Real-Life Communication
Indexing is a career that is about communication. It happens in
all forms as you index a book. You must understand the way people communicate
in order to determine the words they will turn to when trying to access information.
But
it is also necessary to use communication skills in other ways. One of those
ways is to create an understanding between you and the editor or publisher
for whom you are indexing a book.
One project you have recently won
the bid on is an index for a personal finance book, Personal Finance for Everyone.
During a telephone conversation, you and the editor agree that you will complete
the index for the book in a month, that you will be paid $2.50 for each entry
into the index, and that you have enough space to create 175 entries.
You
have both also agreed that you will watch for grammatical, punctuation and
spelling mistakes as you read through the book to create the index. For each
error that you catch, you will be paid an additional $2.50. As the last person
in the production process to read the book, any mistakes you catch will prevent
future problems or embarrassments for the publisher.
All that you need
to do now is confirm the assignment and the details of the assignment with
the editor. To do that, you should write a letter detailing the conversation
and the agreement that has been reached.
This letter will protect you
and the publisher if there are problems in the future. Write the letter. Be
sure to remain professional. Use proper grammar, punctuation and spelling.
The editor is named Samantha Fox.