Ted Neveln – Editor

I have written over a hundred indexes in a variety of formats. These were mostly for software manuals but also other topics, including even fiction. The majority were back-of-the-book indexes but also databases, and HHK indexes for online Help Files known as CHMs. I also wrote embedded indexes for Microsoft Word.

Most indexes were for the Microsoft Patterns and Practices team. An editor would send me a finished PDF of the manuscript (although a couple were still in production and required re-pagination) and I would send an estimate of how long a project would take. It was typically 25 pages per hour for the first pass. I would send back an RTF, usually ahead of deadline and never behind, of a publishable index and then offer to index it more deeply if they had time and budget, and usually they did. For the second pass I would look for metadata and lesser-used terminology. Many manuals have parallel chapters that describe how to do the same procedure using different languages and I would make sure that the entries for the procedures looked as similar as possible. I always sent queries about anomalies in the text along with a note about whether they impacted the index itself. I indexed books ranging from 100+ pages to 1,200+ pages. It was all done by email. My style of indexing emphasizes copious use of SEE and SEE ALSO references. The purpose of the multiple passes is to produce a usable index quickly that can then be polished if time and budget permit.

I also wrote Help File indexes, in a format called HHK. Help File indexes, by the way, are not faster.

Some companies think that software doesn't need indexes, editing, or even documentation. If you are a frustrated user who disagrees I am happy to help you.