ACKNOWLEDGING INDEXERS: indexer names in the Acknowledgements

As an indexer I notice when indexing is mentioned in novels and I was delighted to see an indexer mentioned in the Acknowledgements of a cook book.

Indexers do not usually get named or thanked in book acknowledgements unlike the editors, proofreaders and illustrators. Indexers are an anonymous lot. Indexes tend to be taken for granted and readers rarely consider who creates the index.

I recently bought Sizzle and Drizzle, a baking book, by Nancy Birtwhistle. Nancy is from Hull in England and won the Great British Bake Off in 2014. Sizzle and Drizzle was first published in 2020 and republished in 2024. It contains recipes for biscuits and scones; bread; cakes; free from; pastry and puddings & desserts. Most recipes have QR codes linked to videos which take you to her website.

In Sizzle and Drizzle, the Acknowledgements are at the back of the book before the index. In the Acknowledgements Nancy thanks “…Curtis Duffett, a super-kind follower of mine in the US, who created the index for my self-published, original edition of ‘Sizzle and Drizzle’”. Curtis Duffett indexed the first edition which Nancy self-published. The edition I have has been re-indexed and it is an excellent index.

Other books written by Nancy include Clean and Green, Green Living Made Easy, The Green Gardening Handbook and The Green Budget Guide.

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For anyone writing a book which needs a proofread or an index, hire a professional from AFEPI (Association of Freelance Editors, Proofreaders & Indexers of Ireland) , the Society of Indexers, or CIEP (Charter Institute of Editing and Proofreading) to lighten your load!