Thank you for visiting Pikko’s House, the creative portfolio and service website for Crystal Watanabe, freelance editor for independent authors. Want to learn more about how the Pikko’s House team can help you ready your work for publication or submission?

Let's Get Started
Thank you for visiting Pikko’s House, the creative portfolio and service website for Crystal Watanabe, freelance editor for independent authors. Want to learn more about how the Pikko's House team can help you ready your work for publication or submission?
Let's Get Started

Pikko’s House is dedicated to providing top-notch professional editorial services. Crystal has experience working with more than 250 indie authors.

See what satisfied clients think.

Crystal Watanabe is one of my go-to editors for my short story anthology series, The Future Chronicles. As editor, her name headlines a number of titles that have all gone on to #1 bestseller status. It’s great recognition, but it isn’t an easy job. You have to be a confidante, a mentor, a diplomat.
Samuel Peralta
Samuel PeraltaSeries Editor, The Future Chronicles
Pikko's House did a wonderful job on the proofread for my novella, even catching a few things that went above and beyond. I'll definitely be using their services again!
Rysa Walker
Rysa WalkerAuthor, The Abandoned
It was a real pleasure to work with Crystal on The Tracker. She offered incredibly keen insights into the storyline, helped to sharpen and shape my characters, and cleaned up my mess of words to make them presentable to the masses. She is a pro in every way. The book is light years better because of her special touch!
Chad Zunker
Chad ZunkerAuthor, The Tracker
Crystal was a delight to work with. Great communication from the beginning of the project to its completion, regular updates, she consistently met all deadlines and turned in top-notch work. I have no reservations recommending Crystal. She’s a true professional.
N.J. Tanger
N.J. TangerAuthor, Chimera
Crystal is one of sharpest editors I’ve had the privilege to work with. Whether you’re looking for help with the broad arcs of a story or really need someone to get down into the nitty-gritty, she’ll work wonders on your text.
Galen Surlak-Ramsey
Galen Surlak-RamseyAuthor, The Gorgon Bride

Pikko’s House was founded in 2014, after New York Times bestselling author Hugh Howey encouraged Crystal to open up shop.

Since then, Crystal has worked on almost 500 projects.

0 m
Words Edited
0
Novels Edited
0 m
Words Beta Read
0
Short Stories Edited
0 m
Words Proofread
0
Novels Beta Read

Crystal launched SimpleMarkup, a fiction editor’s webcomic, in October 2017. It stars fictional editor Edie Grammar, who slaves away at her desk, helping clients improve their stories.

SimpleMarkup is released online every Wednesday.

SimpleMarkup Archives

Catch up on all the previous comics, going all the way back to the beginning!

SimpleMarkup Store

Are you an Edie Grammar fan? Head on over to the SimpleMarkup store for merchandise!

SimpleMarkup Book

What what? A SimpleMarkup book full of Edie? Coming sometime in 2019! (Hopefully)

Crystal is the coauthor of two cute Japanese bento cookbooks called Yum-Yum Bento Box: Fresh Recipes for Adorable Lunches and Yum-Yum Bento All Year Round: Box Lunches for Every Season.

Both books are published by Quirk Books.

Yum-Yum Bento Box: Fresh Recipes for Adorable Lunches

Published in 2010, the first Yum-Yum Bento Box cookbook features cute obento made by Crystal Watanabe and Maki Ogawa.

Yum-Yum Bento All Year Round: Box Lunches for Every Season

Published in 2016, Yum-Yum Bento All Year Round is the follow-up to the first book, set around holiday-themed obento.

The Pikko’s House Book Lovers Box is a digital subscription box started by Crystal in April 2018. Each month’s themed box delivers at least ten ebooks, deals, and giveaways.

Subscribing to the box is free.

For voracious readers

Check out the themes for past boxes to see what was offered to subscribers in them. Like what you see? Sign up for the box!

The box is released at the start of each month and covers a wide variety of themes. 

Want to have your book be in an upcoming box? Visit my Book Lovers Box for Authors page.

The best part of being in this business is watching clients achieve their dreams of publication, whether through self-publishing or other means.

These Pikko’s House clients recently published their projects!

Pure Jade by Patrick Laplante
Peace has returned to Crystal Falls with the destruction of the Serpentine Swords bandit group. Cha Ming helps the small village rebuild, for it will soon leave its traditional isolation behind and embrace a broader community mindset. He can’t stay long, however. Danger is coming, and he must do his utmost to strengthen himself for the upcoming conflict.
View Project
The Key of Apollo by Riley D. Brady
Mythological creatures are real, and they live in a world fourteen-year-old Lucy Cole is destined to protect. But before Lucy can process that insanity, her soon-to-be adoptive mother, Elodie, is kidnapped. The only way to save her is to track down the Key of Apollo, a key that hasn't been seen in thousands of years. To succeed, Lucy must embrace her destiny and overcome the Primordial Trials, tests set up by the gods themselves.
View Project
The Uncharted Lands by Mike Thayer
Rebellion against the Emperor of Avalon grows as rumors spread of the Collector's defeat at the hands of the Techno Wizard. Sam Shelton and his friends now seek powerful new allies as they travel to the Great Rampart of the Uncharted Lands - a towering, armored wall built for a single purpose: to keep the citizens of the Wildland Kingdom on one side and the foulest monsters in all of Avalon on the other.
View Project

Subscribe to the Pikko’s House YouTube channel to see new videos uploaded detailing the latest client publications and Book Lovers Box unveilings.