Ask the Indexers: working with a range of clients
Posted on: 06/11/2026
Our panel of experts explain what types of clients they work for, and how they adapt their working practices to suit different types of clients. Helen Taylor, Advanced Professional Member I enjoy being able to choose my work, both which projects to take on and how many. It’s good to be able to organise my
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Ask the Indexers: what book do you wish you’d indexed, and why?
Posted on: 26/10/2026
Is there a new book that you wished you’d been able to index? Or one that you’d like to go back in time to improve? We asked our panel of indexers about the texts they didn’t get to index. Valeria Padalino, Advanced Professional Member If I could choose any book to index, I would probably
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Continuing Professional Development for indexers
Posted on: 22/10/2026
Continuing Professional Development is an important part of any professional job. In this blog post, indexers Sue Penny and Tanya Izzard give an overview of the CPD opportunities that are out there for indexers. Formal training and workshops Most Society of Indexers members learned to index through our training course. The course provides you with
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Ask the Indexers: making connections and staying visible
Posted on: 15/09/2026
In our latest Ask the Indexers blog post, we find out what our panel does to network, make connections and maintain visibility. Christine Boylan, Advanced Professional Member Luckily I have built up a good client list over the years so get enough work without much effort. I have found authors recommend me to colleagues and
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Indexing difficult topics
Posted on: 21/07/2026
There are all sorts of books about topics that indexers might find difficult. There are histories and memoirs of atrocities and traumas; medical textbooks describing illness, injuries and surgical techniques; even art books can sometimes offer up very challenging imagery. Indexer Tanya Izzard discusses some ways that indexers can approach this material and support themselves
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Ask the Indexers: what’s the thing you wish everyone understood about indexing?
Posted on: 10/07/2026
In our latest Ask the Indexers blog post, our panel members offer insight into the sometimes hidden world of indexing. Samantha Clark, Advanced Professional Member That it is actually a job which people do! Everyone seems to just assume that indexes appear by magic. That it’s not just a case of searching for names, and
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Ask the Indexers: pushing your professional boundaries
Posted on: 25/06/2026
For today’s blog post, we asked our panel of indexers about projects outside their comfort zone – whether in terms of the type of book, type of indexing or subject area – and how they approached this. Kate McIntosh, Advanced Professional Member I have and I like to do it every so often, just because
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Ask the Indexers: continuity and change
Posted on: 21/04/2026
For this blog post, we asked our panel of experienced indexers: since you started indexing, what has changed in the profession and what has stayed the same? Christine Boylan, Advanced Professional Member I came into indexing just as computers were being introduced more widely. I am not really sure I would have taken up the
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What we say when we talk about indexing
Posted on: 31/03/2026
Happy National Indexing Day 2026! Today is all about encouraging people to think about indexes (those incredibly useful things at the back of books and other publications that direct readers to the good stuff), and the people (those incredibly useful things with creative, thinking minds) who write them for a living. So, to gear us
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Ask the Indexers: what do you enjoy most about indexing?
Posted on: 23/02/2026
Our panel of expert indexers tell us what they enjoy most about indexing, and what continues to make it meaningful or rewarding for them. Kate McIntosh, Advanced Professional Member My brain likes lists and order and patterns and indexing satisfies that. Samantha Clark, Advanced Professional Member I enjoy organising information and making it accessible to
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Ask the Indexers: what made you become an indexer?
Posted on: 10/01/2026
In our first Ask the Indexers post of 2026, we ask the indexers: what initially drew you to indexing, and how did you know it was the right fit? Valeria Padalino, Advanced Professional Member I first came across indexing when I read an article by another indexer in the CILIP journal. The piece described the
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The Society of Indexers: benefits of membership
Posted on: 25/11/2025
What can you gain from joining the Society of Indexers? How do we support our members to develop their indexing skills and businesses? In this post, indexer Susan Penny explores the advantages being a member of the Society can provide. Indexers are life’s swans. We create indexes that sail gracefully into the book world, allowing
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