Indexing as a member

Pick a book, click Request Index under its cover, and we'll assign it to you by email. Member indexers hold one book at a time.

Member indexing exists for books that EYB won't get to on its own. We index a book once it's on enough bookshelves, so a title you love that few other members own can wait a long time. You can index it yourself instead.

Before you request anything, read Indexing essentials. It covers the rules, the form, and the proofreading, and it takes about ten minutes. This page covers only the parts specific to member indexing.

What you need before you start

1. A current version of any major browser. If the form misbehaves, update your browser or try a different one before you email us.
2. A way to type accented characters, because a lot of recipe titles need them. Your operating system handles this: on a Mac, hold a letter key or use Option, and on Windows use the emoji and symbol panel with the Windows key and full stop. Accents change meanings, so they're worth getting right. Pâté is meat paste; pâte is pastry.
3. The time to finish. A book that isn't started within 14 days of being assigned goes back into the pool.

If you read the guidelines and decide the book isn't for you, email info@eatyourbooks.com and we'll unassign it so another member can take it. That's a normal thing to do and we'd rather hear early.

How to request a book

1. Log in to Eat Your Books and go to the book you want to index.
2. Click Request Index under the cover image.
3. Under "I would like to Index this book myself", click Request to Index.
4. Confirm that you understand what you're taking on.

We'll email you when the book is assigned. You can hold one title at a time, so finish the book you have before requesting another.

We'll turn a request down if the book is already on EYB's own indexing chart. If you'd rather we indexed it, click Request EYB to Index on the same panel and we'll add it to the chart.

When your book is assigned

1. Click the link in the assignment email, or select Indexing from the My Bookshelf tab.
2. Check the 13-digit ISBN, the title, and the author against the physical book in front of you. Editions differ more than people expect, and an edition mismatch is painful to unpick later.
3. If anything doesn't match, email info@eatyourbooks.com before you index a single recipe, and we'll fix it.
4. Click Index to the right of the title to open the input form.

Submitting your finished book

Proofread the whole book first, then click Submit on the input form. An EYB editor reviews it before it goes live, and we'll come back to you if anything needs a second look.

Once it's live, every member who owns that book can search its recipes.