of either collected essays (e.g., Indexing for Editors and Authors) or single-authored volumes, such as the two newest ASI books, Janet Perlman’s Indexing Tactics and Tidbits and my own Ten Characteristics of Quality Indexes. As a new indexer I never envisioned writing a book about indexing, but it has been a very satisfying endeavor—and one that I wouldn’t have attempted if I hadn’t been writing for ASI all along.

As you can see, there are many avenues into writing for our professional organization, each of which has different expertise and time commitment factors. You just have to pick one and get started!

Audiences and Accessibility (Creating Better Indexes, Part 10)

5/6/2016

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This is the tenth and last installment in Margie Towery's Creating Better Indexes series. For more in-depth discussion of each of these topics, you can order Margie's new book, Ten Characteristics of Quality Indexes: Confessions of an Award-Winning Indexer through InfoToday.
. . . . .
By Margie Towery
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Audiences and accessibility together form one of what I call the “Ten Principles for Creating Better Indexes.” The other principles (or characteristics) are 
accuracy (part 6), comprehensiveness and conciseness (parts 4–5), common sense (part 2), consistency and clarity (parts 8–9), reflexivity (part 3), metatopic and index structure (part 7), and readability (part 1).
 
In one way, it’s fitting to discuss audiences at this juncture in the Heartland chapter’s concerns. The chapter’s shift from newsletter to blog communications is due in part to audience considerations, and it will also aid accessibility.
 
This final essay in the Creating Better Indexes series also comes with its own transition, from a series of short newsletter essays to a full-length, expanded book, Ten Characteristics of Quality Indexes, set for June 14, 2016, publication.*
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On the other hand, it’s a bit odd to leave audiences to the end because it is one of the first things I consider and gather information on when I am starting a new index (and it is the first characteristic discussed in the book). In fact, I keep audiences and accessibility in mind throughout my indexing process. They are key to how each index is structured.
 
Most books will be read by multiple audiences. In the scholarly domain, many books reflect the interdisciplinarity of recent and current research. The ability to think beyond just one type of audience is part of the argument against the author indexing her own book. A key part of our job as indexers is to create indexes that can be used by multiple audiences, which in turn affects how we foster accessibility: the index structure and cross-reference system, term choices and commonsense language, and clarity.
 
There are several places to find clues about intended and other possible audiences:
 
• Online book descriptions (author’s, publisher’s, and booksellers’ websites)

• Front matter, which may include a preface with audience clues

• The book’s introduction (or first chapter), which often has audience and terminology clues

• Author’s concept lists, which may provide terminology and cross-reference clues

​• The subject knowledge of you the indexer; if you don’t have the basic underpinnings of the topic, research and learn it.  


I would like to highlight one tool for creating the best index possible for multiple audiences. Indexers must have “mad word skills.” One of the best ways to gain those skills is to read widely, across many genres. Such exploratory reading can make indexers adept at finding “just the right word.”

Most importantly, be the indexer that the book’s audiences need!

 
*Preorder price of $21.60 includes free shipping (I am not sure when this expires); ASI members’ price is $36, nonmembers’ price is $45. While you’re on the InfoToday website, check out Janet Perlman’s new book, too: Indexing Tactics and Tidbits.


Copyright 2016 Margie Towery. Used with permission.


 

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