Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Simply put, we are a collective of freelance editors that want to help make your own words even better. CYC was created in 2014 by award-winning writer and editor Elisa Doucette.

What does that mean?

We work with professional writers and entrepreneurial brands who do the majority of their own writing, but need an outside perspective or set of eyes to review their pieces before they hit “publish.”

We don’t come in heavy-handed or try to change your voice and vision to make something “sound better.” We believe that the writer’s message and writing should be honored, but can always be improved on. (Even our own! That’s why everyone on our team also writes for CYC and has their writing go through the same editorial review process that our clients receive, so that we are constantly reminded what it is like to be edited—drinking a bit of our own Kool-Aid, if you will.)

Elisa Doucette is the Founder and Executive Editor of CYC. She leads a remote team of professional editors, proofreaders, and coaches. (All our editors are fluent in English.) Each member of our team consistently meets the high standards we set for our editing practices and content quality. You’ll work closely with our Client Content Manager, who ensures every revision is returned to you within 2 business days at the latest. Learn more about the CYC team here.

At CYC, we offer proofreading, content editing, and writing coaching to individual brands and writers. Most one-off projects start at $199 and most packages start at $499. If you aren’t quite ready to dive into one-one-one work, we offer group accountability and support through our CYC Community, which you can join for $39/month or $399/year. Because every client’s needs are different, you can learn more about our different services and pricing here.

Professional editors have spent years acquiring the training, experience, and education that give them the expertise to give you high-quality and thoughtful edits. While you can find a “quick” proofreader on various outsourcing websites for $5, you get what you pay for.

CYC’s skilled wordsmiths are also constantly learning the newest changes and updates to style guides and content, to stay relevant so you don’t have to worry about that. You can focus more on writing and getting your ideas and opinions out to the world.

Each of these jobs has its own particular function, and each complements the other to make sure your writing is clear, compelling, and error-free.

A writing coach will help you see your content from a bird’s-eye view. You’ll learn how to come up with a strategy for your content and develop productive writing practices. Your coach will monitor your progress and tailor your learning each step of the way. It’s a great option if you feel like you need someone to keep you accountable for publishing content when you say you will. (Like a fitness coach, but, you know, for writing.)

An editor (especially a content editor) works on making your writing more compelling, streamlined, and developed. You might have to kill your darlings (revise or cut those sections you love but don’t work with the piece), but your editor knows what’s best for you (and your writing), so they’ll make sure to keep your writing voice intact, without stripping it away from you.

We tailor our services to each individual client. To get a better understanding of the best service for you and your business, you can check out our Services page, and take the quiz there if you are still unsure (it will ask you questions about your goals and current setup to determine what might be the right fit for you).

Sure! Lots of clients just look to us for help with proofreading their pieces before they get published.

If budget frees up, or you decide you would like to have a more comprehensive review of your content in the future, it’s super simple to upgrade to a content editing or writing coaching plan.

Everyone—even a best-selling author—needs a second set of eyes on their writing. Or even a third. You may be the greatest writer in your industry, but you’re still human.

An editor will spot the areas where you lose your reader with complex concepts or vague language so readers stay longer on your page and want even more of your writing. A proofreader will find the tiniest of typos, preventing that embarrassing moment where the top comment on your post is, “You used a comma wrong in this sentence.”

It’s a humbling experience to be edited, but it’s definitely a beneficial one.

Besides the comfort of having a reliable resource who genuinely cares about your writing, we can give you new insight on your writing, your creative process, and potentially even your own brand and voice.

It also saves you valuable time to work with an editor—instead of reading through your own writing again and again, you can hand it over to an expert who can do that for you, giving you more time to spend on your business.

We sure do! You can learn more about our content guidelines and submission process on our Write for Us page.

In the broadest sense of the word, yes. We are intrinsically connected to the content marketing world. But it’s kinda like that old adage, “All thumbs are fingers, but not all fingers are thumbs.”

At CYC, our commitment is primarily to working with you on the readability, quality, and messaging of your writing. We want to help you make your own words even better.

While this is good for content marketing (in case you haven’t heard, Google is mad for E-A-T and well-written content these days!), we do not work with writers and brands who are simply looking to optimize descriptions and chase keywords. These tricks and tactics don’t work in the long term, but a strategy and commitment to exceptional content always will.

Wonderful! We need to learn more about you and your brand or business, so go to our Services page. There you can sign up for the package or retainer that is the best fit for you, or submit a query so we can review your comprehensive content plan and design a custom proposal just for your brand.

We work on many different types of writing, though our specialty is online content and articles/posts for professional writers who are working to build their own platform. We also will occasionally edit manuscripts for non-fiction books for existing retainer clients. At this time, we do not focus on creative fiction and poetry, but we have some great referrals if you are looking for someone to help you with that.

No, not even a little bit! Our team provides feedback with a holistic, empathetic approach. We all write regularly for the CYC site, so we know exactly how it feels to have our writing critiqued. This means we’ll deliver our editorial suggestions with encouraging words (and a smile), while still being firm with what we think are the best revisions to consider.

We use Google Docs for a collaborative editing process, so you can directly reply to comments or reject suggested edits that you don’t like. (See more about how our editing process works here.)

We strive to make your writing the best it can be, but if you disagree with certain changes, our editors are always open to discussing their feedback with you. Ultimately, it’s your content, with your name on it, and we want you to be happy with the final product.

Absolutely. We do not share the details of clients writing, struggles, or revisions without explicit permission from the client. That would be the worst — to have an editor who blasts your mistakes out to the world for their own promotion and marketing!

We do not offer content or copywriting services for clients. If you are looking for someone to help with this, drop us an email, and we’ll try to pass along a few freelancers that we know and have worked with.

Elisa offers her time in two separate programs: 1) our Writing Coaching services, which include monthly strategy and development calls with her and 2) our CYC Community, which includes her monthly group Office Hours calls and her feedback and information in our private Facebook group.

Super easy! Just share the piece with our Content Manager in Google Docs, and they’ll be able to get everything set up in our project management system and guide you through the editing process.

We do most of our editing work in Google Docs, as it is the best software we’ve found to communicate changes and feedback in real-time with multiple collaborators. Client editorial calendars and the revision process workflow are managed in Trello. We do not charge clients for the use of these programs, and can provide training if you are unfamiliar.

Because the our service agreements are based on work completed, we can only offer a full refund if no work has started. If you are unhappy with the quality of revisions or process, we can offer up to a 50% discount within the first 30 days of working together. For members of our CYC Community or participants in our courses, there is a 100% Money-Back Guarantee for the first 30 days.

Our editors will be working on your pieces at various hours, Monday through Friday. If you have signed on for individual coaching and development calls, Elisa’s availability will be shared with you through an exclusive scheduling system for coaching clients. Weekend hours and rush projects are available for a nominal fee.

Click on through to see the different ways you can work with us. If you are unsure what service or program is the best fit for you, there’s a quiz on the page that will ask you some questions to determine how CYC will be able to meet your needs.

CYC works with a special brand of writer. Creatives who are dedicated to the quality of their ideas as well as the quality of their writing. They want to build something exceptional, that they are proud to put their name on every time something publishes. For this reason, we like to learn a bit more about what you are working on, your commitment to writing and editing, and how we will be able to help you reach your goals. If something isn’t a good fit, we’d rather tell you from the start.