Wingerd Writing Services

Are you an author with a dream of getting your passion project into the hands of as many readers as possible?

Do you long to change the world with your research?

Do you worry about how best to accomplish your goals?

Granted, the first step is writing your book. Forego the inner editor and write. Get your ideas on paper. But once they’re on paper—once an editor has looked over it and arranged it in a sensible, beautiful way (with your consent)—how will you get it picked up by readers?

Obviously, a cover is important. Contrary to the aphorism, people always judge books by their covers. But research-based books don’t often have compelling covers, so what can you do?

Marketing. Of course. A marketer will advertise your book and convince people to buy it. And sure, a purchase is money in your pocket—but is that really what you ultimately want?

Of course not.

Authors want their words to be read. Not to collect dust on a shelf.

So how can we get our books read by people who can carry our ideas further?

You need an index

Yes. You read that right.

When I was in grad school, I had to read a book called How to Read a Book, first published in 1940. In it, Mortimer Adler says that the third step to determining if a book will be helpful for a research project is to

“check the index if the book has one—most expository works do” (p. 34)

It’s worth pausing here to lament index-free books. I understand that authors often have to pay for their own indexes—or create them themselves—and that’s a lot of extra work after you’ve written a whole book. But researchers need to know the book they pick up will help them. How will they know without an index?

As Adler counsels:

“Make a quick estimate of the range of topics covered and the kinds of books and authors referred to. When you see terms listed that seem crucial, look up at least some of the passages cited . . . The passages you read may contain the crux—the point on which the book hinges—or the new departure which is the key to an author’s approach and attitude” (p. 34).

A book with no index—or a poorly made index—helps no one. And it especially doesn’t help you as the author—a purveyor of ideas you long for others to embrace.

So what are you to do?

Reach out to Wingerd Writing Services, where I will create an index for your manuscript for a very affordable price.

$3 per page per index

• Ancient sources index
• Subject index
• Author index

For a 180-page book, this comes out to

$540 plus tax (for the first index).

If this feels out of your budget, let’s chat. Payment plans can be available.

Reach out today to see how Wingerd Writing Services can help your disseminate your ideas.

In this with you!