It wasn’t pretty, but it got done. I just sent in my proofs and index for Fundamentalist U: Keeping the Faith in American Higher Education. It’s a huge relief—that’s the last step for me before the book comes out.
How the sausage gets made…
Making an index is a weird job. There are professional indexers you can hire, but to me it seems like an intrinsic part of an author’s job. Nobody knows the book as well as the author; no one can tell what sections need to be emphasized in the index and which ones can be cut out.
Making this index wasn’t particularly fun, but it was a good chance for me to pore over the proofs one last time. It allowed me to think about the book’s argument from a new perspective and get a new take on writing I did quite a while ago.
So what’s next? I just sent it all in to the Oxford folks and they will put it all together. We’re hoping the book will come out in early 2018. I’ll keep you posted!
I Love You but You're Going to Hell 
Agellius
/ September 11, 2017Congratulations!
Adam Laats
/ September 11, 2017Thank you! It’s great to have it off my desk.
Daniel Mandell
/ September 11, 2017Congratulations on sending the child out into the world. I always do my indexes: in addition to the points you make, no one can possibly reference topics as well as the author, and it is the best way to make sure that the way I spell any particular name is uniform (and accurate) throughout the text.
Agellius
/ September 11, 2017I’m sure it is best for the author to do it. I HATE it when a key name or topic is not in the index! I assume that happens when someone else does it …