Mary Stevens – Editor

I have created indexes for scholarly texts and trade books on such diverse topics as findings in astronomy when the scientists were looking for something else, coping with sibling death, a biography of an American poet-priest, magazine images of German women 1920–1960, the history and future of support services for the aging, mysticism in the works of Federico García Lorca, and a U.S. travel guide to haunted and true-crime sites. I am able to read passages in Spanish at the ACTFL Superior level.

I work for both academic authors and publishing companies. To get started, I need to know the topic, when I can expect the final page proofs, and the deadline for the completed index. This helps me decide if it is a subject on which I feel confident working and if there is time in my schedule to complete the index by the deadline.

Then I need to know the total word count of the indexable pages (the chapters and conclusion without footnotes and endnotes) and if it's a trade or scholarly work. At that point, I provide an estimate of how much it would cost for the job. I charge by the word.

Once the client engages my services, all I need is the pdf emailed to me in single-page format and to know how many pages are available for the index.

As I index, I note any editing questions I might have and, upon finishing the first reading of the book, submit these queries to the author or production editor. In this way, they have the time to make any changes while I am still working on the index. Throughout our work together, I communicate clearly and professionally to clear up any questions quickly.

I am a member of the Scholarly, History/Archaeology, and Gardening/Environmental Special Interest Groups of the American Society for Indexing (ASI).

An educator of 37 years, I am a former instructor at the State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz, hold an MA in English, an MS Ed in Spanish, and New York State teaching certification in English and Spanish for grades 7—12.