You must have read books consisting of over a thousand pages. In such a book, if you want to find a chapter or topic quickly, how do you do that? Well, you definitely take the help of the book index!
A book index is a page in which the writer or the publisher gives information about the entire content of the book, along with their respective page numbers, and in some cases, maybe a description of one of two lines. The format and layout of index solely depend on the requirements of the book and the expertise of the book indexing service.?
In this blog, we will discuss the book indexing process in detail, understand its benefits and purpose, and then take a look at how you can easily get the perfect index for your book with the help of professional book indexing services! So, let?s begin!
Book indexing is the process of adding a suitable index to your book. Now, we have already discussed what an index is. But, in a few short words, an index is a roadmap of the entire book. Just by going through the index, you will get an idea of the entire content of the book. So, in order to grab the first attention of your readers, an index plays a very important role!
A book index can represent different things for a different book. Some writers and publishers believe that they can easily develop a very good index using Word?s Index or LaTex?s index function. But, many times, such software tools prove completely inefficient in designing a good index. Most of the reputed authors believe that the book index deserves a Human Touch!
This thought is backed by multiple reasons. Especially in a fictional book, the headings and content mentioned on the index page solely depends on the discretion of the author. They must craft the index content in such a way that the entire thought and plot of the book gets visible on the index. A professional book indexing services provider might help them in doing so!
And for a non-fictional book like a textbook, dictionary, encyclopedia, or even a magazine, index plays a crucial role in helping readers find the information that they are searching for. That is why, the index writers must be careful enough to indicate all the valuable information with their respective page numbers on the index page.
There are certain rules for writing a good book index. Following these rules makes your index much more impactful for your readers. Let?s have a brief look at the rules of book indexing.
The header used in the index pages must be logical enough. For the non-fictional books, the writers most commonly use the name of the chapters or the topic that page is talking about. While for the non-fictional books, it becomes a bit tricky to pick the header for a specific part of content.
In that scenario, always keep in mind that the reader should connect with your header. It must not be very complex, as the readers might not be able to grasp the meaning. Try to pick a header that is crispy to read and easy to understand.
While writing an index header or description, you must try to cover the overall concept of the content. Do not pick a header or description that does not match with the meaning of the content. Always remember that your index is the representation of your book. Hence, it should highlight your book?s thoughts clearly.
At the same time, professional book indexing services providers take care of the flow and attraction factors too!
Picking the topics for indexing is also an art. You must be aware of your reader?s mindset. You should pick the topics which will provide a meaningful resolution to your reader?s search. Otherwise, your readers might not prefer your book even if all the information is present in it, just because they could not find it on the index!
The book index serves three main purposes. Let?s take a look at them one by one.
Using an index, the readers can find the information easily, and jump into that page directly. Hence, they don?t need to spend a long time searching the entire book.
For all types of books, and especially for novels and other non-fiction books, index plays an instrumental role during the sale of books. The readers often do not get time to go through the entire story before buying. But, a professional book indexing services provider succeeds in presenting the complete concept to readers through the index page, which influences their buying decision.
For information-based books like an encyclopedia, a book index plays an instrumental role in showcasing all the information, topics, and descriptions present in the book. And the more informative a book is, the higher is the sales!
So, now comes the question, how to write a book index. Well, you can actually write a very good book index by following only 5 easy steps. Let?s have a look at them below.
The first step involves reading the book thoroughly. You will not be able to write a good book index if you do not understand the purpose, concept, and content of the book. You can penetrate the mindset of your readers only if you are fully aware of the book.
If the book is in the form of an undivided novel, where the entire content is in a single piece, then you should first break it up into sections. And if the division is already done by the author, then keep it as it is.
Once you have the book content in sections, first enter the section headers in the index page. Write the headers carefully, as it should fully justify the content present in that section. Also, try to arrange the headers in such a way that it justifies the flow of the entire content.
Once you are done with the headers, start listing the content that should go within each header. This will include listing all the sub-topics, important points, events, names, and other information present in that particular section.
Once you have completed listing out the content within headers, start editing the list. You should carefully pick what should go on the final index, and what should be deleted. Post-editing, you just need to arrange the finalized information into a suitable index format, and your index will be ready for publishing!
Index plays an instrumental role in both sales and utility of a book. By presenting the concept of the book, it influences the sales of the book. While, by providing the page number of useful information, it influences its utility!
But, writing a good book index is not easy. One needs to consider the concept, flow, and reader?s perspective, to deliver a complete and impactful index. That is why, authors and publishers often take help of professional book indexing services providers. If you are also looking for a professional book indexing company, connect with us today!
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