Indexes in advanced reader copies

Hi, everyone. When I review a book, I often mention whether or not it has an index, like other reviewers. I've received through the Early Reviewers program two books without indexes recently. Because they can be so valuable, I don't want to knock a book that will include it in the market version of the book. Is it common for advanced reader copies not to have an index and then for publishers to include them when the books are on the market? Thanks for any insight!

>1 mvblair: It is not at all unusual for an ARC not to have an index, illustrations or even page numbers on the Table of Contents page. I usually mention that the finished book will be indexed but I don't knock its absence from the review copy I received just as I don't point out typos in ARCs.

>2 Taphophile13: Thank you. How do I find out if the advanced reader copy will have an index in the finished product?

>3 mvblair: Check the finished book when it comes out. Some ARCs will have the index in the contents page, some won’t. In either case, the publisher can and will make changes until the book is out.

>4 AnnieMod: That's good advice. Thank you!

>3 mvblair: ARCs often have a description on the back cover which includes the expected size of the book, number of pages, illustrations/maps and index as well as the expected date of publication.

>6 Taphophile13: I will keep an eye out for that in the future. I looked at one of the books I reviewed said it would be 500 pages when published, but it turned out to have only 426. I don't know how to square my skepticism with a publisher's claims with my inclination to give them the benefit of the doubt. I think that's another discussion, though!

I really surprised a cookbook publisher when I said I wasn't interested in even looking at a cookbook without an index because I certainly would never buy it. It was at a gardening fair, and was a vegetable cookbook. Well, of course I need an index to see what I could make with today's harvest. He didn't get it.

>8 MarthaJeanne: That is so funny because it's so relatable! I haven't really thought about it, but now that you say this, a cookbook without an index seems like just another coffee table book. MarthaJeanne and I want our indexes!

>8 MarthaJeanne: I agree completely, MarthaJeanne! I use the index in my cookbooks all the time. Almost never the table of contents. It's actually rare for me to use a cookbook without first looking in the index. I'm thinking the rep you spoke too wasn't a cook, just a publisher :)