Bidding on Book Indexing Jobs
Using a Spreadsheet to Help Develop Quotations for Clients
Freelance indexers often need to create specific estimates for editors and authors. A spreadsheet can track previous jobs and make the quotation process more accurate.
Getting work as a freelance indexer will involve submitting quotations to potential clients. How can one maximize the likelihood of bidding accurately on an indexing job? The bid price should meet tghe desired hourly rate as closely as possible without scaring off the client with too high a bid. The very best way is to keep meticulous records of past work. While there are time-tracking programs available, all that is needed is a spreadsheet such as Microsoft Excel.
Set up a simple spreadsheet (be sure to save it first as a template that can be reverted to for changes). Indexing software should provide the necessary statistics. At a minimum, include the bolded headings below in the first row. The letters represent columns in the spreadsheet. The other headings (plus any individual ideas) are not critical but can provide additional helpful information.
A. Client Name
B. Title of Work (could be a book or journal)
C. Date (when work was completed)
D. Pages (total indexable pages)
E. Entries (total number of entries in index)
F. Ratio (number of entries divided by number of pages)
G. Hours (hours and minutes as a decimal spent on the index including editing)
H. Cost (amount billed to the the client)
I. Page Rate (cost divided by number of pages)
J. Hourly Rate (cost divided by number of hours)
K. Difficulty (assign a figure from one to ten for easy to hard material)
L. Comments (Anything you want to remember about the job or client)
Use the explanations in parentheses above to insert formulas in the cells below where necessary. For example, assuming the first row of data starts on row 3, then the formula in the cell under Page Rate should read =H3/D3.
Using the Spreadsheet
Drop down a number of rows (insert more rows can be inserted as the lisst grows). Enter the word “Averages” in the cell in the first row. In the cells under columns D through J, enter a formula to calculate averages. Assuming there areseven indexing jobs in the spreadsheet, starting on row three, then in Microsoft Excel the formula for the Ratio is =average(F3:F9). Fill in average formulas for the I, J and K cells as well. As the list of jobs grows, update this formula to recalculate overall averages.
If the above seems a little confusing, link here to see a sample spreadsheet.
Now, when you bidding on a project that includes a sample chapter, test index the sample and use the results (time, number of pages indexed, and entries) to compare to work history.
By comparing the test results to the record of work, the indexer can get a better idea of what to bid on the new job. If information is included about the difficult level, then the estimate can be refined even more.. Even without a sample chapter, at least there will be accurate information about the rate at which one typically is able to index material.
Remember, you are in a business and keeping accurate work records, while perhaps a bit time-consuming, will improve your work flow and income.
