ASI News
—ASI Members Invited to Give Themselves a Hug
—New Pharmacy Solution Available for ASI Members
—ASI Summer of ’21 Webinar Sale Heats Up
Chapters and SIGS
—New Mexico Indexers Take to the Zoom Environment
—Pacific Northwest Chapter to Tackle Indexing Best Practices with Ina Gravitz
Associated Industry News
—New Indexers Invited to Submit Indexes for Purple Pen Competition for 2021
Business and Marketing
—Tools for Your Developing Business
Spotlight on Jac Nelson
ASI News
ASI Members Invited to Give Themselves a Hug
In a recent email exchange between an ASI member and a publisher, ASI members received the following compliment: “You and your fellow ASI members are some of the most helpful and honest people I’ve interacted with in publishing.”
Aww shucks. ASI members can be proud of this accurate assessment. Give yourself a hug! (Thanks to Sam Arnold-Boyd for this tidbit.)
New Pharmacy Solution Available for ASI Members
As a part of the LIG Association Health Program, ASI members can now take advantage of the brand-new LIG Solutions Rx, which is a national pharmacy program that is revolutionizing the way you get your prescription drugs and their pricing.
This is a cost-effective monthly membership program (NOT a discount/savings card or insurance) that has real pharmacists, based out of Akron, Ohio, assisting you. They are focused on helping members achieve the highest quality of life through medication, counseling, education, and adherence to the latest pharmacology standards.
Benefits include set pricing on all medications and savings on diabetes supplies. The Special Enrollment Period ends on August 15, so act quickly if you are interested. To learn more about this program, members log in for link and click on the LIG SolutionsRx button about halfway down the page. This is your link to exclusive member savings for you and your family designed to help keep you healthy while saving money.
ASI Summer of ’21 Webinar Sale Heats Up
During the summer of ’21, each of ASI’s 28 webinars is just $21 for ASI members! What a great way to beat the heat and boost your professional skills. This opportunity is available through September 6. Check out this index of webinar topics, and take advantage of the Summer of 21, $21 Webinar Sale by using the SUMMER21 coupon code at checkout.
In keeping with ASI’s goals of providing educational resources, the organization has developed an ongoing series of webinars. The subjects include topics for indexers in general, specialty-specific topics, and discussions of interest to editors and others in the broader publishing community that range from auto classification to textbook indexing.
Chapters and SIGS
New Mexico Indexers Take to the Zoom Environment
Instead of their usual in-person summer luncheon meeting, New Mexico indexers met via Zoom for a fruitful gathering. Special guest Victoria Agee of Houston offered a historical glimpse into her participation in the early days of ASI, along with highlights of clients such as the New Catholic Encyclopedia and the Congressional Quarterly. She also touted the See Also mystery series (Larry Sweazy), which features an indexer in the lead role, as among the very few indexing protagonists since the Barbara Pym series. Medical indexing was discussed by Carol Schoun, and relatively new indexer Johanna Egert talked about her experiences in educational publishing. Francine Cronshaw, who specializes in Spanish, French, and Italian textbook indexing, hosted the highly enjoyable Zoom event. (Thank you Francine Cronshaw for this contribution to See Also.)
Pacific Northwest Chapter to Tackle Indexing Best Practices with Ina Gravitz
The PNW Chapter has again postponed their usual in-person fall meeting. They will instead be holding a Zoom meeting on October 16. Ina Gravitz will present on the Best Practices of Indexing/Characteristics of Quality Indexing during the first hour. Participants will explore how these best practices are applied during the second hour. Then they will split into four groups, each with one of four indexes by accomplished indexers from different genres (scholarly, memoir, cookbook, health-related trade book). Finally, Ina will guide participants as they compare and contrast how best practices are achieved in different genres and different ways. (Chapter members look forward to returning to an in-person meeting in 2022.)
Associated Industry News
New Indexers Invited to Submit Indexes for Purple Pen Competition for 2021
Hey Newbies! “Start wearing purple, wearing purple!” (apologies to Gogol Bordello) and submit your favorite index for the Purple Pen award. The Institute of Certified Indexers (ICI) announces the opening of its eighth year of competition for newer indexers. In addition to the prize money awarded to the contest winner, this year the group is adding a unique mentoring opportunity for the contestant who gets first place. The judges will meet with the winner in a one-hour Zoom session answering questions about the submitted index as well as providing information about the profession of indexing and tips for success. Please visit ICI for more information or email for more info.
Business and Marketing
Tools for Your Developing Business
ASI members would do well in developing their businesses by taking advantage of these two resources:
- ASI Job List
- Index Peer Review
ASI wants to provide as many methods as possible for indexers and clients to find each other, just as a good indexer wants to give the reader as many routes to information as possible. The Jobs Hotline provides a way for publishers and authors to list a job. ASI members who are signed up for the list are notified of the opportunities. This is a free service for ASI members. Please log in here for sign-up information.
This is an excellent opportunity to grow your skills via professional input from other indexers and also to make valuable connections in the indexing field. From the lists monthly reminder:
If you ask for a review, you will benefit from the suggestions of several reviewers, and your index will benefit from reviews by indexers rather than an ordinary proofreader. It’s often easier for others to see where your index needs improvement when you have been working on it for so long. And because they have not seen the text, the reviewers might find entries that would be confusing to the book’s readers.
It’s never to late to self-educate. Join the group and start honing your skills today.
Spotlight on Jac Nelson
If you would like to be in the Spotlight, or would like to nominate someone for it, please contact Daniel Heila.
This month’s member spotlight is on Jac Nelson of Jac Nelson Indexing (see Jac’s listing in the ASI Indexer Locator).
Where do you live now? Where are you originally from? Do you share your home with pets or family?
I currently live with my partner and three dogs on the beautiful lands of the Nisqually, Squaxin Island, and Chehalis people, also known as Olympia, Washington. I grew up on Dakota lands, just south of Minneapolis, and I’ve lived in a lot of places between there and here. I plan to return to Minnesota later this year. My family is still there, and the pandemic has made me re-examine the costs and benefits of living so far away.
What is your educational background?
I have an MFA in Creative Writing from Portland State University and a BA in Classics & Religion from Reed College in Portland, Oregon. I also have a certificate in violin repair from Minnesota State College in Red Wing, and I’m a trained death doula.
Do you have any hobbies, travels, volunteer work, or other interesting things to share?
I volunteer as a crisis counselor for Crisis Text Line and with my local chapter of SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice). I also sit on the LGBTQIA2S+ Advisory Council for the International End of Life Doula Association (INELDA), and I co-chair the Diversity and Inclusion Committee as a member of the Reed College Alumni Board. I’m a practitioner of Zen Buddhism. I love to spend time outdoors. And I’m a devoted auntie.
What kind of work did you do before you studied indexing? Are you still doing that or other work in addition to indexing? When did you start indexing? When did you join ASI?
I got my first indexing job in May of 2013, the day I graduated from Reed College. One of my religion professors pulled me aside at the Phi Beta Kappa induction and asked if I’d be interested in indexing his book. I had guidance from his editor at Harvard University Press, but it was trial by fire. It took me six months! I first joined ASI in 2015, when I decided I wanted to get more serious about indexing as a professional path.
For you, what is the best advantage of ASI membership?
Through newsletters and opportunities to meet fellow indexers, being a member of ASI helps me remember that I’m part of something larger than myself.
Finally, what is your best coping strategy for the pandemic?
My capacity to be open and curious has been a beacon for me during this time. I’ve used the constraints of the moment to expand my world. So many communities have migrated to the internet, and I’ve explored being a guest in spaces that are new to me, meeting new people, participating in new practices and rituals, learning from new teachers and peers. In unexpected ways, my world has grown bigger and richer, and I’m grateful for it.
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