EP 330 - Book Indexing with Stephen Ullstrom

<p>Mark interviews writer and indexer Stephen Ullstrom about book indexing and his recent release BOOK INDEXING: A Step-by-Step Guide.</p> <p>Prior to the main content, Mark shares a personal update about a skeleton and license plate theft, as well as word about this episode's sponsor, the <a href="https://starkreflections.ca/patrons/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Patrons of the Stark Reflections Podcast</a>.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" height="272" src="https://assets.libsyn.com/show/110600/StarkRefectionsonWritingandPublishing_Patreon.jpg" width="272" /></p> <p>In their conversation, Mark and Stephen talk about:</p> <ul> <li>Stephen's long-time interest in writing</li> <li>How his role working at UBC Press when he was attending university was his first exposure to indexing</li> <li>Using freelancing doing indexing to help support his writing, but how that freelancing kind of took over much of his career</li> <li>Still being interested in fiction, but how writing a book about indexing was a good full book-length project to complete</li> <li>Stephen's book: <strong>BOOK INDEXING: <em>A Step-by-Step Guide</em></strong></li> <li>His goal to make indexing simple and practical and more entry-level</li> <li>Why authors should care about indexing</li> <li>How indexing can become somewhat of a marketing tool</li> <li>The way an index can bring more value to a book</li> <li>The pros and cons of a keyword search (as opposed to an index, where the human filtering on what's relevant is being done for you)</li> <li>How an index can be much more granular than even a layered/multi-leveled table of contents</li> <li>The way an index works within an eBook</li> <li>What an embedded index is</li> <li>Cases where a fiction author might want to use indexing</li> <li>Considerations on whether or not it's best to do your own index or to hire that work out to a professional indexer</li> <li>The average length of time it would take Stephen to index a 200 page book (about 20 hours)</li> <li>The typical price range an author can expect to pay for having a book indexed (For example a trade book that's about 200 pages could cost about $800 to $900 CAD - about $4.00 CAD per page. A scholary book is usually about $6.00 to $6.50 to $7.00 CAD per page)</li> <li>The steps to go through when creating an index</li> <li>Stephen's use of the indexing software called Cindex</li> <li>Remembering that, ultimately, your index is for the READER</li> <li>How to hire Stephen if you're interested in leveraging his indexing services\</li> <li>A common misperception authors often have about indexing</li> <li>And more</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p>After the interview, Mark reflects on the value of indexing as it pertains to some of his non-fiction and even fiction titles.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Links of Interest:</strong></p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.stephenullstrom.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Stephen Ullstrom's Website</a></li> <li><a href="https://starkreflections.ca/2023/09/29/episode-325-reflecting-back-3-things-that-are-wrong-with-indie-publishing/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Mark's YouTube Channel</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/markleslie" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Buy Mark a Coffee</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.panoramaproject.org" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Patreon for Stark Reflections</a></li> <li><a href="https://juliewroteabook.com/category/podcast-all/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Best Book Ever Podcast</a></li> <li><a href="https://loversmoon.ca" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Lovers Moon Podcast</a></li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/relaxedauthor/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The Relaxed Author</a> <ul> <li><a href="https://payhip.com/b/w7Gg1" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Buy eBook Direct</a></li> <li><a href="https://payhip.com/b/QK4ks" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Buy Audiobook Direct</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/b/publishingpitfalls" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Publishing Pitfalls for Authors</a></li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/b/workingwithlibrariesandbookstores" rel="noopener" target="_blank">An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.panoramaproject.org" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Wide for the Win</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.panoramaproject.org" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books</a> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.panoramaproject.org" rel="noopener" target="_blank">This Time Around (Short Story)</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.panoramaproject.org" rel="noopener" target="_blank">A Canadian Werewolf in New York</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.panoramaproject.org" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Stowe Away (Novella)</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.panoramaproject.org" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Fear and Longing in Los Angeles</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.panoramaproject.org" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Fright Nights, Big City</a></li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/loversmoon" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Lover's Moon</a></li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/hexandcity" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Hex and the City</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/b/thecanadianmounted" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles</a></li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/diehardtrivia" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard</a></li> </ul> <p> </p> <p><strong><span class="il"> Stephen</span><span> </span><span class="il">Ullstrom</span></strong><span> is an award-winning professional indexer. He believes that the world is a better place with well-written indexes, and is passionate about helping authors, publishers, and the index-curious understand how indexing works.</span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-dark-gray-background-color has-dark-gray-color" /> <p><em>The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of <a href="https://incompetech.com/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">www.incompetech.com</a></em> <em>and is Licensed under</em> Creative Commons: By <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Attribution 3.0</a></p>