Frequently asked questions

You absolutely can, and you should. The key distinction is you shouldn’t only self-edit your manuscript. At least one or two self-editing passes is an important step in the editing process, especially if you made changes partway through your manuscript. But it’s also important to understand where self-editing falls short if your objective is to publish a polished story.

It’s common for writers to be too close to their own work. We naturally develop blind spots to weaknesses in the story, or even basic punctuation errors. We’ve seen it with hundreds of frustrated self-publishing authors who’ve done countless passes and still missed basic mistakes. If you’re one of those people, it doesn’t mean you’re a bad writer. It just means you’re human like the rest of us.

Our position: self-editing is important, but it isn’t the end-all-be-all. Even the most experienced writers with decades behind them don’t edit entirely on their own.

You’re ready for a professional editor once you have a complete draft and have taken it as far as you can on your own, usually after one or two self-editing passes. You’re welcome to reach out at any stage of your writing process, though; how impactful the help is depends on what you need. If you’re confident in your story and looking for polish, we suggest finishing the manuscript, completing one or two self-editing passes, and then contacting a professional editor.

If you’re stuck partway through your story, or you’re looking at your outline and suddenly seeing the holes, please reach out. It’s much easier to address problem areas before they grow large and unwieldy, and sometimes that means taking a pause mid-draft and seeking help.

For us, it comes down to three core traits: attention to detail, creativity, and strong communication skills. Attention to detail is especially important for copy editors, line editors, and proofreaders; they must remain consistent and attentive across an entire manuscript. Creativity plays a smaller role for proofreaders but is central for developmental and line editors. Strong communication skills might be the most unexpected of the three, but we’d argue it’s the most important.

Being able to communicate clearly within our team, and to convey our feedback clearly to the client, is absolutely paramount. It’s not hard to find an editor who does good work. It is hard to find one who communicates clearly and takes the time to understand you and your story. When you’re making the all-important decision of choosing an editor, a strong communicator is non-negotiable.

With a team, each stage of editing goes to the editor who does it best, so your manuscript gets a copy editor’s precision, a line editor’s ear, and a developmental editor’s structural sense instead of one generalist attempting all three. It’s not as simple as three editors meaning three times the quality or speed of one, but there’s a reason publishing houses use a team rather than a single editor working alone: the best teams are built around each other’s strengths.

Here’s how it works at ProjectK. Our junior editor, Ryan, starts with a copy-edit, cleaning up the prose and leaving comments as they go. Our senior editor, Margaret, follows with a line-edit and proofread, refining and verifying the edits. Finally, our developmental editor, Matthew, reviews the fully edited manuscript, checks the quality of every pass, and prepares your editorial assessment. Each editor builds on the last, which is how we deliver a genuinely layered edit and do it efficiently.

Despite our name, no, we are not an indie publisher. We have aspirations to expand into small-scale publishing, but at this time we only offer editing services.

Think of us as a 3-for-1 editing solution for your manuscript.

You can find a book editor through dedicated editing companies like ProjectK, a freelance marketplace like Reedsy, referrals from other authors, and writing communities. For most writers, though, that isn’t the real question. With the rise of KDP and the wide availability of editing services for self publishing, it often isn’t how do I find an editor? but how do I find an editor who understands me and my work? If that is your question, keep reading. The best way to find an editor for your book is to see their work before you commit. Before you invest in professional book editing services, read reviews and testimonials, ask how their process works, and take advantage of any free sample edits. That’s exactly why we offer a free sample edit of up to 3,000 words. Not only do you get to verify the quality of our work on your writing, but it is your chance to see how a team of editors can come together to execute your vision. It’s the surest way to find a book editor who’s genuinely the right fit.

It’s straightforward. Start by requesting your free sample edit. Attach your sample and we’ll return an edited file with tracked changes. This is where we engage in a discussion to see if we hit the mark for your expectations, explaining our thought process, and ensuring your needs align with what we offer.

Once we’re all on the same page, we send a fixed quote. Upon approval, we send an invoice for the deposit, which reserves your manuscript in our schedule. When the project starts, your manuscript moves through our team and we deliver the completed work before the agreed end-date. Everything is clear, straightforward, and we’re here to address any questions or concerns. In short, we’re professional book editors for hire on a clear, per-project basis.

We’re based in Toronto, Canada, and we work entirely remotely with English-speaking authors worldwide. That said, here are the situations where hiring a local editor can genuinely matter:

• English variations. Being Canadian-based, we’re comfortable working in both American and British English.
• Setting. If your story takes place in a real-world location, it can help to work with someone who knows that place intimately.
• Cultural relevance. Similarly, if your story leans on a local culture someone would need to be part of to fully understand, an editor from that culture can be an asset.
• In-person preference. If you’d rather meet your editor face-to-face, look for a book editor who’s local to you.

If you don’t fall into any of those cases, you don’t strictly need an editor near you, and working with us remotely makes no difference to the quality of your edit.

Yes. In fact, self-publishing and indie authors are exactly who we work with most. When you self-publish, there’s no traditional house handling the editing for you, so a polished, professional manuscript is on you. Our editing services for self-publishing authors fill that gap: a full team edit at a fair, fixed price, so your book stands alongside traditionally published titles.

Developmental editing works on your story elements, focusing on plot, pacing, structure, and character. Line editing tunes your sentences improving clarity, flow, word choice, and more. Copy editing fixes grammar, spelling, punctuation, and consistency. Proofreading is the final pass that catches any errors left before publication, think of this as a final set of impartial eyes making sure nothing slipped through the cracks. Most manuscripts need more than one, which is why we run our edits as layered passes rather than a single edit. Our guide on the types of editing breaks each one down in more detail.

It is a written report on your manuscript, prepared by our developmental editor once the editing passes are complete. It lays out the strengths of your writing, the recurring issues we found, and clear, prioritized suggestions for your next revision. Rather than just a list of corrections, it gives you a sense of where your manuscript stands and what to focus on next. It comes with your completed edit.

For most authors, yes. After months inside your own manuscript, there are errors and weak spots you simply cannot see anymore, and a professional edit is often what separates writing that reads as polished from writing that reads as unedited. Readers notice, and reviews tend to follow. How much value you get depends on the state of your manuscript and your goals, so we offer a free sample edit of up to 3,000 words. It lets you see exactly what professional editing does to your writing before you spend anything.