What?
An index?
Want to increase sales of your products? Want to garner better
reviews of your products? Want to increase customer satisfaction
of your products? Include a
usable index.
The reviews on RPG.net frequently say
the same thing:
As always, an
index would have been nice, but there isn’t one. A book without an
index is almost a crime against nature. 1
What? An index?
Don’t make me laugh. 2
Imagine the all-too-frequent occurrence: a player is sitting
around the table, playing a favorite game. The GM presents the
monster. The player’s character knows of an action that can
counter the monster and tries to find the pertinent information in the
book. The player looks in the back of the publication, only to
find the book isn’t indexed. The game comes to a complete halt
while the player finds the information. How long will this game
remain the player’s favorite?
“Can’t a computer program create an index?” you ask. No, a
computer program can create a concordance–a list of words that appear
in the publication, and the computer can even list where these words
appear in the publication. A concordance, however, is not an
index. Only a trained professional can create a usable
index; a computer cannot think like a trained professional.
The computer cannot take the word ‘rogue’ and think to make a
cross-reference: thief, see rogue. The word thief may not
even show up in the book, but that’s where a player character might
look for it.
I know the arguments against a professional indexer: it’s too
expensive; we don’t have time in the production schedule;
it’s the author’s responsibility. Go back to the beginning of
this article and read the quotes from real reviews of real products,
then read this quote from Sue Cook, editor for Malhavoc Press:
I
think my own recent experience might be typical of how the industry
looks at indexing: people think they can do it -- they sure don’t want
to pay someone else do it -- until they try. Then either they discover
(like I did) that it would have been well worth the money to have a pro
do it, or they come up with a half-assed index they made using some
dumb program, and they’re perfectly happy with it (but the fans tear it
apart).
The best solution to the indexing problem is to hire an editor who will
also index the book. If you cannot find a trained or experienced
indexer, then look to the excellent indexing guidelines offered by
Steve Jackson Games at http://www.sjgames.com/general/guidelines/authors/indexing.html
The benefits of a good index are best described by another RPG.net
review.
Structurally,
it's also solid. It's well organized, with a complete index, and with
explanatory sidebars and tables at the right places; and with a good
main index in the back, and a great character traits index at the end
of the character creation rules. All around, this is a clean,
solid, useful book, which reads well for a first-timer trying to learn
the rules, and also reads well as a reference for an experienced
player. It's a very, very solid effort, and SJG deserves to be
very proud of it. 3
Which review would you prefer to receive? Which review will
garner more sales?
Lori Ann Curley is an experienced editor, gamer, and trained indexer,
who owns Delazan Enterprises, an editing and indexing business that
specializes in the RPG industry. Her website and e-mail are http://www.geocities.com/delazan/delazan.html
and [email protected]
1 Mark L. Chance reviewing “Mutants & Masterminds
Annual #1" by Green Ronin Publishing http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/10/10524.phtml
2 Wood Ingham reviewing The Bygone Bestiary by White
Wolf Games http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/10/10496.phtml
3 Mark Chu-Carroll reviewing GURPS Fourth Edition by
Steve Jackson Games http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/10/10646.phtml