EI in Book Fair

On December 15, 2012, April Michelle Davis participated in a book fair, Celebrate with a Book, with her newly published book, A Guide for the Freelance Indexer. Below is the write up about April Michelle and her new book.

Founded in 2001 by April Michelle Davis, Editorial Inspirations provides exceptional editing, indexing, and proofreading services to both publishers and authors. Each task is approached with a greater understanding of the various aspects of the publishing process. The intent of the author and the publisher is always kept in mind—from the first word to well beyond the end.

Prior to starting Editorial Inspirations in 2001, April Michelle Davis worked as an assistant editor at the National Society of Professional Engineers and a program assistant for the American Prosecutors Research Institute. Various degrees include a master of professional studies degree in publishing (2007) from George Washington University and a bachelor of arts degree in English (2001) from Messiah College. In addition, she holds the following certificates: Editing (University of Virginia, 2003), book publishing (University of Virginia, 2003), and professional editing (EEI Communications, 2004).

April frequently attends workshops, conferences, book festivals, and writers’ retreats—including the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Sewanee Writers’ Conference, Duke University Writers’ Workshop, James River Writers Conference—and has been a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association since 2005, a member of the American Society for Indexing since 2009, and a member of the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors since 2010.

April is the chapter coordinator for the Virginia chapter of the Editorial Freelancers Association, and she is the chair-elect for the Mid- & South-Atlantic chapter for the American Society for Indexing.

EFA is a national nonprofit volunteer organization of professionals who provide freelance editorial services to the publishing and communications industries. EFA members live all over the United States and abroad and are experienced in a wide range of professional skills, subject areas, and media. Members include abstractors, copyeditors, designers, desktop publishing experts, editors, indexers, manuscript evaluators, picture researchers, project managers, proofreaders, researchers, textbook development editors, translators, and writers.

For anyone who entertains the idea of learning to become a successful freelance indexer, April Michelle Davis’s new book, A Guide for the Freelance Indexer is a must-have for one’s reference shelf.

Davis’s approach to presenting the information is logical and easy to follow, beginning with the obvious question, “what is an index?” and taking her reader from that point through to the conclusion where she discusses the necessary steps one must take to become a professional; and yet she details the nuances of indexing for the newbie to understand.

She shines light on some of the testier issues such as dealing with names, numerals, and footnotes/endnotes as well as going into the step-by-step process of setting up an index entry.

Each chapter flows easily from one subject to the next, and each chapter is also a stand-alone for the indexer who just needs a refresher on a topic such as main headings, cross-references, or invoicing. She spends just the right amount of time discussing indexing software to give the reader a basic understanding of each and a basis for comparison before buying.

This book is a wonderful addition to any freelancer’s library and is one that will not sit idly by gathering dust, but will quickly become dog-eared from extensive use.

April Michelle Davis is Chair-Elect, Mid-South Atlantic Chapter, American Society for Indexing and the Virginia Chapter Coordinator, Editorial Freelancers Association.