Madge Wallace

MADGE WALLACE is a professional freelance indexer. She creates indexes found at the back of nonfiction books. When an index is done according to generally accepted indexing standards, it performs flawlessly. The reader finds what he is looking for and doesn’t give the index a second thought. On the other hand, if the index is poorly done, the reader becomes frustrated and will likely move on to the next book. Worse yet, a nonfiction book published without an index may not be taken seriously by the publishing industry. In short, a good index enhances the value of a book to readers, reviewers, librarians, instructors, and researchers. It is a mark of a serious book.

 

Experience

Madge Wallace has been indexing full-time since 2006. She is a graduate of the U.S.D.A.’s Basic Indexing Course and a 3-day Indexing Bootcamp offered by Indexing Partners of Delaware. She continues to take continuing education courses through the American Society for Indexing, of which she is a member.

Book Indexing

Madge creates indexes found at the back of nonfiction books. When an index is done properly, it performs flawlessly. The reader finds what he is looking for and doesn’t give the index a second thought. On the other hand, if the index is poorly done, the frustrated reader or researcher can’t find what he is looking for.

Worse yet, a nonfiction book published without an index may be dismissed altogether. In short, a good index is a mark of a serious book.

Indexing is a skill Madge acquired after many years of writing freelance for newspapers and magazines, as well as authoring four published books. She has indexed over 150 books for publishers and authors all over the world, many of them scholarly books published by university presses. Her topics have ranged from history to politics, cookbooks to real estate, social studies to biography, and economics to health and wellness. All subjects will be considered

As an indexer Madge puts herself in the mind of the potential reader and anticipates his needs. Indexing involves such things as

• gathering together scattered information on the same subject
• breaking down large ranges of information into manageable subtopics
• cross referencing related topics
• double posting topics that might be accessed in several different ways
• distinguishing between passing references and substantive discussions

Madge is a member of the American Society for Indexing, and currently serves as an officer in the Pacific Northwest Chapter. She is well known for her workshop, “Getting Started in Indexing,” which she presents at ASI national conventions and regional conferences. She has a degree in mathematics, and is a graduate of the U.S.D.A. Graduate School’s Basic Indexing Course, a tried and true standard in the indexing world. She continues to take classes and workshops to enhance her indexing skills.

“This book was a challenging indexing project. Madge Wallace…did an excellent job sorting through this complicated task and the result is a book of which everyone involved is very proud.”

Oral Histories

Madge began doing oral histories while living on Maui in the 1990s. She joined a team of volunteers who interviewed prominent alumni for her high school’s oral history project. It occurred to her that there might be a commercial market for oral histories, or better yet edited narratives based on oral histories, but at the time she was a busy realtor and freelance writer raising young children. At the time, too, there was no affordable way to self-publish such a finished product attractively and economically.

Fast forward to the computer age, where we now have easy ways to record interviews in person or by phone; transcription services and software; and high quality, reasonably priced small-run full-color book publishing. Suddenly a good idea is a reality!

Madge spent many years as a realtor, both on Maui and in Colorado, where the secret to her success was her interviewing skill — finding out what people really wanted in a home and helping them get it. Along the way she freelanced as a columnist and feature writer for the Maui News, continuing to develop her interviewing and writing skills. Along the way she wrote five published books, including her award-winning first novel, Paying the Price, based on her life as a realtor on Maui.

When she became a Personal Historian, she realized that she had in fact fictionalized her own memoir in Paying the Price. She coined the term Creative Personal History to describe this niche in the personal history business. She belongs to the Association of Personal Historians, and is program chair for the Pacific Northwest chapter.

She is often asked  what the difference is between a Personal History, a Memoir, and an Autobiography. Here’s her answer:

Personal History

It’s your life – but how much does your family really know? We’ll interview you, transcribe the interviews, and craft a flowing narrative for you. We’ll retain your voice, your expressions, and your sense of humor—and  rely on you for the facts. We’ll add your vintage and recent photos, sent to via email or by snail mail. If you choose, our graphic designer will turn your story and photos into a work of literary art.

Memoir

Telling a portion of your life, with no attempt at being comprehensive. Tales of your childhood, your first marriage, your Peace Corps experience, your military years, your business — whatever specific recollections you’d like to pass on — with photos to illustrate the story.

Autobiography

The story of your life from beginning to now, with all the details fact-checked and supplemented by research. A much more ambitious project, which you may write yourself and just require the services of an editor, or which you may prefer to dictate and let the us write the book entirely.

Additional Services

Family Histories

A family history goes a step farther than a personal history. It’s not just your life, but the lives of your immediate family and your ancestors — through wars, immigration, careers, volunteer work and more. The scope of the project is limited only by the available information, photos, and your budget.

Letter Transcriptions

A packet of old letters, perhaps tied in a pink or blue ribbon and found in a dusty attic, is transcribed, minimally edited, and printed as a book. Photos can be added, along with reproductions of parts of the letters themselves.

Celebration Books

We’ll collect memories and photos from friends and family to present to a loved one on a special occasion: graduation, wedding day, important birthday, retirement, and so on.

Child’s Books

A gathering of birth announcement and/or adoption papers, baby photos and achievements, birthday party and holiday photos, youthful scribblings, report cards, annual school photos, sports and scholastic awards — the milestones and memorabilia of a young life, preserved for your children and their children.

 

 

Jewelry Collection Documentation

Every piece of fine jewelry in your collection has a story. Perhaps it was your great grandmother’s favorite brooch, or your mother’s cameo given to her by her parents for her high school graduation. Each piece is photographed in color and set, along with its story, in an attractive booklet to pass on to your daughters, granddaughter, nieces — whoever will inherit your precious collection.

Bereavement Books

Memories and photos of a deceased loved one become a memento for family and close friends.

Business/Ranch/Farm Histories

Capture the rise of the family business — the hard times and the good times, the people who drove it to success, the development of unique and/or superior products — memories , photos and documents that that celebrate an American success story.

Legacy Letters

Also called Ethical Wills, these short documents, with or without photos, are a statement of a person’s beliefs, values, hopes, lessons learned, apologies — whatever wisdom and/or advice you would like to pass on to succeeding generations. A legacy letter can be printed on archival paper and inserted in a presentation case, or framed for display. Artistic graphic enhancements add beauty and value.

Except for a full Autobiography, these books are meant to be done relatively quickly and efficiently, without the goal of seeking a publisher, but rather self-published  for the enjoyment of family and heirs.

“This book was a challenging indexing project. Madge Wallace…did an excellent job sorting through this complicated task and the result is a book of which everyone involved is very proud.”

Client Feedback

“Madge Wallace did a superb job of indexing two books for us. The jobs were large and complex and the timeline was short. Madge created an indexing style specifically suited to the needs of our readers. She asked all the right questions, responded to phone calls and emails promptly, and got the work in on time—in excellent form. We will use Madge for all our indexing whenever she is available. Well done, Madge!”

“It seems strange to be writing this, since I am a member of the Network, too (currently on hiatus to do this work). But I know from experience on both sides of the fence that network members are always the best. We also hired a copyeditor for these books through the network, and she is outstanding, too.”
– Faith Brynie, editorial director, The Healthy Travel Company

“We greatly appreciate your diligence and care in creating the index for Patients Beyond Borders Second Edition—a quantum improvement. I was particularly pleased with the way you distilled a large amount of technical information—potentially confusing to the reader of a consumer guide—into an accessible, friendly format. Try as we might, we could not find an error in your work!”
– Josef Woodman, author, Patients Beyond Borders

“At the last minute I contacted Madge at All Sky Indexing for assistance with creating an index for my 300+ page manuscript. Her work was professional, thorough and timely, and the end of the project went much more smoothly than I anticipated. It is unusual on first draw to discover a service that one can comfortably recommend to colleagues, but I did!”
– Michael L. Clemons, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Political Science and Geography Editor, The Journal of Race and Policy, [email protected], Old Dominion University, African Americans in Global Politics, University Press of New England, publisher

“Madge not only did a beautiful job on my index, she completed the work ahead of schedule. I will not hesitate to contact her for future projects.” Joe Plummer

“Madge did a superb job with a complicated index in literary studies. I have no hesitation in recommending her services in this or any other area, for her combination of technical expertise and excellent communication skills made it easy to explain and resolve any issue promptly and clearly. She went beyond my expectations in developing secondary headings, and even ccreated a few I hadn’t thought of. She completed the work in a timely manner, she was thorough, careful, precise, and unfailingly accurate, and she even caught a billing change in my favor. It was a pleasure working with her.”
– Dennis Berthold, Ph.D., Professor of English, [email protected], Texas A&M University, American Risorgimento (a study of the influence of Italian politics on the works of Herman Melville), Ohio State University Press, publisher

“The service that I received from All Sky Indexing was prompt and professional, and the final product was exactly what I was promised. My only regret is that I did not call upon Madge Walls and her services for my first book. I recommend All Sky Indexing without reservation.
– Todd C. Peppers, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Public Affairs, [email protected], Roanoke College, Virginia, Anatomy of an Execution (a study of the last juvenile execution in Virginia), University Press of New England, publisher

“Madge Walls was recommended to me as an indexer by the academic press I was working with, and I was immediately impressed by her professionalism and flexibility. She takes in the full details of a project and will make sure that you get indexing that is right for your field and for your type of publication. Even more important, she completed the index quickly but thoroughly.”
– Geoffrey Baker, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Comparative and British Literature, gbaker!csuchico.edu, Department of English, California State University, Chico, Realism’s Empire (a comparative study of works by Balzac, Fontane and Trollope), Ohio State University Press, publisher

“Thank you for your detailed and thoughtful work on indexing Citizen Environmentalists. Your discerning eye caught a number of errors or awkward punctuations in the text that had escaped the copyeditors; and your thought-provoking questions helped not only to make a clean and useful index but also improved the text itself. Communication back and forth with you about your questions helped me to think about the book through the eyes of potential readers. Certainly, your work helped make the book more readable for the general reader and more useful for researchers who might wish to use the text as a resource. I appreciate your meticulous and conscientious attention to detail. The finished book is better for it.”
– James Longhurst, Associate Professor of History, longhurs.jame@uwlax,edu, University of Wisconsin – La Crosse, Citizen Environmentalists (a study of the citizen environmentalist movement in Pittsburgh), University Press of New England, publisher