Academic book indexing services for authors
Reach your readers with an interdisciplinary index Get startedYour interdisciplinary book deserves an interdisciplinary index.
An interdisciplinary book speaks to many more types of readers than traditional scholarship does. The index is your book’s road map, helping those readers navigate your ideas in ways that speak to their unique intellectual backgrounds.
Our team specializes in academic book indexing for these kinds of texts because we know that world-changing ideas emerge from the rich intersections of social movements and intellectual traditions.
We also know that citations are political. A great interdisciplinary index signal-boosts the work of marginalized scholars and fields, many of which are ignored by traditional academic scholarship.
Help your readers change the world with your book by giving them a great index.
An Ideas on Fire interdisciplinary index
Speaks to varied readers
Increases a book's accessibility
Showcases an author's interventions
Signal-boosts marginalized scholars
Enhances a book's sales and reach
Highlights the politics of citation
embodies our commitment to social change
“Thanks to IoF, I have an amazing index that really reflects the book’s interdisciplinary methodology and queerness! Seeing the index helped me to realize what a wide range of issues I was able to address and the contributions I’m making.”
“Worlds apart from the standard book index, IoF’s index was creative, conceptually-oriented, and drew the reader’s attentions to key ideas that animated my manuscript, including those I couldn’t see myself. I especially appreciate their commitment to deadlines, professionalism, transparent pricing, and communication throughout the process.”
“Working with Ideas on Fire was an incredible experience. I have new expectations for copyeditors and indexers now, thanks to their work. I recommend IoF to all the academics and writers I know.”
Academic book indexing services
Standard index
Give your readers an expert-crafted interdisciplinary index
Our interdisciplinary book indexing service includes a full back-of-the-book index with entries and cross-references covering names, key concepts/terms, methodologies, and themes that highlight the book’s unique contributions and enable diverse, interdisciplinary audiences to navigate your book.
Working from publisher-issued, typeset page proofs (a PDF), we deliver the index as a Microsoft Word document.
Turn-around time is 21 business days total:
- 17 business days after receiving page proofs from you, we send you an index draft for review
- 2 business days later, you send us any requested revisions that you’ve marked on the draft using Track Changes in Microsoft Word
- 2 business days after receiving the requested revisions, we send you the final index and you forward it to your publisher
- This turn-around reflects most scholarly publishers’ standard timeline of a month for book indexing
USD $8.25 per indexable page in the page proofs (excludes front matter, back matter, and bibliography)
Rush rate index
Meet a tight publishing timeline for an expert-crafted interdisciplinary index
Our rush rate interdisciplinary book indexing service includes a full back-of-the-book index with entries and cross-references covering names, key concepts/terms, methodologies, and themes that highlight the book’s unique contributions and enable diverse, interdisciplinary audiences to navigate your book.
Working from publisher-issued, typeset page proofs (a PDF), we deliver the index as a Microsoft Word document.
Turn-around time is 17 business days total:
- 13 business days after receiving page proofs from you, we send you an index draft for review
- 2 business days later, you send us any requested revisions that you’ve marked on the draft using Track Changes in Microsoft Word
- 2 business days after receiving the requested revisions, we send you the final index and you forward it to your publisher
USD $12.50 per indexable page in the page proofs (excludes front matter, back matter, and bibliography)
“I recommend Ideas on Fire’s services to all of my colleagues who do critical cultural work. Too often colleagues have had folks who don’t understand their perspectives. In contrast, I don’t have to explain to IoF why the B in Black should be capitalized, for example—they already know. Working with IoF gives me comfort knowing my work won’t be misunderstood because of a lack of understanding of my intersectional fields.”
“IoF is especially skilled at working with interdisciplinary scholars. They were able to engage my book with an attentiveness to and care for the methods, sources, and theories I use. IoF not only pulled out concepts and themes I knew were central, they also identified ones that never would have occurred to me. They were incredibly communicative with me about what I could expect and set a clear timeline that kept everything on track.”
“I am very grateful for Ideas on Fire’s quick and efficient work on my index. They zeroed in on the essential concepts of the book and produced an index that is thorough, comprehensive, and detailed. It was a huge relief to turn over this part of the interminable book completion process to such capable hands, and not have to worry about it at all.”
How academic book indexing works
Send
You send us the typeset page proofs and format requirements when you receive them from your publisher.
Index
Your indexing team dives in, reading through the proofs multiple times and compiling the entry and subentry schema. We run full-book searches for all entries and subentries, judiciously arranging locators to highlight your book’s main contributions. We add cross references to help your readers find what they need and then proofread for formatting and consistency. The index draft is reviewed and revised by our CEO until it meets our high IoF standards.
Review
We send you a draft of your index for review. After you review your index draft, if you want any changes, you mark those on the draft using Track Changes and return it to us. We then incorporate your revision requests and provide yet another round of review to produce the final index.
Return
When the final index is complete, we send it to you along with any relevant instructions for your publisher. You then forward the final index to your publisher for typesetting, confident your readers have everything they need to navigate your awesome book!
Recent academic book indexing projects
“This was my first book, so the very idea of an index was overwhelming. But IoF made the entire experience feel seamless. I have an index that feels true to my book. I’m not sure that anyone except an incisive interdisciplinary scholar could produce that.”
“I specifically sought out IoF because of their interdisciplinary expertise and they came highly recommended. I appreciate the thought, care, and labor that went into my carefully crafted index. I recommend Ideas on Fire to all colleagues and friends who are working on book projects, especially if they are interdisciplinary.”
“I recommend Ideas on Fire to everyone working on critical studies of culture or on social justice. Having someone who was not only excellent at editing tasks but knew the intellectual traditions of my work resulted in a really wonderful experience and a top-notch index.”
Frequently asked academic book indexing questions
How do I know which type of book indexing services I need?
Ask your publisher whether you need a standard index written from typeset page proofs or an embedded index written from Microsoft Word pages.
Very few publishers require embedded indexes (Cambridge University Press being a notable exception) but it is important to double check.
How far in advance should I hire an indexer?
Start researching and contacting indexers as soon as you know your tentative publishing schedule.
Early booking is recommended as we schedule Ideas on Fire indexing projects 1–6 months ahead.
Don’t wait until you have page proofs in hand as most indexers will be unavailable (even beyond Ideas on Fire).
Estimated time frames are fine: “My publisher tells me I should have page proofs around September/October” works great.
Remember that quality interdisciplinary indexes take time, so don’t leave this to the last minute.
For more information, check out our article When to Hire an Academic Editor or Indexer.
What kind of books do you index?
We provide academic book indexing services for scholarly books published by academic presses as well as crossover books that are aimed at wider audiences.
We index monographs, coauthored books, edited collections, and art books.
We specialize in academic book indexing services in the interdisciplinary humanities and social sciences. See our full list of fields here.
We do not index books in STEM, business, or marketing fields.
For more examples of our indexing work, see the Ideas on Fire portfolio.
Do you write embedded indexes?
We do not provide embedded indexes at this time.
Do I need to send you a preliminary list of terms?
No. Your Ideas on Fire indexing team thoroughly reads your book multiple times to identify all key concepts, arguments, names, methodologies, and interventions relevant to your interdisciplinary readers. If you really want to though, you’re welcome to send us an existing term list with your page proofs.
How is my book's indexing team assembled?
Each book we work on is supported by a collaborative team throughout the entire publishing journey.
Our CEO Dr. Cathy Hannabach (our OG indexer and editor!) hand picks and leads each team, ensuring the exceptional quality our interdisciplinary indexes are known for. This collaborative method provides your book the benefit of multiple professional perspectives and Ideas on Fire’s unique, holistic publishing support.
Learn more about our outstanding team members on the our team page.
Why shouldn't I index my own book?
As the author, you’re not your target reader. Readers approach your book differently, seeking information they don’t already know. Depending on your book’s topic, they can include undergrads, dissertation writers, fellow field experts, scholars from adjacent or unrelated fields, artists and cultural workers, activists, policymakers, and journalists.
The Ideas on Fire team of professional indexers create interdisciplinary indexes from these varied readers’ perspectives, anticipating their needs and search patterns.
Additionally, professional indexers understand publishing industry standards for index structure, formatting, cross references, and press-specific requirements.
We have specialized training in these technical aspects as well as a deep understanding of interdisciplinary book markets—which is why so many publishers recommend Ideas on Fire to their authors.
Can you proofread my book while you index it?
Yes, although these are separate services and thus charged separately. See our academic editing services page for our proofreading process and rate.
What other publishing support do you provide?
Unique among indexers, we provide comprehensive publishing support, including strategic book promotion and targeted marketing campaigns designed specifically for academic and crossover audiences.
We leverage our extensive interdisciplinary network and expertise to maximize your book’s visibility and impact through coordinated social media campaigns, conference placement, email newsletter features, website showcasing, and other strategic promotional opportunities.
We know interdisciplinary scholarship can help build more just worlds, which is why our goal is to ensure your ideas reach the widest possible audience while maintaining the scholarly integrity of your work.
How does payment work? Are you already a registered vendor with my university?
Ideas on Fire is a registered vendor with hundreds of universities, publishers, and scholarly associations, so the process is streamlined for payment. If we are not already on your institution’s vendor list, we will register to enable direct payment.
We will send you an invoice with the final index; payment is due 15 days later.
We accept payment by credit/debit card and bank transfer only. We do not accept paper checks.
Do you have any additional resources on scholarly publishing?
Tons! Check out our scholarly publishing resource library.