What is a Book Index (and does your non-fiction book need one?)

What is a book index and why is it important for readers and authors? Maybe you're wondering if your book needs one and how the heck you'd create one if it does. Well, if you're wondering all about book indexes, then you're in luck. This video is absolutely for you. Hey there. I'm Julie the Book Broad. I'm an author and the founder of a fabulous self publishing services company called Book Launchers. At Book Launchers, we work exclusively with nonfiction books. This means we have a decent number of books that are hefty enough to require an index, just in case you don't know what the heck I'm talking about. A book index is a list of key terms, topics and names mentioned in a book, along with the page numbers where they can be found. It's kind of like a map that helps readers navigate through the book to find specific information. It's always at the back of the book and it's generally really only appropriate for research or resource heavy books. A typical business, self help or memoir type book wouldn't have an index. But a book like Kathy Joseph's Lightning Tamers, which is research heavy and full of facts, names and historical information, well, it's got a sizable index. Here's a quick look at Kathy's index in case you're curious or just not actually clear what an index is. In that quick look you can see names, places, things like Tesla Motors, Tesla coil, names of prisons. That ought to make you curious about her book, right? Some financial books also can have indexes because they have a lot of financial terms. Health and wellness book that talks about all the body parts or specific scientific research could also benefit from an index. But many nonfiction books don't really need an index and frankly it's time consuming and a detail oriented task. Now this is one area where ChatGPT can't yet as I'm shooting this video, but that could change by the time you even watch it. But it can't help yet because you can't upload more than 25,000 words. But it won't be long before ChatGPT or other AI resources will make indexing a lot easier. Right now, creating a book index is a time consuming task that requires expertise. Usually the author or the publisher hires a professional indexer who carefully reads through the book and identifies important items that need to be included in the index. You can hire an indexer pretty much everywhere, but my recommended source is to go through Reedsy. They can be pricey to hire, but that's because it's detailed and labor intensive work. So first there's that list. Once that list of items is created, the indexer ensures that the index is organized in a logical and easy to use manner. It also needs to be set up properly in layout or it won't work for an ebook. Neither the index nor setting it up for layout is a simple task, so plan ahead for this to be done and to give yourself enough time for it to be done. Well, whatever you do, don't try to make an index until you finalize the layout of your book. This is one of your very last steps before publication, which which means you will be tempted to rush it so you can get the darn thing finished. But an index is going to take a lot more time than you think. Give yourself at least a couple of weeks to get it created and then the layout adjusted. Personally, I'd allocate a month to make sure it's right, but if you're hiring a professional, they'll probably dictate how long this is going to take. If you're doing it yourself or you just want to understand the process, this is how it looks. Like I said, create a list of topics. You can use a computer program like word or InDesign to then mark the entries on each page of your document. Then let the program generate your index. And then you just keep tweaking and repeating until you're satisfied. How long the process will take does depend on your experience level and the complexity of your book. As noted above, index entries are primarily things like people, places, companies, associations, inventions, concepts or segments specifically named ideas. I know some authors print out their manuscript and just go page by page circling all the nouns. You also have to consider synonyms or what a page or a section is really about. Ultimately, just remember why an index is important as you're going through it. Because for readers, a book index is a handy tool that helps them save time and effort by quickly finding the information they need. Again, if you are teaching financial concepts, it can be useful for a reader to go to the index and find a term that they want to explore or reread. For Kathy, her book will be read and used by teachers and students and scientists and enthusiasts who may not read all the stories or who may read it all, but then want to go back and reference some and need to know where to find them. An index makes that easier to do. Having one is also a sign of professionalism and dedication to your readers. It shows that an author or publisher has put a lot of effort into organizing their content and making it accessible to their audience. Having an index in your book can increase its credibility and make it more attractive to readers and institutions. But make sure it's really a value add for your book, because it's going to be an investment of time, energy, and probably money on your part to create a good index. What are your thoughts on indexes? Do you use them? Do you put them in your books? Let's chat about it in the comments below, after you've hit the like button and have subscribed to the channel, of course. Now, with this in mind, let's talk about the cousin to an index, the table of contents, which helps sell your book. You can learn about that right here, or check out this video on setting your book up to get a great layout. Click on over. I'm waiting for you.