Overview
Freelance academic book indexer Jobs in United States at Ideas on Fire
Title: Freelance academic book indexer
Company: Ideas on Fire
Location: United States
COMPANY DESCRIPTION
Ideas on Fire is an academic editing and indexing agency helping interdisciplinary scholars across the humanities and social sciences write and publish awesome texts, enliven public conversations, and create more just worlds. Founded by Dr. Cathy Hannabach in 2009, Ideas on Fire partners with authors, publishers, research institutes, museums, and community organizations to bring ambitious, engaged scholarship into the world—books that reshape conversations about power, history, inequality, culture, and social change. Our work has helped redefine what interdisciplinary editorial collaboration looks like in academic publishing. We don’t treat editing and indexing as afterthoughts or production steps; we treat them as intellectual infrastructure. The books we work on frequently become field-shaping texts, and we take seriously the responsibility of helping them enter scholarly and public conversations with critical generosity.
ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES
This is a remote contract role for an academic book indexer. Ideas on Fire indexers are responsible for reviewing, analyzing, and indexing scholarly manuscripts across interdisciplinary humanities and social science fields. This role involves creating 100% human-written, accurate, comprehensive, and user-friendly indexes that enhance the accessibility and usability of scholarly texts, ensuring alignment with publishing standards and guidelines. Clear communication with project managers and adherence to deadlines are essential components of this role.
Full role description, pay, and application are found here: https://ideasonfire.net/book-indexer-position
QUALIFICATIONS (required)
- Minimum 1 year of professional academic book indexing experience in our humanities and social sciences fields. If you have not indexed books in our fields, this is not the role for you.
- Strong command of US English
- Strong knowledge of the Chicago Manual of Style
- Expertise using Cindex or Sky
- Access to your own computer, professional indexing software, Microsoft Word, and a PDF reader
- Reliable internet connection
- Ongoing engagement with professional development in indexing
- Proficiency in managing deadlines for remote, project-based work
THIS ROLE IS A GOOD FIT FOR YOU IF YOU
- Have at least one year of professional experience indexing academic books in the humanities and social sciences
- Enjoy working with complex scholarly arguments and theoretical material
- Are adept at indexing scholarship engaged with race, gender, sexuality, colonialism, power, and inequality
- Communicate clearly and reliably, especially around capacity, timelines, and availability
- Are excited for a team-based process with editorial feedback and revision
- See indexing as an evolving craft and are committed to improving your practice
