Past meeting: April 26, 1997
Publisher/Indexer Relations

On 26 April, 37 of our lively chapter members met at Barnaby's in Tukwila, WA, for our first meeting this year. The results of our first election were announced, and the new officers began their one year term. During lunch, we began our "ask an indexer" tradition (all of our meetings will include a meal during which professional indexers will be seated at every table so new and potential indexers can comfortably ask them questions about indexing). After lunch, publisher/indexer relations were discussed with two Seattle publishing professionals: Marilyn Trueblood, an editor from the University of Washington Press (UW Press), and Wendy Zucker, the Traffic Coordinator for Microsoft Press (MS Press).

Marilyn Trueblood opened by saying that indexers have a very important job: to "make a good book a useful book". It is policy at UW Press to make their authors responsible for indexes. UW Press allows authors to contract with professional indexers, but encourages them to write their own indexes. Trueblood explained that UW Press feels that authors are the best indexers because they know their texts and subjects best. After authors create their indexes, they submit the document to UW Press for editing. Trueblood mentioned that at this stage in the process, editors are usually a bit anxious because they never know how good the index will be or how much editing will be necessary. When asked what were major "no-no's" that made a bad index or a bad indexer, Trueblood mentioned that indexers weren't practicing basic indexing practices. For example, indexes submitted without prior editing by the indexer, style inconsistencies, unanalyzed entries (with more than 5 locators), and not responding to calls from the editor. At UW Press, some manuscripts take up to five years to be published, with much of that time being taken up by the pre-publication review process. Trueblood was not sure of the amount of time indexers are given to work on texts, because the authors usually find their own indexers or prepare the indexes themselves.

Wendy Zucker began her presentation by explaining exactly what role MS Press plays in the corporation. Software manuals (both print and online) included with software packages developed by Microsoft are handled by programming and design teams. MS Press deals only with print trade books found in bookstores. Unlike UW Press, MS Press leaves authors completely out of the indexing process. Their opinion, according to Zucker, is that authors are experts on the software at hand and writing, while indexers are experts on writing useful indexes. MS Press has a style guide, but it is flexible, allowing indexers to suggest better arrangements for specific texts. MS Press often has only two to three months to see a manuscript move from idea to finished product. Indexing is figured into the project schedule and indexers are found as soon as possible. Zucker admits that their contracted indexers are often under a time crunch, but it is just part of the business (as we all know). Flexibility is one of the more important qualities MS Press looks for in indexers. The ideal indexer for MS Press is someone who is able to bend their schedules as needed, for projects that are being are held up or are being rushed through MS Press.

The audience had several questions for the speakers:

• "Do you like indexers to send samples to you?" Trueblood replied that samples are useful, Zucker said they are required. Both agreed that an entire index is not necessary. A few index pages will give editors a feel for an indexer's skill. They both stressed that the sample should be from a book on a subject either in the indexer's area of specialization or that the press publishes.
• "When indexers approach you with cold queries, what information do you like to see?" Both speakers mentioned not only outlines of indexers' experience and degrees in specific subject areas, but also subjects of interest and hobbies. Even if indexers are simply interested in (or have read extensively about) specific topics, this is often as close as editors get to finding an indexer with the subject expertise they need.
• "Where are your indexers located? Are they local?" Both speakers said they contract with indexers from all over the country.
• "If you received a bad index, would you publish it, or would you simply eliminate it?" Trueblood said that UW Press editors do what they can to salvage bad indexes, but on occasion, they end up publishing books without indexes. Zucker said that MS Press does not publish books without indexes.

In the end, both publishers and indexers had an informative and delightful meeting.