My relationships with my clients are of the utmost importance and I take every step to ensure their needs are met. Many of those relationships are long-term and were established shortly after I began my indexing career 10 years ago.
I understand how important deadlines are in the publishing cycle. The index is the final stage of the cycle before typesetting and any slippage can delay the publication of the book. So I will never agree to commissioning an index unless I can guarantee its delivery by the agreed deadline. And to date, after nearly 300 completed indexes, I have never missed a deadline.
I also understand that in publishing, dates for delivery of proofs for indexing can, at short notice, be delayed or even occasionally brought forward. In such circumstances I will always try to accommodate the needs of my client to ensure that the index is delivered on time.