Case Study - Reliance Editorial Services

Why would a copy editor and proofreader need a visual feedback tool like PageProofer?

We spoke with Margaret Fierstine, the owner of Reliance Editorial Services, and asked why she decided to use PageProofer and how has it helped her business. Before we dive into the questions, here's a little background on Reliance. 

Margaret started Reliance in 2019 after years of teaching English. Those years of grading countless papers prepared her to become an expert editor and proofreader. After years of proofreading for friends, family and acquaintances on the side, she decided to become a business owner. In just a short time she has worked with multiple businesses and non-profit groups, proofreading and editing their online and traditional print media.

What does your typical work day look like?

Right now, I’m copyediting and proofreading part time. I am a part-time teacher also and will be wrapping up that work in a few weeks, at which time I will dedicate myself to editing full time. Right now, I have a nice balance with both jobs. Mornings, evenings, and weekends are dedicated to my freelance copyediting and proofreading work. I am blessed to be able to work from home in a nice, quiet office that allows me to focus completely on my editing projects.

What type of software do you use for proofreading?

I really don’t need much to do my job, which is nice for a small business like mine. Beyond my laptop, there really isn’t a whole lot more that I need to perform my daily tasks. I often use Microsoft Word to copyedit and proofread. It’s the go-to program for editors because of the Track Changes feature. Word works great for editing manuscripts, business documents, legal documents, etc., but it really isn’t the best choice for editing online content. My recent discovery of PageProofer has been a game changer for editing online content for clients.

How did you find out about PageProofer and why did you decide to try using it?

As you can probably imagine, copying and pasting online text into Microsoft Word was incredibly time consuming. I was spending a ton of time getting the text into Word, and the hours were really adding up before doing a single bit of editing. I felt terrible charging the company for all that time, and I just knew there must be a better way. I reached out to fellow editors, including a former instructor of mine. They all said the same thing: Microsoft Word really was the only way to perform edits for websites. I just couldn’t believe that could be true, so I asked my contact at the tech company if he knew of any other options for us. Luckily, he discovered PageProofer, which wasn’t really designed with copyediting and proofreading in mind, but it worked like a charm for us nonetheless.

How did you handle suggesting content changes before using PageProofer?

I mostly edited with Microsoft Word for clients, but when I first began working for a local technology company last fall, we were like the blind leading the blind. They had never utilized an editor, and I had never edited live websites. We tried using Microsoft Word to start with. I copied and pasted the website text into Word, and then from there, I used the Track Changes feature as usual.

How does a visual feedback tool make your work easier?

PageProofer lists all of my corrections and comments in one central place. The client can easily see what needs to be fixed and can work through each correction one by one on their own timetable.

Has your workflow changed significantly because of PageProofer?

I work much more efficiently on online content now that I use PageProofer. I can’t believe that other editors out there are charging clients for the laborious task of copying and pasting text into Word before making a single edit. I’m sure if they knew about PageProofer, they’d change their process in a heartbeat.

What do your clients think about it?

My clients know how important it is to have error-free content on their websites. They understand that even small mistakes in grammar, spelling, and punctuation can cause a potential client to doubt their credibility and competence. PageProofer allows my clients to get a quality copyedit or proofread of their site in significantly less time than it would take using Microsoft Word. That reduction in time translates to a reduction in cost for them. With PageProofer, they are able to easily fix errors in their content that would have been an embarrassment to them at a minimum, or worse, resulted in a loss of potential clients.

Would you recommend PageProofer to other editors/proofreaders? Why?

I absolutely would. Now that I know there is a much better way to edit websites, I can’t imagine anyone using Microsoft Word for live web content. PageProofer makes editing online content easier, faster, and more affordable for clients.